BooksBarbecue
Back 55 Save as PDF
Chapters (60)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. 1
  4. 2
  5. 3
  6. 4
  7. 5
  8. 6
  9. 7
  10. 8
  11. 9
  12. 10
  13. 11
  14. 12
  15. 13
  16. 14
  17. 15
  18. 16
  19. 17
  20. 18
  21. 19
  22. 20
  23. 21
  24. 22
  25. 23
  26. 24
  27. 25
  28. 26
  29. 27
  30. 28
  31. 29
  32. 30
  33. 31
  34. 32
  35. 33
  36. 34
  37. 35
  38. 36
  39. 37
  40. 38
  41. 39
  42. 40
  43. 41
  44. 42
  45. 43
  46. 44
  47. 45
  48. 46
  49. 47
  50. 48
  51. 49
  52. 50
  53. 51
  54. 52
  55. 53
  56. 54
  57. 55
  58. Acknowledgements
  59. About the author
  60. Copyright

Chandler gave her a wan smile. ‘The fact that your mum and me aren’t together isn’t yours or Jasper’s fault. Plus, it would take more than a few Hail Marys to get us back together.’

‘I’ll pray for it.’

‘You do that,’ said Chandler, kissing her on the forehead.

After a final check that his dad hadn’t slipped a couple of shells into the gun, Chandler left. Even now, late at night, an insistent residual heat from the baking-hot day rose from the tarmac, making being outside and exposed even more sticky and uncomfortable.

He navigated the quiet streets, passing nobody but Mitch’s officers in their unmarked cars. Lights beamed from windows of houses, but no one was framed by them. It was as if everyone in town had vanished.

His unhurried cruise was filled with thoughts about his daughter’s stories. Stories of sins committed and paid for. Of forgiveness and rough justice. Cain attacking his brother Abel, killing him. It got him thinking: were Gabriel and Heath brothers? He shook his head. Surely it couldn’t be. They looked nothing alike, in voice or appearance. There was something else going on . . .

Cain and Abel . . .

The names returned. He recalled seeing them recently, written down. The newspaper? Perp sheets? A list of something?

It came to him as he turned on to Harvey Street and he almost lost control of the car. He had seen them on a list . . . the one retrieved from the shack. He struggled to picture it, picture the names. He recalled some. There had been an Adam, a Seth, a Jared, a Sheila. All familiar and all relatively common, but he could have sworn he had seen them grouped together before. It might have been the lack of sleep scrambling his memory but maybe there was a nugget of truth in there.

He turned on to Prince’s. The names continued to nag him. The list in his head was added to: Adam, Seth, Jared, Sheila. Noah too. Cain and Abel. His memory thrust another vivid recollection to the front of his brain. He had seen the names before. In a book. He was sure of it. A book with a red cover and gold . . .

He slammed on the brakes at the junction leading on to Harper’s. There were no cars around to honk at him.

Chandler remembered.

40

His tyres scraped the kerb as he pulled up outside his house and jumped out. Gabriel had stated that religion was part of his upbringing. He had even noted that the one thing everyone had in common when born was needing their parents and being comforted with some form of religion. And that he had been failed by both.