A large man was standing there, and Cherie looked at him with interest; he was smiling, but it looked wrong on his face. He had long, dark blond hair, and he was dressed like the boys who hung around on her nana Mary’s estate. He had on a black Puffa jacket and baggy jeans, and on his feet were scuffed white Adidas trainers. Scruffy was what her nanny Cynthia would call him. He looked scary somehow, and the main thing she noticed about him was how bad his teeth looked.

She listened with rapt attention as the man said, ‘Hello, Gabby, long time no see.’

Chapter One Hundred and Twelve

When Mary Callahan went to find out what was going on she thought she was going to pass out with the shock of seeing her grandson standing in her hallway. She knew she should tell him to go away but how could she do that to him? He must have been deemed all right, or they would not let him roam the streets surely?

‘You look like you’ve seen a ghost, Nana.’

He was smiling at her and she saw that whatever else had changed about him, he still had those dead eyes. The smile looked genuine enough, but it didn’t reach his eyes. They reminded her of a dead fish, no emotion there whatsoever. He was the image of his father, but bigger somehow, she felt the threat of him invade her and she moved back instinctively.

She noticed that Gabby had moved behind her with little Cherie in her arms.

It was Jack who took over. He walked into the hallway and looked the boy up and down before saying quietly, ‘What do you want?’

James grinned. ‘I don’t want nothing, Granddad. I was in the area . . .’

‘You ain’t welcome here, son. I’m sorry, but it’s best to tell you straight off.’

Mary and Gabby both breathed a sigh of relief. James was not a person to invite into your life. It was sad, it was tragic, but they knew what was best. James was on medication, but that didn’t guarantee anything. His ‘psychotic episodes’ as they called them – even though it was apparently some time since his last one – were still not something anyone in their right mind would want to be on the receiving end of.

James wasn’t surprised at his granddad’s words, but he had to swallow down the urge to take the old fucker by the throat and teach him a lesson. Instead he shrugged nonchalantly. ‘Just as I expected, but I thought I would say a quick hello.’ He turned his gaze to his sister and, smiling at Cherie, he said, ‘She’s beautiful, Gabs. Looks just like Mother, but I won’t hold that against her. I’m thinking of visiting her next, but no one will give me her address. Don’t suppose you’ve got it, have you?’