The Wronged: No parent should ever have to bury their child.... Kimberley Chambers

but she would never replace Molly. No child could. ‘I don’t want to read it, Johnny. Jamie must be guilty. The police aren’t bloody stupid. Please don’t tell me you are thinking of visiting that treacherous murdering scumbag?’

      ‘I have to, Deb. I need to find out the truth.’

      Deborah shook her head in pure disbelief. ‘Joanna will go crazy when she finds out. And what is visiting that vermin going to solve? Not going to bring Molly back, is it?’

      ‘It will solve whether that little fucker is lying or not, Deb. And there is no need for Jo to know. If need be, I will tell her afterwards.’

      ‘And you don’t think he’s going to lie to you, Johnny? He lied to his nan and the fucking police.’

      ‘As soon as I look him in the eyes, Deb, I will know the truth. Trust me on that one.’

      Mary Walker kissed her sleeping granddaughter on the forehead, then hugged her son and daughter-in-law. Christopher and Olivia had got married in 1981 and little Janine was now eighteen months old. ‘Keep safe at work, won’t you, son?’

      Christopher raised his eyebrows. He was twenty-seven now. A detective sergeant in the drugs squad at Arbour Square. However, his mother still treated him as though he was some rookie. She never let a week go by without phoning him at least three times to make sure he was still alive and had not been harmed in the line of duty.

      Donald followed his family into the hallway. ‘I do apologize once again for the behaviour of the boys. I shall punish them all personally in the morning; I can assure you of that.’

      Rather than upset his mother, Christopher mumbled, ‘Boys will be boys.’ He was not at all surprised that Nancy’s sons had turned out such horrible little bastards. What else could you expect, with Butler blood running through their veins?

      When he was a kid, Christopher had witnessed Vinny Butler stab a man to death outside his nightclub. Vinny had then threatened and blackmailed him into keeping his mouth shut. Once the police had got involved, Christopher, despite being absolutely terrified, had told his parents the truth. That very same evening they’d done a moonlight flit from their beloved café in Whitechapel.

      ‘Bye-bye. Drive safely.’ Mary stood on the pavement waving him off. She was dreading going back inside the house because she knew what was coming next.

      Donald’s face was like thunder when she walked back through the door. ‘I don’t know about you, but I have never felt so humiliated in all my life. What must Olivia have thought? I do hope she doesn’t tell her parents. As for Christopher, he deserves a medal for holding his temper. Talk about show us up! Adam knocked that drink over Olivia on purpose – I saw him do it. And as for Daniel asking poor Christopher why his nose was so big …’

      Donald shook his head. ‘I truly wanted the ground to open up and swallow me. Even Lee played up, and he’s usually the best behaved out of the bloody three. I shall teach them all a lesson in the morning, Mary. That cane I keep in the shed will be put to good use. Words and threats are meaningless. Such behaviour warrants corporal punishment.’

      ‘Please don’t overreact, Donald. Yes, they were very naughty and I felt ashamed too. But you can’t be caning them. Nancy’ll go mad, and what do you think Michael will say? Anyway, it wasn’t Adam or Lee’s fault – Daniel was the bloody instigator. He’s forever egging the other two on. I overhead him dare Adam to knock that drink over Olivia, and he kept getting Lee to wake Janine up. I’ll have a word with Nancy tomorrow. She most certainly needs to chastise them more, especially Daniel.’

      ‘They will not be welcome back in this house, Mary. Not until they have learned some manners. If you want to see those boys in future, you can visit them at Nancy’s. After tonight’s debacle, I totally wash my hands of all three.’

      Little Vinny grinned as his girlfriend took her dressing gown into the bathroom. For some strange reason, Sammi-Lou would never get undressed in front of him, and Little Vinny found her shyness quite a turn on.

      Obviously it was Sammi’s natural beauty that had first attracted Little Vinny to her, but the fact she was no slag like most of the other girls he’d met had cemented their relationship. Sammi admitted that she’d slept with one lad before him, but it had been a serious relationship, not a one-night stand. It had taken Little Vinny six weeks to get her into bed.

      When Sammi-Lou turned the light off and slipped under the quilt, Little Vinny kissed her then tried to ram his cock inside her as quickly as possible.

      ‘No. Not yet,’ Sammi whispered.

      ‘What’s up?’

      Sammi-Lou said nothing as she began to kiss Little Vinny’s neck and chest. Her best pal Charlene was currently dating a twenty-five-year-old and their sex life sounded far more exciting than hers. As much as Sammi loved and fancied her boyfriend, he was a bit of a ‘Wham bam thank you, ma’am’ merchant. There was no foreplay like Sammi had been used to with her ex, and although she pretended otherwise to Charlene, since she’d been with Little Vinny, Sammi hadn’t had a single orgasm.

      As his girlfriend’s lips moved down his stomach towards his penis, Little Vinny froze. That toothless slag Alison Bloggs had been the first bird to put her mouth round his todger and she would most definitely be the last.

      Feeling suddenly nauseous, Little Vinny roughly shoved Sammi-Lou’s head away from her destination and leapt out of bed. He pointed a finger at her. ‘Don’t you ever fucking do anything like that again, understand?’

      Sammi-Lou burst into tears. ‘I was only trying to make you happy. I’m sorry. I thought you’d like it.’

      ’No, I don’t like it! Only whores do stuff like that,’ he hissed, a twisted expression on his face. He then stormed out of the room leaving Sammi-Lou sobbing her heart out on the bed.

       CHAPTER EIGHT

      The man breathed a sigh of relief as he laid eyes on Michael Butler. His boss would be pleased. At least this trip hadn’t been a complete waste of time, like the last.

      Clicking away with the specialized spy camera, the man wondered what this task was all about. Usually his boss was very open about such matters, but this time his lips were well and truly sealed.

      As Michael Butler sauntered down the street like he owned it, the man smirked. Whatever plans his boss had in store for the cocksure-looking Michael, they wouldn’t be pleasant, that was for sure.

      Deborah Preston stared solemnly out of the car window. Just over a week had gone by since Johnny had told her he planned to visit Jamie in Feltham and she’d thought of little else since.

      ‘Cheer up. Jo is gonna think something’s wrong otherwise.’

      Deciding to have one last attempt to make her husband change his mind, Deborah gave it her all. ‘If you loved me as much as you say you do, Johnny, no way would you be putting me through such heartache. I’ve not slept or eaten properly all week. I just don’t understand how you could even consider being in the same room as that animal. It doesn’t make sense to me. Won’t you feel the urge to stick a knife straight through his heart? Because I know I fucking well would.’

      Realizing his wife was near to breaking point, Johnny parked up and took her in his arms. ‘I need to visit Jamie for my own peace of mind. See what he’s got to say for himself and watch him squirm. I owe it to Molly.’

      Huffing and puffing, Albie Butler dragged another crate of mixers into the bar area.

      ‘Dad, you look like you’re gonna keel over. Sit down and I’ll get you a drink. The bar staff can finish that off.’

      At sixty-four, the years of heavy drinking and chain-smoking had begun to take their toll and nobody was more surprised he was still alive than Albie himself. ‘No, boy. I like to earn my keep, you know I do.’

      Not one to take