‘I’m likely to be arrested in the next twenty-four hours or so and this is why I need to tell you now.’

‘Mum, you’re scaring me.’

‘Don’t be scared. Just listen.’ Wendy took a deep breath before speaking. ‘Your father used to drive for Max Sinclair from time to time. You were only young, still at school, and we needed the money. I was a young police officer then and financially we were struggling. Anyway, I’m not really sure how it came about, but one day your dad came home and announced he had an evening driving job for Max Sinclair.’

‘I remember him going out driving,’ said Steph.

‘He used to drive Max about a lot. Sometimes he’d run errands for the Sinclairs, pick stuff up for them, drop things off. Your dad didn’t know what the packages were, he just did it. He told me not to ask questions. He didn’t ask questions, so I shouldn’t, and besides, the money was good.’ Wendy paused for a moment. ‘And then one day he came home and said he’d been involved in something really bad with the Sinclairs. He’d been stopped for speeding on one of his collections and the police had searched the car. They found the parcel and it turned out to be amphetamines. Your dad was in line to be charged for supplying. Anyway, Max Sinclair knew someone in the force and they had the charge dropped. Don’t ask me how, but it was dropped. The only trouble was, your dad was now in their debt.’

‘Bloody hell,’ uttered Steph. She couldn’t believe her father had been involved in criminal activity. He just wasn’t the sort. Not her dad. ‘What happened after that?’

‘I had to turn a blind eye to what your dad was doing. I was torn between a sense of duty and not getting your father arrested. I mean, what would I do then? I had you to look after. I couldn’t afford for your dad to be arrested and I didn’t want the disgrace. My career would be picked apart and looked at in minute detail, they would be certain to think I was involved somehow and, to be honest, just knowing would be enough to make me lose my job.’ Wendy looked out into the middle distance. Steph waited silently for her to continue. ‘When Max Sinclair died, I thought that would be the end of it and we would be free of that family. Your father and I argued a lot about it. He said that it was too late, Dominic was already running the show and he was much more conniving than his father. There was no escaping them. Dominic made sure of that.’

Steph felt her hand tremble. She couldn’t believe the dilemma her mother had been put in. ‘What did Dominic do?’