She had overheard him the night before; the police had been at the house and it seemed to her that it was her father asking questions and not the other way around. In fact, she guessed her father was somehow involved with them – and not in the usual way either. He was threatening them, demanding that they find the culprits. She had wanted to laugh at that. Culprits! The word sounded so old-fashioned, yet she knew her father was dealing with it the only way he could.

She feared that once the reality sank in her father would be capable of anything. She had heard enough, seen enough over the years to be well aware that her father was not a man to cross. The fact that the bomb which had killed her mother had been meant for her Uncle Peter, had brought home to her just how dangerous the Life was for all concerned. It had taken her cousin Jack, and it had taken her mother. Who would be next?

Delroy Junior had been a diamond. He had really been there for her, even though the circumstances of her mum’s death had hit him like a sledgehammer too. It was as if they were each waking up to a new reality; until now it had never occurred to her father or his brother, or to any of the family come to that, that their lives might actually be in danger. Her dad was devastated about her mother but, reading between the lines, she also guessed that he was unable to comprehend the fact that anyone would dare to challenge them – the Baileys. Beyond belief and incredible was how he kept describing it; as the days were passing, he was focusing more and more on that. It was as if he needed to settle this before he could actually allow himself to grieve properly.

Tania guessed there was more Bailey in her than any of them had ever realised, herself included, because she had been shocked to discover that if she found out who the culprits were she would readily take them down herself. The idea that she was even capable of such emotions had really amazed her – that she could lie in her bed, wide awake, and plan her revenge on the people responsible had made her feel sick at first. She had fought against her thoughts. But, like her father and her brothers, she was becoming consumed by them; they actually made her feel better and capable of taking control of the situation. The men who had murdered her mother had no right to be walking around as if nothing had happened, no right to be living their lives when her mother was dead, gone for ever, never again to be held close, never to see her grandchildren or her daughter’s wedding. Tania wanted them dead, every bit as much as her father did. Maybe then she could finally grieve too.