Life of Crime: The gripping, epic new thriller from the No 1 bestseller. Kimberley Chambers

the tenth floor and had boxes to carry.

      The stairs too were daubed in graffiti and reeked of urine, but nevertheless Jason whistled chirpily as he lugged the boxes of knocked-off perfume up ten flights. No way could he leave any downstairs. They’d be thieved within seconds. The type of tower block he lived in, even the door knockers weren’t safe.

      Jason let himself into the flat that he shared with his mother, brothers, sister and four-year-old daughter. As expected, the kids were fending for themselves.

      ‘Daddy,’ four-year-old Shay cried out, holding out her arms for a cuddle. She was filthy, had dirt all over her hands and face, and was still wearing the pyjamas he’d put on her last night.

      ‘Where’s Mum?’ Jason asked twelve-year-old Barbara. Like himself, Babs, as he fondly called her, had no idea who her father was; the pair of them had been the result of drunken one-night stands. Babs was mixed-race. She was also extremely overweight, thanks to the shit food she ate. It was Babs who looked after their two younger brothers Elton, eight, and Kyle who’d just turned six. A drunken waste of space, his mother was, which was why Jason wanted to find a better home for his daughter. This was no environment for her to be raised in.

      ‘Mum went to get fags, but she never came back. The kids are starving. There’s only Weetabix and baked beans in the cupboard, and there’s no milk. Can you get us some food, Jason?’ Babs asked hopefully. Trapped in the flat looking after three kids, food was the only enjoyment she got in life and she was currently yearning for a Big Mac or a large portion of greasy chips smothered in salt and vinegar. Her stomach felt as if her throat had been cut.

      Jason put his daughter down and urged Barbara to make the kids look presentable.

      ‘Why I gotta wash? Where we going?’ asked young Kyle.

      ‘McDonald’s – I’m treating us. So it’s bathtime for all three of ya,’ Jason grinned, ruffling Elton’s frizzy Afro hair. He and Kyle had the same father. He was no role model though. Known to the locals as ‘Rasta Dave’, he’d flooded the estate with heroin before getting a ten-stretch. Jason had been dragged to court by his mother, who’d sobbed like a baby as Dave was sentenced. He hadn’t acknowledged them, the same way he’d refused to acknowledge that Elton and Kyle were his sons. He wouldn’t even put his name on their birth certificates, the loser.

      Hearing the kids splash happily about in the bath, Jason’s thoughts turned to the girl he’d met on the market today. He’d known her mate had fancied him when she’d come to the stall last week with her mother. And he’d known she’d be back; ditzy airheads like her always were predictable.

      Jason lit up a cigarette and took a deep drag. He wasn’t looking for a bird to shag senseless. He had plenty of those on the go, including Darlene, the thirty-eight-year-old mother of his old school pal Andy Michaels. What Jason was currently looking for was someone half sensible. A single mum with a council flat or, better still, her own gaff would be ideal.

      Hearing a commotion, Jason walked over to the window and stared at the gloomy sight outside. A full-blown punch-up was in progress – par for the course on the Mardyke Estate. Jason loved and loathed the estate in equal measure. It was all he had ever known, and some of the people who lived there were proper. However, lots were not; when you flipped the coin, it was a shithole situated off the busy A13 in Rainham.

      Jason’s mother wasn’t one for adding homely touches. The only thing hanging on the wall in their depressing, threadbare flat was a long mirror in the hallway that Debbie Rampling would preen her fat self in before leaving the premises. Once she was out of the way, the kids would spend hours dancing in front of the mirror while music – reggae and lovers rock, for the most part – blared out the stereo system. None of the kids had many toys, and the ones he brought home always seemed to go missing. Knowing his mother, she was probably flogging them around the estate.

      Jason strolled into the hallway and studied himself. Though he had no idea who his father was, he owed the man for his good looks; he certainly hadn’t inherited them from his mother. He was handsome and he knew it. He’d also been aware of the power he had over the opposite sex from a very early age and had honed his skills over the years. That was going to be his way out. Living a deprived life was not for Jason Rampling. He was a go-getter and wanted far better. Not only for him, but for Shay too.

      ‘I’m fine, Johnny. For goodness’ sake, stop fussing,’ Carol said.

      Johnny Brooks felt awful. Was God paying him back for his affair? he wondered. Because if so, he wished the big man above would take it out on him instead. Carol didn’t deserve to suffer. It was him who was the bastard.

      Carol had snapped out of her fit by the time the ambulance had arrived, but he’d forced her to go to hospital regardless. She was petrified of anything to do with the medical profession; even a trip to the GP’s brought her out in a cold sweat. Johnny knew she would discharge herself first chance she got.

      ‘You’re not going to be able to hide this for ever, you know. We need to think about telling the family, at least. And you should have stayed in overnight, just to be on the safe side. Say you have another fit?’

      ‘Shut up. Melissa must be out of her mind with worry. I can’t believe you didn’t leave a note. That’s the first thing I’d have done. Now call us a cab. Smell of these places reminds me of death. And ring Melissa. Do not say we’ve been up Oldchurch, ’cause she’ll worry. Say we went for dinner round Dick and Yvonne’s at short notice. OK?’

      Johnny Brooks nodded. Once Carol had made her mind up about something, there was no changing it.

      Leaving the kids happily stuffing their faces, Jason wandered outside McDonald’s to get better reception. He leaned against his pride and joy: a black XR2 with full body kit and shiny alloy wheels. He’d recently treated himself to a Blaupunkt car stereo and 200-watt speakers out of his illegal earnings. He never left them inside an empty car though. Car stereo and speaker theft was rife these days. His motor stood out like a sore thumb on the Mardyke and was like a beacon for the Old Bill; he was forever getting tugged in it. That’s why he drove his old white Escort van if he was carrying anything dodgy. Because he owned a mobile phone and decent motor, the police seemed to be under the misapprehension he must be a drug dealer. Nothing could be further from the truth. Having seen so many people on the estate overdose or balls their lives up through drugs, Jason had never touched the stuff in his life. Which was more than could be said for his mother. She smoked weed on a regular basis. Seeing her stoned was enough to put anyone with half a brain off.

      Jason liked to think of himself as a younger, better-looking Arthur Daley. Minder had been his favourite TV programme growing up and he’d naturally picked up the art of spotting an opportunity and grabbing it with both hands. The one day he worked on the market was the only regular income he had, apart from his fortnightly dole cheque. The rest of his dosh came from selling whatever he could get his hands on, including hardcore porn films. His pal got hold of them from Holland. He’d copy them and Jason would sell the pirate versions, earning two quid per film himself. On a bad week he could sell fifty films, on a good two hundred and fifty. It never failed to amaze Jason how many people watched porn. He even sold loads over the Mardyke, and virtually everybody who lived there professed to be skint.

      Knowing his mother’s usual habits, Jason rang up the Millhouse Social Club and spoke to the barmaid. She was there, just as he’d known she would be. When she had the cheek to slur, ‘What’s up?’ down the phone, Jason calmly told her he would pick her up in half an hour and she needed to stay at home this evening as he had to go out. There was no point kicking off with her, especially when she was wasted.

      His mother reluctantly agreeing, Jason ended the call and thought again about the girl he’d met on the market. Melissa was plain rather than pretty, but if she had her own gaff, she’d do for the time being.

      ‘Where have you been? I’ve been worried sick,’ Melissa Brooks exclaimed. Her parents never went anywhere without leaving a note or telling her beforehand, so their absence today was totally out of character.

      ‘Sorry, love. I asked