Something In The Air

Chapter 19 - The Verdict

Maddox didn't sleep well that night. He went to bed in reasonable time, having shadowed Megan back to her house to make sure she was okay then having an early dinner, but his mind was bouncing with so much restless energy that it took him several hours before he finally settled. Sleep came in fits and starts and when he woke up for the umpteenth time, he realised he was sweating all over, the sheets drenched and his forehead practically on fire. He'd got up and headed down to the kitchen and managed to swallow three whole glasses of water in the space of a minute. He also took two tablets of ibuprofen. Physically he was feeling awful and he was almost certain it was because his antibiotics still weren't working as they were meant to. But mentally he was as excited as a kid on Christmas morning and so when he eventually made it to dawn and pulled back the curtains, he was faced with a difficult decision: return to hospital and see if they could do anything for him or go ahead with the day as planned.

Actually, it wasn't a difficult decision at all.

Leon called him unexpectedly whilst he was having breakfast, sounding back to his usual chirpy self after his darkened mood following their conversation with the mayor.

"Ready for the big day?" he asked.

"Could be feeling slightly perkier," Maddox confessed. "Nothing that a large mug of coffee won't fix though. You?"

Leon went to reply, but his voice was drowned out by a high-pitched squeal and the sound of thundering feet.

"Is something going on over there?" Maddox asked, momentarily holding the phone away from his ear. "I didn't know you lived in a zoo."

"Just getting the girls ready for school," Leon replied, suddenly sounding a bit stressed. "Be glad that the only kid you have to look after is yourself. Hang on, one second, Hugh... No, Izzy, I haven't seen your homework. I mean, are you sure you even did it...? I very much doubt Abi would steal it, she's ten months old... Yes, why don't you go and check your bedroom again...? All right, I'm back, Hugh. Sorry about that."

"No worries," Maddox mumbled, his cheeks full of porridge having used the moment's wait to continue with his breakfast. "I was just thinking, not the loudest screams that I've heard this past day."

"Oh yeah, how so? Though make it quick because I need to be off in a sec."

Maddox briefly explained the events of yesterday following their separation at the town hall, starting with Megan breaking Christos' arm and finishing with Maddox revealing the years of sexual abuse that he had inflicted on Sophie without anyone else knowing.

"Damn, that's awful," Leon said bitterly. "And for her to still be missing after all that, how much darkness can there be in the world for one person? I've got some news of my own to share, by the way: the report on Milos' recent phone activity has just been sent to me. Remember there was that one phone number that appeared more frequently than all the others, including the morning you were attacked? It was traced to a pay-as-you-go mobile bought from a store on Oxford Street no more than three weeks ago. There was no personal information attached to it and when we tried to call the number the line was dead. It looks like whoever owned the mobile knows what happened to Milos and has destroyed the only connection."

"Shit, what about the others?"

"All equally dead ends, I'm afraid. A couple were to a small-time black-market arms dealer who the police were already aware of and who must have supplied Milos with his weaponry. Apart from what Milos looked like which we knew already, he couldn't tell us anything. The rest were mainly takeaway joints would you believe."