It had taken him hours to fall asleep that night and it felt like just a few minutes later when he was woken up by noises coming from outside the caravan. Quietly he stood up and peeked out of the filthy window of his room. It was pitch black but he caught a glimpse of what looked like a torch. Nervously, keeping as much of his body away from the window as he could, he watched in horror as two of the men from the fight earlier dug a big hole by torchlight and then, as if throwing away a bag of rubbish, threw the body of the dead boy into it. Quickly moving away from the window Matthew curled up on the filthy mattress his dad had finally let him have, and tried to block the images from his mind. It was useless. He knew that he would never forget what he had seen. What scared him most though was that he knew it could be his turn soon.
Chapter Fourteen
When Lee left the next morning for work Gary and Jeff were still snoring heavily in the living room. He decided not to disturb them and left a note telling them to help themselves. Pointless as he knew they would anyway.
He was about halfway to work when his mobile started ringing. Cursing himself for forgetting to connect the hands-free, he let it go to voicemail. It rang three more times before he pulled into the station and parked the car. He was just reaching for it to check the voicemail when his door was flung open.
‘Don’t you ever answer your phone?’ Cathy asked excitedly.
‘I was driving. What’s wrong? You look like you’re ready to burst!’
‘I’ve just had a call from the Carl. He says there’s going to be a fight tonight!’
He quickly got out of the car.
‘Where?’
‘Devon. Seems they’ve moved on from our neck of the woods.’
‘Has the boss been told?’
‘Yep he’s upstairs now.’
Taking the stairs two at a time he headed upstairs leaving Cathy to follow much more slowly.
‘When do I leave?’ he asked.
‘You don’t. Devon and Cornwall can handle it.’
‘This is my case and I want to see through. I need to do this.’
Lee could see that he was weighing up the options.
‘Okay. You can go but this is on Devon and Cornwall’s patch so you don’t get in the way and I want you to take Cathy with you. I’ll let the DI down there know you’re coming.’
‘Thanks boss.’
Turning to Cathy, who had only just made it up the stairs, he told her they would leave at midday.
On the drive down to Devon he got Cathy to fill him in on the details.
‘Okay this is what we’ve got so far. Carl rang this morning and told us a fight is due to take place in South Devon tonight. We don’t have the exact location yet as he won’t find that out until nearer the time. Devon and Cornwall are putting a team together which will include armed response and air support.’
‘Did the informant say anything more about the kid?”
‘No nothing’
‘So where are we headed now?’
“They’ve set up an incident room at Paignton police station, we’ll meet with them there”
As they passed through Kilminton on the A35 Cathy noticed a little chef on the right-hand side of the road and indicated to pull over.
‘Why are we stopping?’
‘Nothing’s happening until tonight and we’ve got a long drive. We may as well grab something to eat while we can.’
Cathy, unsurprisingly, ordered a full English breakfast but he didn’t think he could stomach it so he stuck to toast and coffee. As he sat there watching the traffic passing the window he wondered what the outcome of tonight would be. He was itching to get going.
‘Any news from the Met?’ asked Cathy softly.
He didn’t need to ask what she was referring to. The Metropolitan Police were handling the enquiry into the hit and run that had killed his family.
‘No nothing. I get the feeling they wish I would just give up and go away but I can’t. Not until I see justice done.’
‘What if they never find the person responsible?’
‘Then I’ll never give up.’
Chapter Fifteen
His mum wasn’t coming for him he knew that now. The tears had stopped and even the pain from the broken rib and the infected burn wounds on his back were no longer bothering him. It was almost as if he was just waiting to die. His dad had told him that he would be fighting again tonight and that it was a big event. He knew his body couldn’t take much more and he wondered whether it would be his turn to end up buried in a hole tonight. As he looked out of the grimy window from his room in the caravan he noticed a large truck pull into the field. Caravans and trucks had been arriving all day. As he watched he saw several men, including his dad, unload wire crates from the back of it. There must have been at least ten crates in total. He knew then what his dad had meant when he said it would be a big event. Each crate contained a young child.
Chapter Sixteen
There were about fifteen people in the incident room when we arrived, all chatting amongst themselves. They’d introduced themselves to the local DI, DI Brett, who’d been expecting them. Lee was glad to note that he didn’t seem resentful of their presence. As they found themselves somewhere to sit, the DI walked to the front of the room.
‘Right guys this is what we have so far. We’re looking for a Mark O’Connor, currently wanted by Dorset police on suspicion of the murder of his wife. It’s believed he has his son with him, and there is serious concern for his welfare. Intelligence suggests that he may be being used as part of an underground fight club and an informant has led us to believe that a fight will be taking place tonight. The informant called DC Bates from Dorset Police with the exact location while they were en route to us.’ He nodded over in their direction. ‘The fight is due to start at eight at the old Robinson Farm off Goodrington Fields, so we’ll need to go in fairly soon after. We’ve designated an RV point about quarter of a mile down the road. Armed response will take the lead. Any questions?’
There were none.
‘Okay then, as there are no questions I want each of you memorise this face.’ He pointed to picture of Mark O’Connor pinned up on the white board.
‘DS Briggs? Can have a word?’ he indicated towards his office with his head.
‘Close the door behind you.’
Lee and Cathy sat down across the desk from him.
‘Professional courtesy dictates that I should let you come along so just try and keep your head down and stay out of the way.’
‘Yes sir.’
‘It’s five p.m now so I suggest you familiarise yourself with the maps of the local area and relax a bit before tonight. We’ll be leaving for the RV point at seven thirty.’
Chapter Seventeen
Something was wrong. They’d all gathered at the RV point as planned and the helicopter had been tasked with carrying out a flyover. They’d just heard back that the field where the fight was due to take place was empty except for a lone caravan. They were now following a team of armed officers who were approaching it.
‘Armed police come out with your hands up!’
Silence.
‘Come out with your hands up or we’re coming in!’
Still nothing. The armed officers took positions on each side of the main caravan door. One reached for the handle and yanked the door open while the other simultaneously entered with his firearm raised.
‘Clear!’ came the shout.
They followed the DI into the caravan. It was a good sized van but it was in a terrible state of disrepair and was covered in filth. Several days worth of dirty and mouldy dishes were piled up in the sink and, as he went further inside, his feet stuck to the carpet. His views on the cleanliness of the van were quickly brushed aside though when he saw what was in the lounge area. As he watched, drips of blood dropped off the small central table onto the already large puddle on the floor. Slumped opposite each other were the bodies of two men face dow
n in their own blood. Both were clearly dead, and appeared to have had their throats cut. He recognised one as Carl, their informant, and there was no doubting that the other one was Mark O’Connor. As they stood there taking in the scene in front of them he heard what sounded like something scrabbling across the floor. Turning towards where the noise had come from he noticed a door at the end of the caravan that he hadn’t seen when he first entered the van. The door had a large padlock on the outside, which was locked, and it was from this room that the noise had come
‘We need to get that room open.’
The DI didn’t agree.
‘No. We need to vacate the caravan and let the armed boys check it out.’
‘No way. If the kid is in there he will already be traumatised. Men waving guns around will only make it worse.’
‘And if it’s not the kid?’ But he wasn’t listening. He had already noticed the key was still in the padlock and, not giving the DI chance to do anything to stop him, he turned the key and unlocked it, gently pushing the door open. He was immediately struck by the strong smell of faeces and urine coming from within the room. It was completely dark. The only light was that given off by the bare bulb in the hallway of the caravan. As his eyes adjusted he could hear whimpering coming from the corner furthest away from him.
‘Matthew? Matthew I’m a policeman. I’ve come to help you. Your mum sent me.’
As he took a step forward the kid started sobbing and tried to squeeze himself further into the corner and away from him.
Crouching down he spoke softly ‘Matthew I’ve come to help you. I’m not going to let anything bad happen to you. I promise.’
Gradually Matthew inched his way towards him and he had to stop himself from gasping out loud. He was in a terrible state. It seemed that every part of his body was bruised and bloodied. God only knew what other injuries he had. Opening his arms Lee waited for the boy to come to him. As he crept closer he offered him a gentle smile. At this Matthew threw himself into his arms and wrapped his own arms tightly around his neck. Gently lifting him Lee turned and walked out of the room and out of the caravan.
Matthew had refused to go in the ambulance without him and had clung to him all the way to the hospital. The catalogue of injuries inflicted on him had left them all in a sombre mood, and the local DI did not seem to have any objection to him staying with the kid. They’d put him in a private room and as he sat by his bedside holding his hand a nurse came in to give him something for the pain. It obviously made him drowsy as a short time later Matthew drifted off to sleep. Closing the door gently behind him he stepped out into the corridor where Cathy and the DI were waiting. The DI was off to one side taking a call on his mobile phone.
‘How’s he doing?’ Cathy asked.
‘Thankfully the wounds are mostly superficial. He has a broken nose and a cracked rib and his back is covered with cigarette burns. They’re all infected from being in that filth, but the doctor seems to think that a strong course of antibiotics will kill the infection. I don’t think it’s going to be as easy to put right the emotional wounds though.’
‘That was CSI at the scene.’ The DI stated as he walked over to them, putting his phone in his pocket.
‘The bodies have been removed and they are going over the caravan with a fine tooth comb but, from the state of it, they don’t hold out much hope. There are dozens of fresh tyre tracks all over that field so something obviously was going on there tonight. Has the doctor said when we’ll be able to talk to him?’
‘They’ve just given him something for the pain which has made him sleep but we should be able to talk to him when he wakes up.’
‘Okay. We’ll need contact social services as we don’t have any information on any family so we’ll need them here.’
Chapter Eighteen
The physical scars had started to heal but in the weeks since Matthew had been rescued he had not spoken to a soul. They’d been unable to find out exactly what happened that night with any certainty. The consensus was that somehow those there that night with Mark O’Connor had found out that Carl had grassed them up, and that Mark was the reason the police were looking for them in the first place. A clean-up operation if you will.
That’s not to say that they weren’t still looking for the others involved. But with no living witnesses, and no further information, it was a case of waiting until something else came to light.
First at the hospital and then in the care of the local authority Matthew just sat, staring into space. The only time he showed even the slightest glimmer of a reaction was when Lee visited him. Then he would throw his arms around his neck and just cling to him until he had to leave.
His heart broke when he thought about what the future might hold for him. Knowing he could put it off no longer, he knew the time had come to make a decision.
When he got home that night he rang Gary who by now had left for his parent’s house I Southampton.
‘Does the offer of a job still stand?’
‘Of course it does mate. Why the change of heart?’
‘Do you remember me telling you about Matthew, the boy we rescued?’
‘Of course I do. How is the little fella?’
‘Not good. And not likely to get any better. He has no family, both his parents are dead, and he’s likely to spend the next few years in a children’s home. I can’t let it happen. I’m going to try and adopt him.’
‘You are? Really?’
‘The thing is, with my job and all the shifts I work it’s just not practical. So I’ve decided to jump ship. At least with you I’ll have some flexibility right?’
‘Of course, you know we’ll do anything to help. You tell him when you see him next that his uncle Gary and uncle Jeff are really looking forward to meeting him.’
‘I will mate.’
When he put the phone down he stood for a long time just looking at the photo of his wife and son. For the first time since they had gone he felt that he was heading in the right direction. He felt he was about to do something good, and it felt right. It wasn’t going to be easy but then, nothing worth having ever was.
* * * * *
Thank you for reading Broken, part 1 of the Briggs Series. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you would like to get part 2 of the series, you can do so here
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