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Chapters (62)
  1. Title
  2. Copyright
  3. Contents
  4. About the Author
  5. About the Book
  6. Dedication
  7. Your Worst Nightmare
  8. ONE
  9. TWO
  10. THREE
  11. FOUR
  12. FIVE
  13. SIX
  14. SEVEN
  15. EIGHT
  16. NINE
  17. The Answer to All Your Prayers
  18. TEN
  19. ELEVEN
  20. TWELVE
  21. THIRTEEN
  22. FOURTEEN
  23. FIFTEEN
  24. SIXTEEN
  25. SEVENTEEN
  26. EIGHTEEN
  27. NINETEEN
  28. TWENTY
  29. TWENTY-ONE
  30. TWENTY-TWO
  31. TWENTY-THREE
  32. TWENTY-FOUR
  33. TWENTY-FIVE
  34. TWENTY-SIX
  35. TWENTY-SEVEN
  36. TWENTY-EIGHT
  37. TWENTY-NINE
  38. THIRTY
  39. THIRTY-ONE
  40. Somebody Else’s Child
  41. THIRTY-TWO
  42. THIRTY-THREE
  43. THIRTY-FOUR
  44. THIRTY-FIVE
  45. THIRTY-SIX
  46. THIRTY-SEVEN
  47. THIRTY-EIGHT
  48. THIRTY-NINE
  49. FORTY
  50. FORTY-ONE
  51. FORTY-TWO
  52. FORTY-THREE
  53. FORTY-FOUR
  54. FORTY-FIVE
  55. FORTY-SIX
  56. FORTY-SEVEN
  57. FORTY-EIGHT
  58. FORTY-NINE
  59. Sunlight on Water
  60. July
  61. September
  62. Acknowledgements

‘All right, I’ll do my best. As long as I’m not to blame if he refuses.’

‘No one’s to blame for anything,’ says Matt, ‘except those bastards. Look on the bright side, we might see them in court yet.’

‘We should see them swinging from the highest branches of the tallest tree in the land,’ says Jack, ‘but of course that’ll never happen.’

‘Never say never,’ says Matt, and he laughs a laugh with little mirth. ‘Will you let us know how it goes?’

‘Aye, I’ll keep you posted.’

Jack hangs up the phone and glances at his watch. Close on seven. A decision must be made: Glenfiddich first, or talk to Evan. The Glenfiddich should be deferred. The music on the closing credits of the nature programme is just beginning and now would be a good time, before Evan’s absorbed in something else. Once Evan has focused on something these days, it can be difficult to snap him out of it. When he enters the world of grizzly bears or whales or dolphins, he seems to join the creatures there, and slip away.

He considers the thermostat and decides to leave the heating turned up till bedtime. As he heads for the lounge, he feels that strange fluttering in his heart, a palpitation his new tablets are supposed to have stopped. He stands still, waiting for it to pass, but the fluttering continues and tickles his throat, making him cough. A minute goes by, and the palpitation passes, but just when he thinks it’s settled down, there’s a stabbing pain in his chest which takes his breath away. It hurts, but only briefly, there and gone in a flash so he can tell himself it was nothing. Did he take his pills at lunchtime? Maybe he forgot. He should be using that special box of Dora’s with the compartments for a week’s worth of pills, Monday through Sunday, morning, noon and night, if he could only find the motivation to sort it out.

He’s so tired. As he enters the lounge, Evan shifts some of his bee books out of the way, and pats the sofa next to him for Jack to come and join him rather than sitting in his big armchair. Jack’s glad to sit down, and decides he’ll do the smart thing – the thing Dora would tell him to do – and skip the whisky tonight. Evan’s offering him the TV remote, asking him to choose something to watch, but when Jack takes it, he switches off the set.

‘I’ve got a better idea than telly,’ he says. ‘First of all, you and I have to have a bit of a chat. And after that, I think it’s time we had a re-match at draughts. I seem to remember last time we played, you won, and I want a chance to reclaim my laurels. What do you say?’