For Charlie.

They say that forgiveness is the way, and that the only one to suffer is the one who does not forgive and fails to move on. But that is not how Nina saw things. She was angry, furious in fact, every single day. When she woke, it was all she could think about. The events of last year even haunted her in her dreams. There was no escape, and she felt suffocated. Her head was a mess, her heart was on fire, and she struggled to eat and stay healthy. Panic attacks were regular and at times, she struggled to breathe.

What they had done was inexcusable. Someone must pay. There had been a miscarriage of justice and Nina was consumed with rage. But what could one angry mother do? How could she even think about moving forward whilst her child’s killer walked free? It was all that Nina could think about, talk about, and write about on social media. She had campaigned, given interviews, written a petition, but nothing seemed to make a difference.

She had been told to forgive the driver who mowed down her son. But how could she? He was drunk. Intoxicated. And he should never have been behind the wheel. The trial had lasted three weeks and there was a wealth of evidence from both the prosecution and defence. Video footage of the offender had been obtained from a nightclub in Manchester’s gay quarter. Yes, it did show that the driver’s drink had been spiked, but surely, he knew that he wasn’t fit to drive.

Nina was obsessed. She needed the driver to understand her pain. Charlie was only six years old and had his entire life ahead of him. The car had swerved toward them and there was no time to react. Nina suffered a broken leg and some bruising, but Charlie’s head took the biggest hit. He was dead upon impact and Nina held him in the street, screaming, crying, in pain – physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. She had never felt anything like it and the same pain consumed her still.

During the trial, the man who spiked the driver’s drink had been identified as Michael Downey, but he also got to walk away. Nina couldn’t wrap her head around it all. The man who spiked the drink was likely to have taken the driver somewhere to take advantage, because why else would someone spike a drink? But because that never happened and of course, he denied any motive other than ‘having a laugh’, he got away with it. The driver, Marcus Moretti, was under the influence, but proceeded to his car. He was never Michael’s victim because he got a phone call and left the club before Michael could move in to do anything. Marcus was arguably saved from a sexual attack, but instead, he had killed a child. Video footage showed Marcus stumbling to his car and getting in.

He was essentially identified as a victim, and the Judge had decided that having the weight of a child’s death on his conscience was punishment enough. Nina was gobsmacked, horrified and livid, all at the same time. She wanted to crack everyone’s heads and wring their necks. Family members told her to calm down, to breathe, and to know that the accident – as they called it – was just that, and to forgive those involved in the chain of events that led to Charlie’s death. After all, what good would it do to focus on it and sit and stew? They told her that living in the past would ensure she had no future.

“You took everything away from me you fucking piece of shit”, Nina shouted in the courtroom after the ‘not guilty’ verdict had been delivered to Moretti. The Judge ordered her to be quiet and threatened removal from the courtroom. Nina broke down in tears and was escorted out anyway by her sister. Nina’s sister was the only one who came close to understanding. Nancy, a police officer with over twenty years’ experience, knew that this case was flawed. She also couldn’t understand why no one had been sentenced for Charlie’s death, and she had started to feel somewhat embarrassed to call herself a Police Officer. Every day, looking in the mirror, checking over her uniform, her stomach turned over and she felt ashamed. Nancy wished there was something she could do. She would never be able to bring Charlie back, but surely there was a way to bring these two men to justice.

Nancy called Nina every day to check in with her and visited weekly, as best she could in between shift patterns. From earlies, lates, and nights, it wasn’t easy to maintain a routine, but Nancy was worried about her sister and wanted to make sure she wasn’t going to kill herself, or worse. She did consider that Nina might do something stupid, like go after the guys in this case. Nancy had seen some situations in which victims of crime decided to take matters into their own hands.

“I know you want to keep me out of prison, but I don’t care. Charlie was all I lived for, and now he’s gone. I know he was your nephew, but I was, am, still his mother and I don’t care anymore. I don’t care what happens to me. I just need Charlie to know that I did everything I could to make his killers pay”.

Nancy looked at Nina, and then down at the floor. She was about to make a decision that would alter her entire life. An experienced and well-respected officer of the law was about to potentially upend her entire career, and risk being taken into custody if caught or suspected of assisting her sister in any way.

“How can I help?”, Nancy asked.

Nina turned and glared at her. “You really want to do this?”, she asked. “You’ll be putting everything on the line, for me, for Charlie”.

“I know”, replied Nancy. “But, if nothing else, I’ve learned that sometimes, policing, the justice system, it doesn't do what it’s meant to. It makes mistakes. It fucks up. And it gets things wrong. These fuckers got away with murder, literally, and we’re the ones left trying to pick up the pieces. I’m done with it. What can I do to help?”.

Nina was surprised. Her sister had been so strait-laced and all about her job for as long as she could remember. Was it a trap? Was her own sister trying to set her up so that she could take her down before these men were made to pay?

“Why?”, asked Nina. “Why do you even want to help me or get involved?”.

“Because he was my baby too. I know he was yours Nina, but he was mine too. I loved him. I still love him. I’m never going to have kids. I never wanted them for myself. But Charlie was the baby I never had, and none of this is ok. These fuckers don’t deserve to get away with it. They don’t deserve to live”.

Nina stopped. She had been pacing the living room up and down, but was now frozen, and considering what her sister had just said. Could her sister, the cop, actually help her take these guys out? Nina had been dreaming about the death of Michael and Marcus for twelve months, but now this had just gotten real.

“Ok, yes you can help. But I need you to cover your tracks. You need to be able to deny any involvement. I don’t want you going down for me”, said Nina.

“I’ll be careful”, said Nancy. “There are ways and ways of doing things, don’t you worry. Even I need to bend the rules from time to time”, and gave her sister a wink.

Nina found this intriguing. She couldn’t imagine Nancy bending or breaking rules. But then she didn’t know much about how the Police operated either, or how they got the results they did. Perhaps a little evidence planting to catch the right guy and put him in jail, didn’t actually go amiss. She didn’t much care either. All she could think about was making Charlie’s killers pay.

At work, Nancy was on guard but pretended to be carefree and focused on whatever case she had been assigned to. From arresting shoplifters, to being involved in big drug busts, she was as committed as always – and her impressive track record was often spoken about by other Officers. Nancy was well-known, well-liked, and often looked up to by younger recruits. She refused to mentor anyone though. Nancy was focused on herself, and it showed. No husband, no boyfriends, and no kids. It was her and the job, all day, every day.

Nina and Nancy had discussed that due to her impeccable record, no one would suspect Nancy of illegally obtaining information, regardless of who it was for. Nancy had been steadfast during the trial and even discussed with colleagues at the time that things don’t always work out at court as you hoped they might. She knew all too well that you can never guarantee a positive outcome or the length of sentencing you think someone deserves. Sometimes, it’s a lot of effort for very little reward.

Nancy knew how and where to look for the file, and how to get both offender’s addresses without getting caught. Her Inspector was pretty useless at locking his computer at the end of his day, and this wasn’t the first time Nancy had essentially broken into his system to get what she needed. Names, addresses, phone numbers, email accounts, and of course, access to the Police National Computer for details of arrests, charges and convictions.

She wrote down the address details for both Michael Downey and Marcus Moretti and got their phone numbers too. Nancy knew how to clear search terms and leave the screen exactly as she had found it. She knew both men were guilty of Charlie’s murder. All she needed to know was where to find them.

Nancy left it a few days before passing the information to her sister. She always waited to ensure there was no fallout from using Inspector Brownlow’s PC. The last thing she needed was someone to discover a ‘hack’, swiftly followed by some sort of action taken against the person whose information had been stolen and passed on. Nancy was smart, and she had been doing this a long time. Dedicated to the job, yes, but selling information on the side. She had been making very good money in exchange for details of where paedophiles lived and had been playing rival gangs off against each other – whilst being protected by both, as they each assumed to have Nancy’s back and vice versa.

Nina was overjoyed when Nancy handed her the piece of paper with two men’s details on. Her hands shook, and she began to cry. “Thank you”, she managed to blub.

“You’re welcome. Now, have you decided how this is going to go down?”.

“Yes”, replied Nina, “But I don’t want to tell you too much. We agreed you need to stay out of everything. You cannot know where, and how, and I cannot have you in prison Nancy. I just can’t. I need you here with me”.

“Ok. Just call me when it’s done”. Nancy handed Nina a phone and said, “The number to call is already stored. Don’t call me on my usual number, and don’t use any other phone. Don’t even take yours with you”. Nina nodded and took hold the mobile phone. Nancy gave her sister a hug and left. She felt anxious but knew that her sister would never be able to rest until these men were dealt with, and she was sick and tired of seeing criminals walk free. At least this time, she could help serve up some justice and give Nina closure at the same time.

Nina waited. She didn’t want to move too soon, and she didn’t want to get her sister into trouble. But she did have a plan. She had spent the last twelve months researching, plotting and planning. Nina had lost a significant amount of weight since the trial and so looked quite different. Buying a wig hadn’t been all that difficult, and she had requested a trial for contact lenses from her optometrist. Her look was complete with plain black leggings and black hoodie, and now all she needed to do was make her move.

Nina had bought for cash, an old car which she kept parked around the corner to where she lived. She often drove it at night when she couldn’t sleep and made sure that no one saw her getting in and out. It wasn’t taxed or insured but Police were never in the area to run a check on it, and she had given a fake name and address when she exchanged with the seller. It was perfect. A new look and a vehicle to move around in under the radar.

Nina chose Friday night to go out and visit Michael Downey. His address was only eleven miles away but given that she had learned he was a gay man and liked to cruise the bars and clubs of Manchester’s city, she decided to visit the scene there first. There would be no mistaking his face, as it was etched in her brain, so she would know him if she saw him again. Nina made her way through three different establishments before spotting Michael. He was stood in a corner chatting to another man – someone much younger, maybe too young to even be there, she thought. “He’s a fucking predator”, she muttered under her breath.

Nina felt that not only was she honouring Charlie’s death but that she may well be putting an end to a rapist’s line of victims. She ordered a drink and waited. She watched, and bobbed her head to the music to try and blend in. As she saw Michael and the young man leaving together, she pretended to take a phone call, and left the club shortly after.

Nina followed Michael and his next victim down the street and around the corner. The young man was leaning into Michael, stumbling as he walked, clearly under the influence. They walked for about ten minutes, finally turning into Saffron Crescent, and Nina watched as Michael opened his front door, number nine – the same address Nancy had provided. Michael pushed the young man inside and closed the door behind them. Nina allowed for two minutes to pass and then knocked on Michael’s door.

She heard movement, and then a voice, “Who the fuck is that at this time of night?”. The door opened and Michael appeared wearing only his jeans. Nina didn’t hesitate. The large stainless steel kitchen knife plunged straight into Michael’s stomach. Michael let out a brief groan, and another as Nina twisted the blade around ninety degrees and then pulled it out. Blood poured thick and fast, and Michael’s jeans were quickly saturated.

“This is for Charlie, you fucking bastard. And for all the men you’ve drugged and raped”. Nina took a rag from her coat pocket and wiped the blade. Michael fell to his knees. He held his stomach but could do nothing to stop the blood. His eyes seemed to glaze over and there were no words, only pain, and perhaps the cold reflection that he was about to die. Nina stood over him as he slumped forward, his head lowered, and his back exposed. She took a deep breath, raised the knife, and then plunged it deep into his back. Another groan, and another as she withdrew the blade from deep within his body. She wiped the blood away once again and stuffed the rag back into her pocket. Michael’s breathing quickly changed. He was gasping for air and fell backwards.

Nina hadn’t planned on stabbing him in the back, but the opportunity had presented itself and she felt compelled to do more damage. She wanted to be sure that he would die. There should be no comeback, no identifying her as his attacker, and no chance for him to harm anyone ever again. Nina lowered herself down, shifted Michael’s legs to one side and then pulled the door closed. She tucked the knife back inside her coat, turned around and walked the few feet along the pathway to the road, crossed over and headed back in the direction she had come.

Nina arrived back at her car which she had parked down a dark side street. She peeled off the black latex gloves she was wearing and rolled them into a ball. She placed them in the same pocket as the rag, and from the other pocket pulled out the phone Nancy had given her. “It’s done”, she said, “Number one is finished”.

“Ok”, replied Nancy, “Now get changed, and drive back. Dispose of everything you were wearing, and take a shower when you get in. Burn anything that might be contaminated. Wipe down everything you touch in the car. Park it far away from the house and don’t go near it for at least a couple of weeks. It’ll be on CCTV and an ANPR will have pinged it at some point, so they’ll be looking for vehicles in the area. Don’t do anything out of the ordinary when the news breaks. Just carry on with your life, business as usual, ok?”.

“Ok”, said Nina, taking it all in.

“How do you feel?”, asked Nancy.

“Better”, said Nina. “I think I’ll sleep well tonight”.

“Good. We’ll deal with the second one when the time is right”, instructed Nancy, and hung up.

Nina followed her sister’s every instruction and woke the following morning having slept properly for the first time since Charlie’s death. Nothing, she thought, is a sweet as revenge, and justice had finally been served.

Words: 2,992.