She felt shattered after they left the final flat. No one had any idea who had robbed her. Tiny flecks of rain drifted in the air.

  ‘I’m sorry, babe,’ Adam told her. And he did look sorry, his eyes showing a helpless misery because he wasn’t able to sort it out.

  Whatever she might think of him, he’d gone out of his way to help her. She linked her fingers with his to show her thanks. ‘It’s not your fault that I got into such an almighty mess.’

  He pulled away from her grip and gently laid both hands on her shoulders. ‘Maybe it is. If I’d been with you and Lily, maybe you wouldn’t have needed to take a job with the kind of people who only want to use you.’

  Without thinking, Hayley stepped closer to him. Her voice was smooth. ‘All I’ve ever wanted was for you to be a father to our daughter.’

  His answer was filled with regret. ‘I know. And I swear to you, on my life, that’s what I’m going to do.’

  He pulled her close. A washed-out Hayley sighed heavily as she laid her head against his chest. For the first time that day she felt safe. So very safe.

  ‘I’ll take care of the loan sharks.’ His voice felt like a caress in her ear. ‘Then I’m taking me, you and Lily on a trip to the seaside tomorrow.’ Utter bliss! Hayley grinned like crazy. ‘Then you can both move in with me and be a real family.’ Yes! Yes! Yes! ‘And we’ll work together again as well as being parents to our little girl.’

  Hayley’s happiness skidded to a screeching halt. She wrenched away from his body as if being near him was going to burn her. ‘What did you just say?’

  Adam gazed at her, confused, like he didn’t get what the problem was. ‘I said we’re going to be a family again.’

  ‘No, the other part,’ she almost shouted, some of her tough street-girl vibe coming back. ‘I dare you to say it to my face.’

  Adam smiled. ‘Come on, baby, we made a great team. You’re one of the best thieves I know. I’ve never seen anyone do the Spider-Man routine up a building like you. With the money we’ll be raking in, we can give Lily everything she needs.’

  His words were like a blow, rocking Hayley’s world. That’s all she would ever be to this man – a thief. A human monkey. What a bastard! And what an idiot she’d been to nearly fall for his Whitney Houston ‘I will always love you’ line.

  She stabbed her finger at him. ‘I don’t need your help. We don’t need your help. You can piss off.’

  Fury was coming off her like steam as she turned away.

  Adam growled after her, ‘If you don’t come back to work for me, I’m not going to protect you from those mad and bad Lewises.’

  Hayley didn’t miss a beat as she walked off.

  ‘So be it. I’d rather meet crazy Mary with a baseball bat down a dark alley than get on my knees and beg for help from you again,’ she fumed to herself.

  Hayley stumbled to a stop when she saw Nanna Lisa’s flat. There was a police car parked outside.

  9

  2 p.m.

  They were there for her, Hayley decided as she went towards her home. Who else would the police be looking for? Maybe they had found out about her collecting drug debts. Maybe someone had seen her near the courier van. Maybe it was a past crime that had come back to haunt her. Why had she made such a royal muck-up of her life?

  Hayley took a deep breath and opened the door. The first person she saw was Nanna Lisa in the hallway, her face stressed and troubled. Lily was staying at her best friend’s house until Nanna Lisa collected her later for the goodbye party at the community centre.

  ‘I’m really sorry, Nan,’ Hayley said from the bottom of her heart.

  ‘What?’ Nanna Lisa looked puzzled. ‘I don’t know what you’ve got to be sorry about. The law are here—’

  An officer appeared from the sitting room and Hayley’s heart sank. She had a bad history with Detective Laura Moore. Five years ago the policewoman had come knocking on Nanna Lisa’s door after Adam had given Hayley the stolen watches to hide. Hayley had stashed them in the cupboard under the kitchen sink. She’d been so shocked when the detective had turned up. Somehow she’d thought helping Adam was some kind of lark. The idea that the cops would come after her had never entered her head. Detective Moore and another officer had turned the house upside down, including the cupboard under the sink. Hayley could still see Moore opening the cupboard door as if in slow motion. She’d assumed that would be the end.

  But the bag wasn’t there. After the police had gone, Nanna Lisa sat her granddaughter down and gave her the talking-to of a lifetime. She had come across Hayley’s loot while looking for the plunger to unblock the sink. Nanna Lisa wasn’t stupid; she knew exactly what those watches were. She’d taken the bag and dumped it in the canal. With disgust, she had warned Hayley never, ever to bring anything like that home again. Hayley had nodded, ashamed to think that her grandmother might’ve got into trouble as well. Nanna Lisa had also warned her to stay away from Adam. That she wouldn’t agree to.

  Detective Moore came into the hall and looked at Hayley. ‘I heard you got out of prison. Still keeping your fingernails clean?’

  Hayley frowned. Why would the cop be asking her if she was going straight? Wasn’t she here for her? Hayley realised that something else was going on here.

  Nanna Lisa gave the answer. ‘The law have arrested Jamie.’

  ‘Why?’ Hayley demanded.

  Detective Moore said, ‘Possession with intent. We caught him and his mates on a stop and search.’

  ‘What and how much?’

  Moore stepped closer to Hayley. ‘Some weed. It wasn’t a lot and I would’ve let it go except Jamie was being very rude.’

  Oh Jamie! Hayley moaned to herself. When will you ever learn to just shut up? Abusing the police was never a good idea.

  Noises came from down the hallway and Hayley realised that Detective Moore wasn’t alone. There were other police here, searching Jamie’s bedroom. Hayley closed her eyes and stood like a statue for a moment before going to her brother’s room. There were two policemen inside. The room was a total wreck. Drawers and clothes were tipped on the carpet. The sheets and duvet were in a tangle at the foot of the bed. The wardrobe had been pulled away from the wall.

  ‘Have you found anything?’ Officer Moore asked, as she followed Hayley into the room. The other two shook their heads.

  ‘Oh, come on,’ Hayley said, ‘there’s obviously nothing here. He’s just a kid. Give him a slap on the wrist and send him home.’

  Moore frowned. ‘Jamie is still down the station because he’s claiming we planted the drugs on him and he’s totally clean. He said we could search his room, if we didn’t believe him. So here we are.’

  Hayley was going to murder her baby brother when she got her hands on him. ‘He says more than he means sometimes,’ she said. ‘You know what some of these young kids are like. He’s a good boy really.’

  Moore didn’t answer for a moment. Then she said, ‘If you want him to remain a good boy, I suggest you get him to choose his friends more carefully.’ She nodded to the other cops. ‘That’s it for today, boys.’ She looked back at Hayley. ‘I’ll let him go and send him home.’

  What a terrible day this was turning into.

  After the police were gone, Nanna Lisa appeared in the doorway. Her face was pinched and worn. ‘Where did I go wrong?’ Her voice was hardly above a whisper as she threw her hands in the air. ‘I’ve tried my best with both of you.’ She stared at her granddaughter sadly. ‘Maybe I should’ve let someone else bring you up.’

  ‘Don’t you ever say that!’ Hayley said fiercely. Then her tone softened. ‘God knows what would’ve happened if you’d not taken us in. You’re a part of us, just like we’re a part of you. I know it hasn’t been easy. When I was in prison, one of the things that kept me going was knowing you’d be here for me when I got out. And your bread pudding.’

  Nanna Lisa giggled and smacked Hayley on the arm, obviously pleased by the praise. Then her face turned serious again as she looked at the room. ‘Let’s get this cleaned up.’

  ‘Nan, put your feet up. Get a bit of rest before your party. I’ll get everything sorted in here.’

  Hayley looked around at the mess, but really she was thinking about the mess her brother was making of his life. And who had taught him how to do that? She had. She’d shown him how the crime life worked. The way you thought you were getting away with it before your luck ran out. The sessions down the cop shop with the boys in blue telling you they could see you were a good girl really and why don’t you ’fess up and help yourself out? The searches, the charges, the court appearances. The lawyers saying this is your last chance: next time, it’s jail. The judges telling you that you’ve had your last chance: this time it’s jail. In prison, out again, in again, out again. And now her brother was doing the same thing. It was like a never-ending cycle on a washing machine.

  Hayley sighed as she began to put the room right. She started with the drawers and clothes. Only when she picked up the red Arsenal alarm clock did she see the time.

  2:20

  One hour and forty minutes. The noose Mary and Bobby Lewis had put round her neck was tightening. Hayley put the clock down and sank heavily on to the bed. She placed her head in her hands. What the hell was she going to do? The bank wouldn’t lend her the money. She wasn’t willing to steal. No way was she letting Adam sink his fangs back into her in exchange for him giving her the money.

  She’d run out of options. The one thing she could do was to move Lily out of danger. Maybe she could persuade Nanna Lisa to take her to Sheffield to see her sister, Auntie Jean. But what about the farewell party at the community centre? It wouldn’t be fair to ask her gran to miss it. Nanna Lisa had poured her heart and soul into that old folks’ group.

  Her head was in such a muddle. What could she do? No answers came to her, so instead she just started to remake the bed. The sheet fluttered in the air as she spread it. She lifted the mattress at one end to tuck the sheet in. Lifted the mattress at the other end … and froze.

  ‘No, no, no.’ She wanted to deny what she was seeing, but she couldn’t.

  Hayley reached across and picked up the money belt. Her money belt. She knew it was hers. It was the same colour and the strap had been sliced in half.

  Had her own brother attacked her?

  10

  3 p.m.

  Hayley couldn’t let go of the money belt. She’d been holding it tightly for the last forty minutes. There were moments today when she’d thought she’d gone into shock. When a kettle full of boiling water was held ready to be tipped on her face. When a thug pressed her into the wall with his bad-tempered dog snapping and snarling at his side. But none of that could’ve been shock. It must’ve been another emotion. What she felt now was what shock really felt like.

  Her blood ran hot and then cold, hot again, cold. Her mouth was so dry that her tongue felt slightly swollen. Her body was numb. And she still couldn’t believe that her brother, her Jamie, would do this to her. There must be a reason for him to have the money belt. That he’d found it on his travels, dumped in a bin somewhere by the robber, and had brought it home for her. Hayley knew that was nonsense, but God, it was better than what might be the truth.

  She didn’t move when she heard the front door open and bang closed. Her brother was back. Jamie went straight to his bedroom. Hayley got off the sofa. She didn’t knock when she reached his door, but went inside feeling only sadness and sorrow. He was lying on his bed, gazing at the ceiling. He didn’t look at Hayley.

  He had plenty to say, though, his voice full of bad-boy attitude. ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah, so I got pulled in by the cops for a little bit of stuff – big deal.’ When she didn’t answer, he finally looked at her as he repeated, ‘Big deal.’ But when he saw her face, his features froze with worry. ‘What’s up?’ The sound of his breath catching in his throat filled the room as he quickly added, ‘Has something happened to Lily?’

  Hayley wanted to yell, scream and shout at him, but she made herself calmly walk in silence across the room. She sat on his bed. Her hand seemed to be frozen around the belt. Finally she showed it to him and asked in a faint voice, ‘What’s this?’

  He looked at it, his eyes widening in surprise. Then Jamie slumped back down on the bed and turned his face to the ceiling. ‘Don’t know.’

  Hayley wanted to grab him and force him to face her, but instead fury filled her voice. ‘It’s the money belt that was stolen off me last night. That’s what it is.’

  He swiftly turned back to her. He wore that snarl she had come to hate so much. ‘You’ve got no right to go snooping around my room. It’s private. Go away.’

  Hayley looked him in the eye, hoping he would at least be honest, but he shied away from her stare. ‘I found it after the police came and turned your room over. It was under the mattress. How did it get here, Jamie?’

  Again he was stuck, not knowing what to say. ‘The cops probably put it there. Yeah, I reckon that’s how it got there. The cops did it. They’re always stitching people up.’

  He looked hopeful, but she didn’t miss how fear played in his eyes just like it used to when he was a kid and had done something wrong.

  She let go of her emotions and yelled, ‘You stole my money? You attacked me?’

  Jamie jumped off the bed. ‘What are you going on about? I never laid a finger on you.’ He stuttered, ‘I’d never do that—’

  ‘Then how the hell did you f—’ She just about stopped herself from swearing. She never used bad language with her brother because she’d tried hard, along with Nanna Lisa, to bring him up right. Hayley got up and waved the money belt in his face. She inhaled a huge breath. ‘Just tell me how you got it.’

  ‘All right,’ he shot back, but his gaze skidded away from her. ‘All right. The truth is I found it. After you told me what had happened I went out looking for it. I found it dumped in a bin near the garages—’

  Hayley wasn’t letting up on him. ‘How did you know it was the same one?’

  His face turned red. ‘Are you calling me a liar?’

  The resulting silence was electric. She knew what game he was playing. It was the same one he always played when Nanna Lisa or she had him in a tight corner. He used their words to twist the argument his way, making him appear the innocent and them in the wrong.

  His luck had run out; she wasn’t falling for it this time. ‘Just tell me.’

  He finally made eye contact. ‘You told me the mugger cut it off you with a blade.’ He pointed a finger at the money belt. ‘You can see the cut marks on the belt bit.’ He shook his head and defiantly folded his arms.

  ‘So if you found it,’ Hayley pressed on, ‘why didn’t you show it to me? Why hide it in your room?’

  Jamie swallowed hard, his gaze flipping away from her. ‘Well … well … I forgot to give it to you. And then I thought – what’s the point? So I put it under my mattress.’ His voice dropped to a whisper. ‘And then I thought, I’ll give it to you later.’ When he finally looked at her, he pleaded, ‘Why won’t you believe me when I’m telling you the God’s honest truth?’

  He flopped back down and rolled over to face the wall. It was like talking to a child who’d stolen cake and had chocolate round his mouth.

  Her voice was hard. ‘You’re about as good a liar as you are a thief. Jamie, I want the truth and I want it now.’

  Hayley sat back on the bed, grabbed his shoulder and yanked him round. The time for her brother to stop facing up to the truth was over.

  He looked sad, miserable. ‘I wouldn’t have done it if I’d known—’

  ‘You pulled a knife on me, for God’s sake,’ she cut in. ‘I was scared out of my wits. I thought I was going to bloody well die.’

  His face fell. ‘I was only going to use it to cut off the money belt, but then you started fighting back. I panicked.’ His voice caught. ‘I didn’t realise you were going to be scared—’

  But Hayley didn’t let him finish. ‘Well, here’s a reality check. That’s how people feel when someone sticks a blade in their face. But I haven’t got time to get into this; I need the money back. Where is it?’

  For a few moments, the fact that her hands were nearly back on the money was all that mattered. Her problems were nearly over and sorting out her brother could wait. ‘Where is it? I need it now.’

  There was a painful silence, like the one that comes before a doctor saying, ‘I’m sorry to have to tell you …’ She said it again, more firmly this time. ‘Where is it?’

  ‘It’s gone. I spent it.’

  Her voice rose as she got off the bed. ‘Spent it?’

  ‘Yeah. Me and the boys are selling. I had to have some cash to buy in, didn’t I? That was the stuff the cops caught me with.’ Then he added, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll get some more, sell it on and get your money back.’

  Hayley had had enough. She lunged at him and grabbed him. ‘You. Stupid. Stupid. Boy. Tell me who you’re buying the gear off.’

  Jamie shook his head. ‘You know I can’t do that—’

  Hayley roughly dragged him close so that their faces were inches apart.

  ‘Jamie Evans, you’d better tell me or else …’

  ‘Adam just wanted a bit of help—’ Her brother slammed his mouth shut tight, realising what he was saying.

  ‘What do you mean, a bit of help?’ Then she understood. ‘It was him, wasn’t it? Adam put you up to this.’

  It all fell into place. Why Adam had been expecting her when she turned up at his flat. The way he’d offered to help her. How he’d trailed around the sixth floor asking his mates if they knew who’d jumped her. And his offer to help her out. As long she helped him out, of course. She’d been played for a fool. And he’d got her own brother to stage the robbery for him. What a piece of work!

 

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