Poetic Justice

5-1

5

“Can you stop that for a moment, Tara, there’s something I need to talk to you about,” Zack said. He shifted the pillow he was using as a seat closer to where the teen was lying on her belly while she played on his laptop.

It was a minute or so before Tara finished the game she was playing and tore her attention away from the screen. “What’s that, Mr Wild?” she asked.

“Do you have any family outside the village you can contact?”

“Why?”

“You’re going to need someone to look after you.” Zack saw the distress and panic on his guest’s face and hastened to reassure her. “You’re welcome to stay here as long as you want and need, I’m not about to kick you out after what you’ve been through, but I suspect the authorities, child services especially, would rather you were in the care of a relative. If you don’t have family who can take you in, at least until we know what’s going on with your dad, they may decide to place you in a home, or with a foster family.”

“But I don’t wanna go to a home or a foster family,” Tara protested.

“I’d rather you didn’t as well,” Zack told her. “I’m sure you’d be much better off with family than with strangers, and there’s your sister to think about as well. I’m sure it’s just a matter of time before she comes out of her coma, and when she does she’s going to need the kind of care you can only get from family. So, can you think of any relatives?”

Tara’s face screwed up in concentration as she thought about the question. Finally, she said, “I can’t think of anyone in the UK, my grandparents are all dead, but I’ve got an aunt in Canada. I haven’t seen or spoke to her in...I don’t know how long...years it must be.”

“Is there a reason you haven’t kept in touch with your aunt?” Zack asked. He wondered if there was a problem that would lead to her going into care, a prospect he was sure her father wished he could prevent. Unfortunately, Glen Wright was on remand for attempted murder, having been denied bail, and so could do little about his daughter’s situation.

A shrug was the only answer Tara had. “Don’t really know. I did hear once that dad and Aunt Brenda don’t get on, but don’t ask me why.” She made to turn her attention back to the laptop she was borrowing but had to stop when she realised that Zack wasn’t finished with her.

“Do you know how to get hold of your aunt?”

“Dad might have her number or her address somewhere, but I’ve no idea where. I guess I could have a look,” Tara said reluctantly.

Zack was not surprised that Tara seemed far from thrilled by the thought of going home, he was sure he would have felt the same if he was in her position. That didn’t matter, though, since he doubted it would be possible to search the house for contact details for her aunt until the police finished with the property.

“Can you think of any other way of getting in touch with your aunt?”

“I suppose I could find her on f*******:,” Tara said, though she didn’t look too confident about that.”

“I think you should try.” Zack pushed himself to his feet and crossed to his desk, which had somehow survived unscathed the attempt on his life when the rest of his furniture had suffered damage that required it to be taken away for repair. He returned to his cushion with a pad and pen, so they could work out what to say to Tara’s aunt once she was found.

**

* * * *

WITH BOTH THE PATROL cars belonging to Oakhurst’s small, and now even smaller, police force out of commission, Melissa was forced to walk down the road from Zack’s to the station. Ordinarily that wouldn’t have been a problem for her, she was in much better shape than her sugar-rich diet would suggest, thanks to an excessively high metabolism.

Today, though, after the night she had had, and the exertions involved in the arrest of Kieran Wright, walking was just about the last thing she wanted to do. She barely had the energy to put one foot in front of the other.

When she reached the station, she expected to be there for only a short while before returning to Zack Wild’s. It soon became clear that that was not going to be possible, however, when she approached the counter and her colleague, Constable Johnson, showed no sign of knowing she was there. He remained oblivious to her presence even when she waved a hand in front of his face to get his attention.

Worried, she hurried around the counter, and when she still couldn’t get a response from Johnson she called the doctor.

**