“No.” Mam appeared sad, probably still upset Dad had kept things from her, but she had to see he couldn’t tell her every little thing. “Who was the fella, by the way?”
Doreen flapped a hand. “That ruddy Martin Barnett.”
“Oh, fuck me.” Mam’s eyes closed for a moment. “Sharon’s husband?”
“Hmm.” Doreen scratched her cheek. “They’d split when I went out with him, Sharon didn’t want him back, and she never knew I went on that date. All these years she just thought he’d pissed off and didn’t pay her any child support, but he was actually dead.”
“Sharon was well shot of him by the sounds of it,” Cassie said. “No wonder she kicked him out.”
Doreen shook her head. “Poor cow. That’s another reason I don’t want her lumped in with Karen over this lark we’re dealing with now. Sharon’s all right, just led by Karen. She doesn’t mean any harm. Karen’s like the school bully. You go along with her, smile and nod, agree with everything so you don’t get punched. But Sharon stood up to her this time, said she didn’t want to kill you, so that’s something, isn’t it?”
Mam sighed. “How many years has Martin been gone?”
Doreen appeared to count back in her head. “My Richie was only little, but it was after Jess went missing and before I started seeing Felix, I know that. I’m sure Richie was about five when Felix was around.”
“We’ll send her a wedge of money in the post, anonymously,” Mam said. “Make up for all the cash she should have got from him. Slip a typed note in there saying he’s sorry he didn’t pay up sooner. Saying that, he wasn’t the sort to have an epiphany and feel bad years down the line, so it might look off.”
“Say he’s been nicked, was in prison, and found God,” Cassie said. “Whatever works.” She chuckled, a wry rasp. “I never thought we’d be paying the likes of Sharon Barnett this amount of cash.”
“I’m annoyed your father didn’t think of it—there’s nowt in the books about him paying her.” Mam sniffed in disdain. “Honestly, you think you know someone…”
“Mam…”
Cassie’s work burner bleeped with a message, preventing her from giving her mother a talking to, so she got up to look at it—Doreen sat too close. Brenda’s name and the word ‘news’ sat on the home screen. Bloody hell. “I need to make a phone call, won’t be long.”
She left the kitchen and entered the office, closing the door, and phoned Brenda. “What’s the matter?”
“Jason’s just left here.”
Cassie gritted her teeth, one of her molars squeaking. “What did he want?”
“Apparently, because he told me he wanted to take over that time, he thinks I’m his fucking sounding board. I didn’t get to record him—my phone was in the living room, and he went straight into the kitchen.”
Damn it. “What did he have to say for himself?”
“He told me everything he’s done and what he’s planning. Oh, and he skimmed the money from Nathan Abbott. The most disturbing thing? Drugging you and your mam. Getting you both hooked on anti-depressants, reliant on him so he can run the place. He blabbed to me about the fridge in the Jade—and no, I won’t be telling anyone where the drugs are stored, I like living. And to top it all, I still haven’t got round to Sid’s yet. Today is just one thing after another.”
I killed Nathan for no reason. Jesus Christ. “What advice did you give him?”
Brenda gave the information. “And I said I wouldn’t be telling you—thought it best he thinks he can still come to me. We can find out more that way. He’s a prat, but a dangerous one. To have it all worked out like that… He’s been thinking about this for a long while, he must have done, probably planned to drug Lenny, too, take over from him, but then Lenny died.”
“And he thinks I’m an easier target to get rid of so he’s rushed things along. Little bastard.”
“Exactly my feelings. I’m sorry I didn’t get to record it.”
“Doesn’t matter, I believe you. I’ve got someone else dealing with him and his confessions later anyroad.”
“I don’t want to know.”
“Best you don’t. Get yourself round to Sid’s else you’ll never make it at this rate.”
Brenda let out a rush of breath. “I’m fair worn out. I hope the randy old sod doesn’t want a bit.”
Cassie shut that visual down. “Too much info, love. Tarra.” She ended the call and grabbed a ledger, one from around the time Dad would have taken Martin Barnett to Marlene. She flipped it open until she found his name. There it was, in black and white, all Martin’s information, and: DISAPPEARED.
When she had a moment, she’d read all of them again, back to back.
She wanted to work out what else Dad hadn’t told her mam.
Chapter Nineteen
Cassie and Jason sat in a booth at The Donny, the one closest to the door. The rest of the day up until now had seen Cassie, Mam, and Doreen hashing out the finer points of what they’d named The Reckoning, making contingency plans if things went wrong. Around dinnertime, Cassie had phoned Jason to arrange that ‘date’ they hadn’t managed yesterday. They’d met an hour or so ago, Cassie sending him to the booth so she could order the drinks without him knowing what she had—lemonade, but he happened to think there was vodka in it.
Time had passed with him offering small talk, banal bullshit she had no interest in but pretended she did, bored out of her bloody mind. He sipped his
