Evil Games

A gripping, heart-stopping thriller

Angela Marsons

Books by Angela Marsons

Detective Kim Stone prequel

FIRST BLOOD

Detective Kim Stone series

1. SILENT SCREAM

2. EVIL GAMES

3. LOST GIRLS

4. PLAY DEAD

5. BLOOD LINES

6. DEAD SOULS

7. BROKEN BONES

8. DYING TRUTH

9. FATAL PROMISE

10. DEAD MEMORIES

11. CHILD’S PLAY

12. KILLING MIND

13. DEADLY CRY

14. TWISTED LIES

15. STOLEN ONES

Other Books

IF ONLY

DEAR MOTHER

THE FORGOTTEN WOMAN

Available in audio

Detective Kim Stone prequel

FIRST BLOOD (Available in the UK and the US)

Detective Kim Stone series

1. SILENT SCREAM (Available in the UK and the US)

2. EVIL GAMES (Available in the UK and the US)

3. LOST GIRLS (Available in the UK and the US)

4. PLAY DEAD (Available in the UK and the US)

5. BLOOD LINES (Available in the UK and the US)

6. DEAD SOULS (Available in the UK and the US)

7. BROKEN BONES (Available in the UK and the US)

8. DYING TRUTH (Available in the UK and the US)

9. FATAL PROMISE (Available in the UK and the US)

10. DEAD MEMORIES (Available in the UK and the US)

11. CHILD’S PLAY (Available in the UK and the US)

12. KILLING MIND (Available in the UK and the US)

13. DEADLY CRY (Available in the UK and the US)

14. TWISTED LIES (Available in the UK and the US)

Other Books

IF ONLY (Available in the UK and the US)

DEAR MOTHER (Available in the UK and the US)

THE FORGOTTEN WOMAN (Available in the UK and the US)

Contents

1. Chapter 1

2. Chapter 2

3. Chapter 3

4. Chapter 4

5. Chapter 5

6. Chapter 6

7. Chapter 7

8. Chapter 8

9. Chapter 9

10. Chapter 10

11. Chapter 11

12. Chapter 12

13. Chapter 13

14. Chapter 14

15. Chapter 15

16. Chapter 16

17. Chapter 17

18. Chapter 18

19. Chapter 19

20. Chapter 20

21. Chapter 21

22. Chapter 22

23. Chapter 23

24. Chapter 24

25. Chapter 25

26. Chapter 26

27. Chapter 27

28. Chapter 28

29. Chapter 29

30. Chapter 30

31. Chapter 31

32. Chapter 32

33. Chapter 33

34. Chapter 34

35. Chapter 35

36. Chapter 36

37. Chapter 37

38. Chapter 38

39. Chapter 39

40. Chapter 40

41. Chapter 41

42. Chapter 42

43. Chapter 43

44. Chapter 44

45. Chapter 45

46. Chapter 46

47. Chapter 47

48. Chapter 48

49. Chapter 49

50. Chapter 50

51. Chapter 51

52. Chapter 52

53. Chapter 53

54. Chapter 54

55. Chapter 55

56. Chapter 56

57. Chapter 57

58. Chapter 58

59. Chapter 59

60. Chapter 60

61. Chapter 61

62. Chapter 62

63. Chapter 63

64. Chapter 64

65. Chapter 65

66. Chapter 66

67. Chapter 67

68. Chapter 68

69. Chapter 69

70. Chapter 70

71. Chapter 71

72. Chapter 72

73. Chapter 73

74. Chapter 74

75. Chapter 75

LOST GIRLS

Angela’s Email Sign-Up

Books by Angela Marsons

A Letter from Angela

FIRST BLOOD

SILENT SCREAM

PLAY DEAD

BLOOD LINES

DEAD SOULS

BROKEN BONES

DYING TRUTH

FATAL PROMISE

DEAD MEMORIES

CHILD’S PLAY

KILLING MIND

DEADLY CRY

TWISTED LIES

STOLEN ONES

IF ONLY

DEAR MOTHER

THE FORGOTTEN WOMAN

Acknowledgements

*

This book is dedicated to my nan, Winifred Walford. My best friend and with whom no time would ever have been enough.

One

Black Country – March 2015

Three minutes to go.

Dawn raids didn’t come bigger than this. The case had taken months to build. And now Kim Stone and her team were ready. The social workers were positioned across the road and would be given a signal to enter. Two little girls would not be sleeping here tonight.

Two minutes to go.

She keyed the radio. ‘Everyone in position?’

‘Awaiting your command, Guv,’ replied Hawkins. His team, parked two streets away, was poised to secure the rear of the property.

‘Good to go, Guv,’ said Hammond from the car behind. He had possession of the ‘big key’ that would gain a fast and deafening entrance.

One minute to go.

Kim’s hand rested above the door handle. Her muscles tensed, an adrenaline rush borne of impending danger; her body making the choice between fight or flight. As if flight had ever been an option.

She turned to look at Bryant, her partner, who had the most important thing: the warrant.

‘Bryant, you ready?’

He nodded.

Kim watched the second hand hit twelve. ‘Go, go, go,’ she called over the radio.

Eight pairs of boots thundered on the pavement and converged at the front door. Kim got there first. She stood aside as Hammond swung the enforcer at the door. The cheap wooden frame collapsed against three tonnes of kinetic energy.

As per the briefing, Bryant and a constable ran straight up the stairs towards the master bedroom to serve the warrant.

‘Brown, Griff, take the lounge and kitchen. Strip the place bare if you need to. Dawson, Rudge, Hammond, you’re with me.’

Immediately the house was filled with the sound of cupboard doors being swung open and drawers crashing shut.

Floorboards above her creaked and a woman wailed hysterically. Kim ignored it and gave the signal for the two social workers to enter the property.

She stood before the cellar door. A padlock secured the handle.

‘Hammond, bolt cutters,’ she called.

The officer materialised beside her and expertly snapped the metal.

Dawson stepped ahead of her, feeling along the wall for a switch.

A funnel of light from the hallway lit the stone steps. Dawson carried on down and powered up his torch, lighting the walkway beneath her feet. The smell of stale smoke and damp permeated the air.

Hammond headed over to the corner which held a spotlamp. He switched it on. The beam was aimed at the square gym mat that dominated the middle of the room. A tripod stood just beyond.

In the opposite corner was a wardrobe. Kim opened it to find a number of outfits including a school uniform and bathing costumes. On the floor of the wardrobe were toys: a rubber ring, beach ball, dolls.

Kim fought back the nausea.

‘Rudge, take photos,’ she instructed.

Hammond knocked on each of the walls, checking for any secret spaces.

In the furthest corner, in an alcove, sat a desk with a computer. Above it were three shelves. The top one was filled with magazines. The thin spines offered no clue to their content but Kim knew what they were. The middle shelf held a selection of digital cameras, mini discs and cleaning equipment. On the lowest shelf, she counted seventeen DVDs.

Dawson took the first one labelled Daisy Goes Swimming and put it into the disc drive. The high-powered machine quickly sprang into life.

Daisy, the eight-year-old, appeared on the screen in a yellow bathing costume. The rubber ring encircled her tiny waist. Her thin arms hugged her upper body but did nothing to stop the trembling.

Emotion gripped Kim’s throat. She wanted to tear her eyes away, but couldn’t. She pretended to herself that she could prevent what was about to happen – but of course she couldn’t, because it already had.

‘Wh— what now, Daddy?’ Daisy’s tremulous voice asked.

All activity stopped. The cellar stood still. Not a sound came from four hardened officers paralysed by the little girl’s voice.

‘We’re just going to play a little game, sweetheart,’ Daddy said, coming into camera view.

Kim swallowed and broke the spell. ‘Turn it off, Dawson,’ she whispered. They all knew what happened next.

‘Bastard,’ Dawson said. His fingers shook as he replaced the disc.

Hammond stared into the corner and Rudge slowly cleaned his camera lens.

Kim pulled herself together. ‘Guys, we are gonna make this piece of shit pay for what he’s done. I promise you that.’

Dawson took out the paperwork to itemise every piece of evidence. He had a long night ahead.

Kim heard a commotion upstairs. A female screamed hysterically.

‘Guv, can you come up here?’ Griff called.

Kim took one last look around. ‘Rip the place apart, guys.’

She met the officer at the top of the cellar steps. ‘What?’

‘Wife is demanding some answers.’

Kim strode to the front door, where a woman in her mid-forties stood clutching a dressing gown to her gaunt frame. Social workers placed her two shivering daughters into a Fiat Panda.

Sensing Kim behind her, Wendy Dunn turned. Her eyes were red against a colourless face. ‘Where are they taking my children?’

Kim controlled the urge to knock her out. ‘Away from your sick, perverted husband.’

The wife clutched the garment at her throat. Her head shook from side to side. ‘I didn’t know, I swear I didn’t know. I want my children. I didn’t know.’

Kim tipped her head. ‘Really? The wife tends to disbelieve it until she’s shown proof. You haven’t seen any proof yet, have you, Mrs Dunn?’

Her eyes darted everywhere but back at Kim. ‘I swear to you, I didn’t know.’

Kim leaned forward, the image of Daisy fresh in her mind. ‘You’re a lying bitch. You knew. You’re their mother and you allowed them to be damaged forever. I hope you never know a moment’s peace for the rest of your miserable damn life.’

Bryant appeared beside her. ‘Guv … ’

Kim dragged her gaze away from the trembling woman and turned round.

She looked over Bryant’s shoulder, straight into the eyes of the man responsible for ensuring that two young girls would never view the world as they should. Everything else in the house faded away and for a few seconds it was just the two of them.

She stared hard, noting the flaccid, excess skin that hung from his jaws like melting wax. His breathing was fast and laboured, his forty-stone body exhausted by any type of movement.

‘You can’t … fucking … come in here … and just do what … the hell you want.’

She walked towards him. Her entire being recoiled at closing the space between them. ‘I’ve got a warrant that says I can.’

He shook his head. ‘Get out of … my house … before I call my … solicitor.’

She removed the handcuffs from her back pocket. ‘Leonard Dunn, I am arresting you on suspicion of assault of a child under thirteen by penetration, sexual assault of a child under thirteen and causing a child under thirteen to engage in sexual activity.’

Her eyes bored into his. She saw only panic.

She opened the handcuffs as Bryant grabbed Dunn’s forearms in preparation.

‘You do not have to say anything. But it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.’

She closed the handcuffs, taking care not to touch the hairy, white flesh. She threw his arms away from her and looked at her partner.

‘Bryant, get this foul, sick bastard out of my sight before I do something that we’ll both regret.’