TEL’ANNASPain radiated from my shoulder, I knew going into tonight that Blaze had changed the plan, he assured me he’d told the others of the change and after much apprehension I’d agreed to it. But fuck me, even though it was a blank I’d been shot with it fucking hurt like a bitch and I hit the ground like a sack of potatoes.Anarchy had descended over the fight ring. It was enough of a distraction that no one noticed Alexander Ducane had made his way over one of the exits. Playing dead and stuck in this tiny cage, there was nothing I could do.Everyone was out to save themselves, they were running for the exits as the guards and security tried to round them all up. Some were trying to fight their way out, while others were resigned to the fact they’d been caught and put up little resistance.Towards the middle of the ring I could see Dane and Eric going at one another. The look on Dane’s face fucking scared the shit out of me. Max Ducane had disappeared into the chaos and the othe
DANEFuck! It had taken longer than I had anticipated dealing with Eric, that I’d lost sight of my goal—to get to Tel’annas. By the time I’d knocked him out and left him for the Feds to deal with, she had been loaded into the back of an ambulance and was being rushed to a hospital. Dread started to pool within my gut thinking the worst as I scanned the chaos around me, looking for the one person responsible for the shit storm we were currently facing.“Did anyone see where Blaze went?” I yelled down the comms, hoping that at least someone in my team had been keeping an eye on him. Maybe it had been the guilt that had stopped me from going straight for her, I couldn’t tell. “We need to find out which hospital they are taking her to, I want feet on the ground there when she arrives, we can’t leave her unprotected.”All day I had been quietly trying to convince myself that everything would be okay after this, we’d be able to go back to what we were, but somewhere deep inside I knew that
Kennedy The moment Anna Josephine stepped into my office five months, six days and four hours ago, I knew she was one beautiful package of trouble. She dropped herself into the seat opposite, sitting just as she is right now, with the same world-hating scowl on her pretty face, the same hunch of her perfectly sloping shoulders, and the same nervous tap of her right foot. She told me back then, just as she will today, that she doesn’t give a fuck about anything. She doesn’t give a fuck about claiming assistance and applying for college. She doesn’t give a fuck about the fact she’s less than a week away from being homeless. She doesn’t give a fuck about the latest foster family she’s run ragged these past few months. Anna Josephine has a chip on her shoulder bigger than the file of case notes with her name on the cover. She has a wildness about her, and if those feral looks of hers could kill, I’d be a dead man right now, along with half of my colleagues in this building. Her long
Anna I keep my head down as I stomp away from Kennedy Warren’s office. They all hate me in here, all the pen-pushers and the snotty bitches behind the crappy reception desk. All their smiley rainbow welcome signs mean nothing in this place, not if your face doesn’t fit. They want the nice kids who speak when they’re spoken to and say thank you whenever anyone throws them a scrappy crumb of nothing. They want nice kids like the one outside Kennedy’s office, with big sad puppy dog eyes and a smile for everyone. Those are the kids that get good homes. Kids like me, not so much. But I’m not a kid anymore. In a couple of days I’ll be kicked out of the latest home I was palmed off on. Rosie and Bill will be glad to see the back of me, and I don’t blame them. Not really. They’re good people. Kind. I just… I can’t stop myself shoving my shitty attitude in their faces until they break. It doesn’t matter who they are, they always break in the end. I’ve been in fourteen homes since I tur
Kennedy I rarely drink, especially not on a week night, but completing my final writeup and filing Anna’s case notes into the archive room is more than enough to drive me to a few after work. I tidy my desk and take one final look at Anna’s muddy boot prints before shutting down my PC for the day. None of us here are miracle workers. We do our best, but not every case on our books has a happy ending. I’ve watched kids grow into adults with even bigger challenges than the ones they faced in the chair opposite me. I’ve lost good kids to a life of drugs in Bristol or Birmingham once they’ve taken a one-way ticket out of our sleepy county for pastures new. You hear about them, the ones who didn’t make it. It’s not a rare event that we get enquiries from lawyers and prosecutors digging for background information for their criminal cases. Some support workers can’t handle the disappointment. For others of us, we take the rough with the smooth – finding encouragement in the kids that we do
Anna Eddie is an idiot, but he’s fun enough and he’s paying. He brought me a couple of beers out to the back of the George and Dragon, then we dashed into the Brewers Arms for one before stumbling down the street to Drury’s Tavern. I’m already past dinner time back at Rosie and Bill’s, but who gives a shit. Not them, that’s for sure. It’s probably a relief. Eddie swings open the big door of Drury’s and I follow him in. I’ve been drinking on an empty stomach and it’s gone to my head, but I don’t care. Why should I? Nobody else does. I’ve barely got enough bus money to get home to Lydbrook and the timetable is pathetic here. The last bus leaves about six, and I’m sure I’ve missed it already, but that feels hazy now. Maybe I can bunk up with Eddie tonight. I don’t want him, but I’m sure he wants me, and that’s bound to be enough to get me somewhere to sleep at least. I’ll kick him in the balls if he tries to grope me. If he doesn’t let me stay after that, I’ll sleep outside. I’ve don
KennedyI don’t let go of Anna’s wrist as I head across the High Street towards my apartment building’s car parking area. I curse under my breath as I check for bystanders. This town is full of eyes and ears and there’s every chance the fake news that I dragged Anna back to mine will hit my office before I do in the morning. I could do without that, not least because I’ll have questions to answer that won’t look great on my employment file. I don’t give a fuck what they say about me, but if stupid rumours were to impact the kids on my caseload… It doesn’t bear thinking about.I’m crazy for getting involved, but I can’t stop. My feet take it upon themselves to keep on walking, my heart hammering while my mind spins with justifications for my actions, even though I know there are other ways to handle this.I could’ve looked up Rosie and Bill’s number and called them out to collect her. I could’ve opened up the office and made her wait in reception with me until they arrived.I pull my c
“Not anymore,” she says, and I’m pleased to pass the sign for Lydbrook. My neck feels itchy under my collar, my palms sweaty on the wheel. She points out Bill and Rosie’s on the right, but I’m already turning. I pull onto their driveway and their Labrador starts barking from the porch. Anna is out of the car in a heartbeat. She gives me nothing but a cursory thanks before she slams the passenger door and heads to the house alone, but that’s not how this ends. I follow her, catching her on the doorstep just as she’s trying the handle. It’s locked. It surprises me, but it is. She hammers on the wood with her fist. “Do you not have a key?” I ask. She shakes her head. “They don’t want me to have one.” Don’t trust her with one, more likely. I shouldn’t blame them, knowing her, but I can’t help but feel hurt on her behalf. It’s Bill who comes to the front door. He looks drawn and grey as he answers, his face a grimace until he sees me standing alongside his ward. “Kennedy,” he say