Chapters (52)
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Dedication
- Acknowledgements
- BOOK ONE
- Chapter One
- Chapter Two
- Chapter Three
- Chapter Four
- Chapter Five
- Chapter Six
- Chapter Seven
- Chapter Eight
- Chapter Nine
- Chapter Ten
- Chapter Eleven
- Chapter Twelve
- Chapter Thirteen
- Chapter Fourteen
- Chapter Fifteen
- Chapter Sixteen
- Chapter Seventeen
- Chapter Eighteen
- Chapter Nineteen
- Chapter Twenty
- Chapter Twenty-One
- Chapter Twenty-Two
- Chapter Twenty-Three
- Chapter Twenty-Four
- Chapter Twenty-Five
- BOOK TWO
- Chapter Twenty-Six
- Chapter Twenty-Seven
- Chapter Twenty-Eight
- Chapter Twenty-Nine
- Chapter Thirty
- Chapter Thirty-One
- Chapter Thirty-Two
- Chapter Thirty-Three
- Chapter Thirty-Four
- Chapter Thirty-Five
- Chapter Thirty-Six
- Chapter Thirty-Seven
- Chapter Thirty-Eight
- Chapter Thirty-Nine
- BOOK THREE
- Chapter Forty
- Chapter Forty-One
- Chapter Forty-Two
- Chapter Forty-Three
- Chapter Forty-Four
- Epilogue
As he walked in his garden with his small son, Frankie Junior, he smiled at the antics of his daughters. Liselle at five was a real live wire. Unfortunately she had inherited his hooked nose, but Frankie was determined to disguise his mother’s Jewish ancestry the moment the girl was old enough for plastic surgery. Desdemona, his three year old, was her mother’s double, a blonde bimbette with a face like an angel and a voice like a navvy. He watched the two of them running towards the swimming pool and grinned. Frankie Junior, all of ten months, grinned with him. A large-boned amiable child, Frankie adored him.
As the girls slipped off their robes, Frankie saw the masked man in the bushes to the left side of the pool. His mind registered the gun, and his arms tightened on his son instinctively. Liselle screamed loudly in the quiet of the day as the man opened fire, and in stunned disbelief Frankie felt the cold heat of the bullets as they rained across his body and that of his infant son. Even as he fell to the ground, in the throes of death, he was still trying to protect his son. As he hit the earth with a heavy thud, his last sight was of his son’s staring face. The cheerful, gummy smile still intact. But all trace of life gone.
Tracey White was shopping in East Ham market with her sister Sandra when the police found her. She listened in stunned disbelief to what her mother and the policeman were telling her.
Her only words were: ‘But we live in Surrey. How could that happen in Surrey?’
No one as yet had the nerve to tell her about the death of her baby son.
Chapter Seven
Chapter Seven
Dolly placed a poached egg on toast in front of Donna. ‘Get that down you, love, it’ll set you up for the day.’
Donna sipped her Earl Grey and smiled. ‘You and your breakfasts, Dolly.’
The housekeeper tucked into her own plate of bubble and squeak and bacon. ‘My old mum used to say that breakfast was the most important meal of the day and she was right. Now eat that up.’
Donna stared at the white and yellow mass on the piece of brown toast and sighed. Food was becoming less and less enjoyable these days.
‘I wonder what Georgio’s having for breakfast?’ she mused.
Dolly snorted through a mouthful of food. ‘A lot more than you, love. My old man said they fed ’em plenty in nick. Porridge, eggs, toast and marmalade. Gallons of tea or coffee, fruit juice, the lot.’
Donna immediately brightened. ‘Really? I was under the impression the food wasn’t all that good.’
Dolly chewed on a large mouthful and shook her head. ‘They eat all right. Now will you get that down you?’