that second. Until she realised who was on the other end.
âStone,â she answered.
Woodyâs voice boomed in her ear. âWhat the hell do you think youâre doing?â
âSorry, Sir?â she answered.
Bryant was quietly shaking his head.
âI have a kid in my station under arrest for assaulting you. Is that correct?â
âYes, he put his hands on me.â
âDo not insult my intelligence. The truth. Now.â
Kim groaned inwardly. She had known this conversation was going to come but sheâd hoped it would be tomorrow.
âBrad saw one of the kidnappers, Sir. I donât think heâs safe on the streets.â
âDid you suitably advise him?â Woody asked. Somehow the rage was travelling through the line directly into her ear.
âOf course.â
âBut you thought youâd engineer his safety at the station, anyway?â
âI donât think he understands the severity of the situation and I couldnât tell him.â
âBe that as it may, Stone, I am not prepared to keep that young man here for a moment longer on your trumped-up charges and any subsequent lawsuits will be on your head. As soon as he is finished with the sketch artist I shall have him taken to wherever he wants to go with a profuse apology from West Midlands Police.â
Kim closed her eyes for a second. âI know heâsââ
âAnd if there are any further shenanigans of this nature, Baldwin will not need to remove you from this case, as I will be more than happy to do it myself.â
The line went dead in her ear.
âOuch,â she said, throwing her phone onto the table.
âYou had to know that was coming,â Bryant offered.
She shrugged. Of course, but that didnât make it fun.
âBloody hell, Guv,â Dawson said, opening the door. âIt's dropped to minus two already.â
Kim waited for him to remove his jacket. He had been tasked to Inga's address, which had not been hard to track down after a general idea from Elizabeth Hanson.
Unfortunately that was all she'd been able to learn from them. The employers had known nothing of their employee's friends, boyfriend or family. If Inga had talked, they hadn't been listening.
Stacey had been unable to find any connection between the nanny and the previous families so that ruled her out as a link.
âWell?â she asked.
âHer place looks like a monster truck went through it. Twice. The door was open, and of course I had to see if she was in there. Whoever's looking for her is not a happy bunny. Everything was trashed and I mean everything: furniture, ornaments, pictures, plates.â
âA warning then?â
âOh yeah, she'd better hope we find her before they do.â
âEither a warning or a man that can't control himself,â Kim said, tapping her chin.
âOr both,â Dawson said.
Kim nodded. âAny description of the male from the neighbours?â
Dawson rolled his eyes. âOld guy downstairs with dementia gave me an exceptionally detailed description. Said the guy was around five foot two, black curly hair, glasses and a navy blue shirt.â
âAnd?â
âThen his son stepped out to see what I wanted and guess what? That's right, he was five foot two, black curly hair, blue shirt and â¦â
âGlasses,â Stacey finished.
Kim groaned. âOkay, Kev, make Inga Bauer top priority in theââ
Her words ended abruptly as a loud, shrill scream filled the house.
Seventeen
S ymes sat in the shadows and waited. That stupid bitch, Inga, had swindled him out of his promised payday but he would find her and when he did she would be sorry. She would pay with added interest but for now he had been thrown an unexpected bonus.
He knew he intimidated people and he enjoyed every minute of it. His height and muscle mass were the first things that people noticed about him. Next they clocked the shaved
âStone,â she answered.
Woodyâs voice boomed in her ear. âWhat the hell do you think youâre doing?â
âSorry, Sir?â she answered.
Bryant was quietly shaking his head.
âI have a kid in my station under arrest for assaulting you. Is that correct?â
âYes, he put his hands on me.â
âDo not insult my intelligence. The truth. Now.â
Kim groaned inwardly. She had known this conversation was going to come but sheâd hoped it would be tomorrow.
âBrad saw one of the kidnappers, Sir. I donât think heâs safe on the streets.â
âDid you suitably advise him?â Woody asked. Somehow the rage was travelling through the line directly into her ear.
âOf course.â
âBut you thought youâd engineer his safety at the station, anyway?â
âI donât think he understands the severity of the situation and I couldnât tell him.â
âBe that as it may, Stone, I am not prepared to keep that young man here for a moment longer on your trumped-up charges and any subsequent lawsuits will be on your head. As soon as he is finished with the sketch artist I shall have him taken to wherever he wants to go with a profuse apology from West Midlands Police.â
Kim closed her eyes for a second. âI know heâsââ
âAnd if there are any further shenanigans of this nature, Baldwin will not need to remove you from this case, as I will be more than happy to do it myself.â
The line went dead in her ear.
âOuch,â she said, throwing her phone onto the table.
âYou had to know that was coming,â Bryant offered.
She shrugged. Of course, but that didnât make it fun.
âBloody hell, Guv,â Dawson said, opening the door. âIt's dropped to minus two already.â
Kim waited for him to remove his jacket. He had been tasked to Inga's address, which had not been hard to track down after a general idea from Elizabeth Hanson.
Unfortunately that was all she'd been able to learn from them. The employers had known nothing of their employee's friends, boyfriend or family. If Inga had talked, they hadn't been listening.
Stacey had been unable to find any connection between the nanny and the previous families so that ruled her out as a link.
âWell?â she asked.
âHer place looks like a monster truck went through it. Twice. The door was open, and of course I had to see if she was in there. Whoever's looking for her is not a happy bunny. Everything was trashed and I mean everything: furniture, ornaments, pictures, plates.â
âA warning then?â
âOh yeah, she'd better hope we find her before they do.â
âEither a warning or a man that can't control himself,â Kim said, tapping her chin.
âOr both,â Dawson said.
Kim nodded. âAny description of the male from the neighbours?â
Dawson rolled his eyes. âOld guy downstairs with dementia gave me an exceptionally detailed description. Said the guy was around five foot two, black curly hair, glasses and a navy blue shirt.â
âAnd?â
âThen his son stepped out to see what I wanted and guess what? That's right, he was five foot two, black curly hair, blue shirt and â¦â
âGlasses,â Stacey finished.
Kim groaned. âOkay, Kev, make Inga Bauer top priority in theââ
Her words ended abruptly as a loud, shrill scream filled the house.
Seventeen
S ymes sat in the shadows and waited. That stupid bitch, Inga, had swindled him out of his promised payday but he would find her and when he did she would be sorry. She would pay with added interest but for now he had been thrown an unexpected bonus.
He knew he intimidated people and he enjoyed every minute of it. His height and muscle mass were the first things that people noticed about him. Next they clocked the shaved
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