‘Go,’ she said firmly, and kissed him, keeping the worry out of her face, smiling, trying not to let any of it show. ‘You have to go. Sort it out. Then come back to me.’

106

106

‘Where is the little arsehole?’ asked Josh when he and Connor got indoors. Connor had picked him up from the airport as always, and said little on the way back except that the shit had hit the fan, and why had his sister been so stupid as to marry such a low-life creep?

How do we know who we’re going to fall in love with? thought Josh. Once, he might have called Aysha stupid too, but that was before he’d met up with Claire again. He felt a wash of shame sweep over him at the situation. He hated it here now and he wanted to be back in the States, with Claire. Not here, sorting out yet another mess. Seeing Shauna again, bringing back all the doubts, all the unanswered questions, all the bone-deep loathing he felt for her and which he could now barely conceal.

Shauna was there, sitting in the living room next to a pale-looking Aysha.

‘I’ll take your bag upstairs,’ said Connor.

‘Thanks.’ It struck Josh then that he was going to have to sleep in the master suite, in the same bed as Shauna. If he took the spare room, there’d be hell to pay and she’d never stop pecking his head over it. Christ, he’d become so far removed from her that it filled him with horror, the thought that she might reach for him in the night.

Shauna stood up, came over to him, kissed his cheek. He forced himself to kiss her back, without warmth. Then Aysha levered herself to her feet and came over. ‘Daddy!’ she said, and hugged him; but she didn’t cry. She seemed too shocked for that.

‘It’s all right,’ said Josh. ‘We’ll work this out. Where is Joey?’ he asked as Connor came back downstairs and stood beside him. ‘They let him out, didn’t they? He was just helping with inquiries?’

‘He’s over at his dad’s place, but I had a word with him before he went,’ said Connor. ‘The thick little fucker. He set it up then got cold feet. He was doing garden clearance at this old lady’s house. Talked about it with two of his mates down the club, told them the old woman had a safe under the stairs and money all over the place in the house. They broke in and started slapping her about to get the combo out of her, and then she goes and drops dead with fright. One of the neighbours mentioned the gardener Joey Minghella and bob’s your uncle, here we are.’

‘He wouldn’t have hurt the old woman,’ said Aysha.

Josh shook his head. ‘Aysha. He killed the poor old tart, doing what he did.’