Queens of Crime: 3-Book Thriller Collection. Kimberley Chambers

him immensely.

      ‘Where are we going to live then, Dad?’ Christopher asked chirpily. The thought of never having to see Vinny Butler again was already a weight off his young shoulders.

      ‘We are going to stay with your Auntie Phyllis in Ilford for a couple of days, and once the Christmas period is over, I will find us a place of our own to live.’

      When Donald ordered the children to get in the car, Mary looked at her husband in despair.

      ‘I know you’re upset, my darling, but we will open another café one day, I promise you that,’ Donald said, sadly.

      Unable to stop herself, Mary turned around to take one last look at her broken dream. She then burst into a sea of tears.

      Vivian wiped the last of the dishes with the tea towel, then patted her bloated stomach. ‘Bleedin’ handsome that turkey, weren’t it? Melted in me mouth, it did. You cooked that to a tee.’

      Ignoring the compliment, Queenie whispered in her sister’s ear. ‘Something is wrong with my Vinny today. He ain’t himself, you know, and he left all his Christmas pudding. He always eats his pudding, Vivvy.’

      ‘Perhaps he was full up, Queenie. It was a big dinner you cooked. Vinny seems all right to me. He’s been laughing and joking with the kids all day,’ Vivian whispered back.

      Queenie shook her head. Nobody knew her Vinny like she did and something was troubling him. ‘Come on, let’s go and put some music on in the lounge.’

      The sing-a-long was still going strong two hours later. Michael had bought his mum a Gracie Fields album for Christmas and Queenie and Vivian were even doing the hand movements as they sang ‘Wish Me Luck As You Wave Me Goodbye’ for the fourth time at the top of their voices.

      ‘Can we please have some rock and roll on now, Mum?’ Lenny asked impatiently, tugging on Vivian’s arm.

      ‘No. I want to play the Beatles,’ Brenda whinged.

      ‘Let Lenny put his rock and roll on first, Bren, then you can put your Beatles on straight after,’ Queenie ordered.

      When the sound of Buddy Holly filled the lounge, Queenie proudly studied her boys. All three were incredibly handsome and looked so smart today. Vinny and Roy were always suited and booted, but even Michael was dressed up in his blue tonic suit and as he discussed a bit of business regarding the club with Roy, Queenie thought how grown-up he suddenly seemed.

      Aware that Vinny wasn’t really listening to his brothers’ conversation, Queenie watched him light up his cigar. He looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders as he took his first puff and she wondered if it was to do with the man he had accidently stabbed to death.

      Even though as a mother Queenie knew you should love all your children equally, she had always had a special bond with her Vinny. He was her first-born, so surely the way she felt about him was understandable?

      ‘You OK, Mum?’ Vinny asked, clocking his mother staring at him.

      Queenie jumped out of the armchair and gestured to her eldest.

      Vinny followed his mum upstairs and sat awkwardly on the edge of her bed. ‘You’re not missing Dad, are you?’ he asked her.

      ‘You having a bleedin’ laugh, or what? Best Christmas I’ve ever had without that drunken old drop-out sitting in the chair scratching his cobblers.’

      Vinny chuckled.

      ‘What’s up, boy? You ain’t yourself today. Are you still annoyed with me and Vivvy for kicking up a stink in that café?’

      ‘Don’t be daft. I could never have the hump with you and Auntie Viv for long.’

      ‘Well, what is it then? Is it that man who died? You can’t blame yourself for that, Vinny. It was two against one, and you never meant to kill him. It was an accident, son.’

      Vinny took a deep breath. He had to tell somebody his little secret, and there was nobody in the world better to confide in than his beloved mother. ‘I’ve got a girl pregnant, and she wants to keep the baby,’ he blurted out.

      Queenie was momentarily stunned. Since that little slag Yvonne Summers had broken Vinny’s heart many years ago, she had never even known him to court again. ‘Who is she, boy? Why didn’t you tell me you had a girlfriend?’

      Vinny put his head in his hands and propped his elbows on his knees. ‘She ain’t my girlfriend, Mum. She is a pretty girl who works at the club who I’ve had a couple of flings with.’

      ‘Well, why didn’t you put a thingy on the end of it?’ Queenie asked, accusingly.

      ‘I did, well, apart from the once. What am I gonna do, Mum? I’ve offered her big bucks to get rid of the kid, but she knocked the dosh back.’

      Unable to stop herself, Queenie slapped her pride and joy around the face to bring him to his senses. ‘You will not kill my grandchild, Vinny. I will not allow that to happen.’

      ‘But, I don’t even like the girl, Mum. I ain’t getting lumbered with her for the rest of my life.’

      ‘Who is she? Is she a decent girl?

      Feeling more embarrassed than ever before, Vinny shook his head. ‘No, she’s a stripper.’

      Instead of scolding him for being stupid as her son expected her to, Queenie squeezed both of his hands and looked him in the eyes. ‘Buy the child off her, boy. Offer her what she wants to give birth to it, then I’ll bring it up for you.’

      Vinny was astounded by his mother’s strange suggestion. ‘I can’t do that, Mum. I’m only twenty and I don’t want no ties.’

      ‘It won’t be your tie, it’ll be mine. You listen to me, Vinny, and you listen good and proper. You need something in your life to calm that temper of yours down. Being a father will save you from going to prison, I guarantee that. God works in mysterious ways, and this will prove to be your saviour, I just know it will. Look how good you are with kids. Lenny worships the ground you walk on, so imagine having a little Champ running around who is actually your own. You can’t murder your own child, boy. That baby will be my first grandchild and I would never forgive you if you took that away from me.’

      Not wanting to admit to his mum that he had thought about bumping off Karen and the baby by drowning them in the Thames, Vinny suddenly felt a surge of guilt and had tears in his eyes.

      ‘Don’t get upset, boy. Everything will be all right, your mum will make sure of that,’ Queenie said, cradling him to her chest.

      Vinny quickly pulled himself together. His mother was never wrong. Whatever advice she had ever given him in the past had always been proven as sound, so why should he doubt her wisdom this time round?

      ‘Well? What you gonna do?’ Queenie asked.

      Vinny smiled at her. ‘I will sort out a deal with Karen and then we will bring up my baby together, Mum.’

      CHAPTER TWELVE

      Summer 1971

      Nancy Walker felt a surge of excitement as she took in the electric atmosphere of the funfair. The waft of fried onions hung heavily in the air, music was being played at full blast, and the sound of laughter was prominent wherever you walked. Nancy’s dad had never allowed her go to the fair with just a friend before. He said the rides were run by gypsies and they preyed on innocent young girls like herself. It had been her mum who had come up trumps for her in the end. She had argued that now Nancy was sixteen and in full-time employment, she was old enough to make her own decisions.

      ‘I just love the smell of fairgrounds, don’t you?’ Nancy said to her best friend, Rhonda Gibbs. Nancy had met Rhonda soon after her family had moved to Ilford from Whitechapel. They had been in the same class at school, and were rarely seen out and about without one another now. They even