‘I’ll come and get you when I’m done,’ the doctor called over to Harry. ‘Shouldn’t be too long.’
‘What’s actually wrong with him?’ Harry asked.
‘Diabetes,’ the doctor replied. ‘It’s one of the worst cases I’ve ever seen. He’s not been best at looking after himself and it’s progressed to neuropathic damage, so he can’t walk, though I think there’s a part of him that won’t walk as well. So he’s been getting sores, from not moving enough.’
‘Sounds lovely,’ Harry said. ‘Just come and get me when you’re done.’
With the doctor gone, Harry had a few moments to himself. The Land Rover was warm from the journey, the rattling heater having done its best to bake him alive and deafen him at the same time. Outside, there was a hint of rain in the air, so Harry decided against going for a walk.
Leaning forward onto the steering wheel to rest his chin on his folded arms, Harry thought back over everything that had happened since Monday, the murders, the scant evidence. The thought that someone was out there hunting down a group of adults who used to be in a gang at school struck him as beyond bizarre. Something had triggered it, of that he was certainly, and his gut was telling him that once that trigger was found, then the identity of the killer would be revealed. Did it have something to do with that scribbled out incident in the school logbook? If it did, what kind of incident could be so bad as to cause what was happening now? Revenge was one thing, but revenge lasting all the way back to the school playground? That was something Harry had never come across in his life before. But there was a first time for everything, wasn’t there?
A sound trilled into Harry’s thoughts and it took him a second or two to realise it was his phone, which had somehow slipped from his pocket and was in the passenger footwell. He reached over, grabbed it, and answered.
‘Grimm.’
‘It’s DSI Firbank,’ came the reply. ‘This won’t take long because I haven’t got long. Can you talk?’
Harry stared out of the windscreen to where the doctor had walked but there was no sign of him coming out yet. ‘Yes, I can speak. I’m assuming this is about Ben.’
‘It is, yes,’ the DSI replied. ‘First, Ben is safe, I want you to know that, and it’s why I’m calling you myself. He is safe, Harry. Is that clear? Do you understand those words? You need to.’
‘Crystal,’ Harry replied, already wondering why the DSI was laying it on so thick.
‘Good, because it needs to be as what I’m about to tell you is confidential.’
Harry didn’t like the sound of that at all. ‘Confidential? But I’m his brother! His only blood relative other than our dad, and that bastard doesn’t count, does he?’
‘Ben has been moved,’ the DSI said, ignoring Harry’s protestations. ‘Based on the information you gave me, a threat was identified. Because of this, and also because of who you are and what your father is known to be involved with, Ben has now been taken to an undisclosed location.’
‘What the hell does that mean?’
‘It means, Grimm, that you are not to know where your brother is, for now, anyway. It’s too dangerous, for him, for you.’
‘What?’ Harry couldn’t believe what he was hearing. How the hell was he supposed to be a big brother, to look after his little brother, if he didn’t even know where Ben was? It made no sense! ‘You can’t do that!’ he shouted. ‘I need to know. I have to!’
‘It’s not actually my decision,’ the DSI said. ‘Ben doesn’t even know where he is. And, not only that, we’ve given him a new identity. Nothing too difficult to remember, so he should be fine. But right now, where he is, his identity, everything, is classified.’
Harry laughed, the sound cold and hard. ‘Classified? This is starting to sound a little James Bond if you ask me. What the hell’s going on? What aren’t you telling me?’
‘I’m not telling you what I can’t tell you, Grimm,’ the DSI said. ‘Ben is safe. And right now, that should be your only consideration. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have other things to be getting on with, as I’m sure you do, too.’
‘He’s my brother!’ Harry yelled. ‘You don’t get to keep anything to do with him a secret from me! You can’t!’
‘I can, Harry,’ the DSI said. ‘I’m sorry, but I can, and I have to. Goodbye.’
The line went dead.
Harry threw his phone down hard hoping that it would smash into a thousand pieces. It didn’t. Instead, it sort of just landed with a dull metallic thump and then started playing some annoying music. And, as he went to reach down to pick it up, movement caught Harry’s eye. Sitting back up, Harry found himself staring at the shambling figure of the doctor, stumbling towards him, blood streaming down his face and soaking into his jacket.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Harry grabbed his phone and was out of the Land Rover bullet quick. He raced over to the doctor who fell to his knees and into a dirty puddle just as Harry got to him.
‘Shitting hell!’ Harry hissed. ‘What’s happened to you? I’m calling an ambulance!’
The doctor
