‘Because you are hanging round Mum’s street, and you aren’t exactly her biggest fan, are you?’

He looked awful, like he had been sleeping on the streets, and she wondered at how her father would feel seeing him like this. Seeing what had happened to them all, for that matter. She wondered if, had he known what their fates would be, he would have left them like he had, at the mercy of a woman who had no real care for anyone except herself, and now also little Cherie.

Neither Gabby or James had had the best start in life. They had been little children at the mercy of an adult who had no real care for anyone or anything but what she herself wanted. It was an abortion really, all of it.

‘It’s a free country, Gabby. I can go where I like, and I like to watch Mother. I can promise you this though; if I decide to have a word with her, I’ll make sure she’s alone, OK? I can’t be fairer than that, can I?’

Gabby looked at this man who was still her brother despite the fact they felt like strangers and, shaking her head, she said sadly, ‘Please tell me where you’re living, James. I just want to help you if I can.’

He didn’t answer her; instead, he gave her his usual enigmatic smile and walked away.

She sat in the car for a while wondering if she should warn her mother about him. But she guessed that she knew he was there already. She wasn’t a fool – she would have noticed him surely? Yet, turning the car around, she went back to her mother’s flat anyway. While her Cherie was there she wanted to feel the girl was safe, and she made up her mind to tell Vincent about her worries.

Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-One

‘I need a good earner, Bertie. I’ve got another baby on the way and, though the garage does OK, I need some real money to get a mortgage, et cetera.’

Bertie Warner grinned laconically; he had wondered how long it would be before Vincent wanted more. It was indisputable that he was on a fucking good earn, but he would still never feel he was getting enough money – that was just this boy’s nature. He seemed to think the world owed him a living. True, he had done them all a big favour, but, by the same token, he had already been handsomely recompensed, and he had earned the respect of everyone into the bargain. It was too soon for Vincent to be out on the rob and Bertie said as much.