She lowered herself to the ground and placed the frame against the grave.
‘This is for you,’ she said as the tears thickened her voice. Had it not been for the time she had spent in their care Kim knew not what she might have become. That brief interlude in her childhood had been enough. Those three years had shown her the type of person she wanted to become. They had set her up for life.
They had shown her what it was like to be part of a family and had loved her unconditionally. And she had loved them in return.
Any award would always belong to them.
She took from her pocket the second piece of paper. The one Erica had placed in her bag on that last and fateful day.
To other people it might only have been a permission slip to attend a school trip to Dudley Zoo, but to her it was so much more.
She opened the well-worn sheet of typewritten paper that was separated in two by a dotted line across the middle.
The top half was the detail of the trip: date, day and requirements for a packed lunch. The second paragraph was a request for their ‘charge’ to attend.
But it was as her eyes continued down the sheet that her vision began to blur. It didn’t matter because emblazoned across her mind was where they had scribbled out the word ‘charge’ and inserted the word ‘daughter’.
For a moment she let the tears flow as she clutched the paper that was all she had left.
She took a few deep breaths and fought the tears away.
She touched the top of the headstone lightly.
‘I love you, and I miss you,’ she whispered softly down to the ground.
A smile fought its way through the tears. After today she would remember only the love and the good times they had shared. They deserved no less.
She sighed heavily as she walked towards her bike. There was just one last thing that remained to be done.
She took out her phone and scrolled down her contact list. She pressed to call and a voice answered on the second ring.
‘Hey, Frost, it’s me. How are you feeling?’
‘Hello, Inspector, how—’
‘That’ll be Stone to you, Frost, if I remember correctly.’
Kim heard a soft chuckle on the other end of the phone.
‘It’s been a strange week to be honest. I feel different, you know?’
‘Yeah, near-death experiences will do that to you. But you’ll be back to yourself in no time.’
‘Really?’
‘Nah, not completely. Shit like that changes us a bit. In your case, hopefully for the better but who—’
‘Hey, there’s no need for that,’ Tracy said with a smile in her voice.
Kim heard her mumble something away from the phone.
‘Sorry?’
‘Nothing, I was just thanking my mum for the seventh cup of tea of the day. Apparently it’ll make me all better.’
‘You sleeping?’ Kim asked.
‘Not so much. Not exactly nightmares but just distorted replays.’
Kim understood. ‘That will pass,’ she offered.
She thought about Tracy’s cold, barren house, devoid of everything except for secrets. The complete absence of life and joy, family and friends.
‘We were looking for you, you know. We were determined to get you back,’ Kim said.
‘I know,’ Tracy whispered, and Kim could hear the full extent of emotion in the woman’s throat in those two short words.
Kim cleared her throat. ‘So when am I to expect this starring role in that article of yours?’ she asked.
‘Ha, Stone, what article? You really gotta stop thinking you’re all that, you know.’
Kim couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped from her lips. But now to the real purpose of the phone call.
‘Okay listen, Frost, and listen good because this will never be repeated. Let the past go. The minute you decided to climb that hill defined the person you are now. Don’t ever forget that – because I won’t.’
The line went quiet for a second before Tracy spoke.
‘Hey, Stone, does this mean we’re friends now?’
Kim laughed out loud. ‘Don’t bloody push it, Frost. I’m sure we’ll be banging heads again soon enough.’
Kim ended the call with Tracy Frost still chuckling in the background. She knew that the woman would be okay. She was a fighter, and she would bounce back.
Damn it, Kim acknowledged with a smile. It looked like they were alike after all.