The thought played on a loop in my head. If only Mum could read my mind. She was backing Jon into a corner and that made him not just unpredictable but volatile.

He looked Mum up and down. ‘You know what, Sephy? I believe you. I think you do know what it is to go without, even if you are a Cross,’ Jon replied. ‘But people like Tobey get away with murder – literally. So why shouldn’t I grab something for me in the meantime? Why should people like Tobey always win and people like me always lose?’

‘If you tried removing your head from your arse, you’d be able to see that Tobey had nothing to do with Dan’s death,’ Mum said, taking another step forward.

Once again, Sonny tried to pull her back, but she wasn’t having it.

‘To hell with this man and his pity party for one,’ Mum told Sonny, before turning to face Jon again.

‘Mum, please—’ I pleaded out loud this time.

‘And, Sephy, you know that for a fact, do you?’ mocked Jon.

‘Yes, I do actually,’ said Mum. ‘I know exactly who killed Dan and it wasn’t Tobey.’

sixty-one. Sephy

Now all eyes in the room were on me. I had everyone’s attention, but I only had eyes for Jon. This man was fully armed and extremely dangerous and I wasn’t going to let him start shooting up the place, not with my daughter present.

‘Tobey’s innocent? Who told you that? Your daughter? Your establishment friends? You’ve bought into their lies,’ said Jon scornfully. ‘You’re letting them use you as part of a cover-up. I thought you were smarter, or at least had more conscience.’

‘Oh hell, no!’ Was this guy for real? ‘You’re standing there with a gun pointed at me and you’re gonna lecture me about conscience? Jonny Duba, you are a dickhead of multidimensions. The truth doesn’t stop being the truth just ’cause you don’t like it.’

‘Who was it then?’ asked Jon. ‘Who killed Dan?’

I resisted the almost overpowering urge to look at my daughter. ‘What’s the point of telling you, Jon? How would that change anything?’

‘I want to know.’

‘Then want must be your master,’ I replied.

Jon’s face tightened. He raised the gun, his hand tightening round the stock. ‘Tell me.’

‘No!’ Sonny tried to move in front of me, but I blocked him. I wasn’t going to let him or anyone else for that matter get hurt because of me. I needed to distract Jon so that Jarvis or Tobey could make their move. Sonny couldn’t, Eva wouldn’t and Callie shouldn’t.

‘Jon, you’ve already admitted that this is about money, not justice, so what’s your problem?’ I asked.

‘Sephy …’ Sonny warned softly.