‘Hold on there, son. Help’s on the way. Can you hear me, Marcus?’ There was no answer and although Nikki was pretty sure they were going to be too late, she continued to talk to the boy.

Calls were still being shouted from around the house, but after checking the loft space and the cellar, the place was declared safe. Nikki still sat on the worn carpet with her hand across the boy’s shoulder, and cursed the day she had ever heard the name of Fluke. The raid may have been a success from the point of ascertaining the whereabouts of Marcus Lee, but they had lost their main man.

She looked around the filthy room. Well, at least, if Marcus had been brought here, then Fluke must have been here too, and forensics would have a good chance of picking up some DNA, once they had managed to discount twenty sets of policemen’s boots that had stamped all over the place.

‘Paramedics, ma’am.’ A PC looked over her shoulder at Marcus’s still form. ‘Are they too late?’

Nikki shrugged. ‘I’m no expert, but I hope the Ambulance Service have sent their best team, because this kid is going to need them.’

Half an hour later the ambulance pulled away. There were no sirens or blue lights. The crew had fought to stabilize him, but Marcus Lee had sustained a catastrophic head injury from which there was no coming back.

Nikki closed up the house, saw it was cordoned off and arranged with the sergeant to organize a police watch.

‘No one goes in or out. I’ve already sent for the Scene of Crime officers, and until they are through, this is off limits to absolutely everyone.’

She walked back out into the night, and to her car. She felt tired; no, she felt exhausted, and for a moment she wondered how Joseph kept going. She just had to get her head down, if only for a few hours. She turned on the ignition and looked at the time. Two o’bloody clock!

With a long, noisy yawn, she pulled out of Carson Villas and headed for the station. She would write a swift report for the superintendent, then ring him early morning. He had asked to be kept updated, but as there was nothing he, or anyone else, could do right now for Marcus Lee, she’d allow him a few more hours of precious sleep.

She parked badly, cursed, then locked the car anyway. Just a few more minutes work and she could go home. Young Mickey was safe with his own personal and very professional bodyguard, and her energy levels had just plummeted to rock bottom. She craved sleep. Joseph Easter may be SuperCop, but she really was only human.

Nikki awoke at five, with her alarm clock beeping in ever increasing volume close to her ear. For the first time in years, she had slept soundly and dreamlessly.