BooksBarbecue
Back Sinner
Chapters (56)
  1. SINNER
  2. Dedication
  3. Epigraph
  4. 1
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. 4
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. 12
  16. 13
  17. 14
  18. 15
  19. 16
  20. 17
  21. 18
  22. 19
  23. 20
  24. 21
  25. 22
  26. 23
  27. 24
  28. 25
  29. 26
  30. 27
  31. 28
  32. 29
  33. 30
  34. 31
  35. 32
  36. 33
  37. 34
  38. 35
  39. 36
  40. 37
  41. 38
  42. 39
  43. 40
  44. 41
  45. 42
  46. 43
  47. 44
  48. 45
  49. 46
  50. 47
  51. 48
  52. Acknowledgements
  53. Keep Reading …
  54. About the Author
  55. Also by Jacqui Rose
  56. About the Publisher

‘I’m not scared of you. You can’t do anything to me that ain’t been done before.’

Franny’s eyes darkened. She stepped within inches of Shannon. ‘You’d be surprised what I can do to you that hasn’t been done before.’

Still not backing down, Shannon said, ‘Then you’ll never know where Mia is, will you?’

‘Just tell me.’

‘It’ll cost you.’

Franny sneered. ‘Money? So that’s what this is all about, though it doesn’t surprise me.’

Shannon shook her head. ‘No, it’s about family.’

‘Family? What are you talking about?’

‘Well Uncle Charlie thought it’d be nice for her to stay with family.’

Frowning, Franny said, ‘Charlie? Who’s Charlie?’

Smirking, Shannon sing-songed her words. ‘Oh, you know him well. I’m talking about Charlie Eton. He’s my uncle.’

Franny looked at Shannon in disbelief. ‘What?’

‘Oh yeah, and there’s you thinking I don’t know anything. Looks like it’s you who don’t.’

Still in shock, Franny replied, ‘And are you saying Mia’s with him?’

Shannon laughed. ‘With Charlie? No way, he hates babies. Can’t stand the sight of them. No, Mia’s with her granny. She’s with Ma. Ma Dwyer.’

21

Outside in the rain, Franny paced about as she spoke on the phone. She’d never met Ma Dwyer, but she’d heard of her. Heard of the twisted relationship she’d had with her sons and heard how brutally she’d treated Bree. So, the idea that Ma had Mia felt worse than when she hadn’t known where she was.

And on top of that, the other problem she now had was the fact that Charlie was Ma’s brother, and she had no idea if Alfie knew that or not. Of course, Charlie and Alfie went back a long way, back to when they were kids, but when Alfie had spoken about Charlie’s family earlier, he didn’t seem to know anything about them. So hopefully, he could never put two and two together. Hopefully Charlie wouldn’t speak to Alfie about Mia. Though again, it was all about hope and hope certainly wasn’t going to help her now, especially as she’d blamed Charlie for the fire, which meant Alf would be paying Charlie a visit one way or another very soon. Somehow she needed to stop him.

She rubbed her head, feeling a migraine beginning to kick in. ‘Just give me Mia back, you understand, Ma?’

On the other end of the line, Ma Dwyer sat in her kitchen of the mobile home in Essex she’d once shared with her sons. She dipped the piece of white bread in the runny yolk of her fried egg before shovelling it into her mouth, leaving a dribble of yellow and white running down her chin.