Steven Golding tried to get out of the boot, and Michael Flynn hammered him over and over again until the man couldn’t move. Michael felt the man’s face collapse beneath his fists and he still didn’t stop battering him. He carried on hitting the man until he was completely spent.

He picked the book of matches up from the ground and tore off a match. Lighting it, he used it to ignite the whole pack, which he threw casually on to the man’s chest.

As the whole car went up in flames, Declan shouted, ‘What the fuck are you doing, Michael? Your car! What about your fucking car?’

Michael Flynn stood watching the man responsible for the vicious murders of his mother and daughter squirming and screaming in pain without blinking. Then he looked at Declan Costello and, laughing loudly, he said, ‘Relax, Declan, for Christ’s sake! I reported this car stolen hours ago.’

Declan went back into the Portakabin and came back with two large drinks. He handed one to Michael, and he stood beside him as Steven Golding was burned beyond recognition.

When the car finally blew they were both sitting side by side on the steps of the offices.

‘It’s over, Michael.’

Michael sipped his brandy, savouring the taste. ‘Do you know the worst of it for me now, Declan? I wish that cunt had been in the house that night. I wish I had burned him to death with his sisters and his mum and dad. So what does that make me?’

Declan put his arm around his friend’s shoulders and, sighing heavily, he said, ‘Human, Michael. Unfortunately, that’s what it makes you – human.’

Epilogue

Epilogue

The house of the righteous contains great treasure,
but the income of the wicked brings them trouble

Proverbs 15:6

Chapter One Hundred and Forty-One

Chapter One Hundred
and Forty-One

‘Nana looks different.’

Michael laughed at his grandson’s seriousness. ‘I know she does. She’s not well. But she’s getting better, that’s the main thing.’

Jake nodded, but he wasn’t so sure about anything any more. He knew his real mum was dead. He had seen her grave and she was buried with his great-nana Hannah. His granddad went to visit them a lot, and he sometimes went with him. It was funny thinking his mum was dead, up in heaven, but one of the nuns at school had told him that sometimes Jesus missed people so much that he called them back up to heaven early. He liked to think that was true, but he wasn’t sure if it was. His mum had been a bit of a cow – at least that is what his nana Josephine had used to say about her. Now his nana Josephine was in a hospital, and she acted very strangely. He could see her walking towards them, and Jake felt his heart sink inside his chest.

‘Here she comes, Jake.’