the kids are missing,’ Joyce said, perplexed.
‘They’re scum, what do you expect?’ Eddie replied.
Dominic turned to Georgie and Harry. ‘Where was your dad, nan and grandad when you ran away? Were they all at home?’ he asked.
Both children shook their heads. ‘Nanny Alice and Grandad Jimmy went out and Daddy was in the front room with Sally, making funny noises,’ Georgie replied.
Eddie glanced at Joey, shook his head and knelt down again. ‘Tell the lady that as well. Tell her that when you ran away, Daddy was making funny noises with his girlfriend in another room.’
Georgie grinned and nodded eagerly. She really liked her Grandad Eddie; he was cool and treated her like a big girl. ‘Can we live with you, Grandad?’ she asked hopefully.
Feeling himself getting all emotional again, Eddie stood up. Anything could have happened to those kids today, absolutely anything. Say some nonce-case had spotted them and abducted them? The O’Haras wanted shooting and the fact that they’d put his grandchildren in danger made Ed want to be the one to pull that trigger even more.
‘Where you goin’, Grandad?’ Harry asked as Eddie bolted from the room.
‘Toilet,’ Eddie lied. The truth was, he was struggling to hold back the tears and it wasn’t in his nature to show weakness, not even in front of his own.
Alice O’Hara was inconsolable. Crying one minute, screaming, ranting and raving the next. She was losing the plot, especially with Jed, and Jimmy knew it. They’d all spent an hour searching on foot, but there was neither hide nor hair of Georgie or Harry. It was as though the kids had disappeared into thin air. Knowing they had to widen their search, Jimmy had now called reinforcements in. His nephew Sammy had already arrived and his son Billy was on his way and was bringing another four blokes from his site with him. Pat Murphy had offered to help as well. He’d got here within minutes of Jimmy’s phone call, as he only lived down the road.
‘Don’t just fucking stand there, then!’ Alice screamed at everyone.
Jimmy grabbed hold of his wife and held her shaking body close to his chest. ‘We’re just waiting for Billy boy, love, and then we’ll jump in three or four motors and we’ll find them. They’ll be OK, I promise you that.’
‘You promised me Marky’s funeral would be OK and look what happened there. As for you,’ Alice yelled, breaking free from her husband and punching her youngest son in the side of his head, ‘you ain’t fit to be a father, you selfish, no-good cunt.’
As Sally tried to cuddle him, Jed pushed her away. He blamed his girlfriend entirely for what had happened. It was all her fault; he’d been happily watching the telly with the kids until she’d started rubbing his cock. She should never have done that, not when she knew he had to look after Georgie and Harry.
‘Do yourself a favour and go back to your father’s tonight, Sally. I ain’t in the best of moods, OK? If you hadn’t have come round ’ere today, none of this would have happened.’
Sally looked at Jed with an incredulous expression on her face. None of this was her bloody fault. How could he even say that when the reason her beautiful son was dead was because of him?
‘You bastard! My Lukey boy died because somebody was trying to shoot you. How can you blame me for this, Jed? After everything we’ve been through, how could you be so callous?’
‘Don’t you dare blame that girl,’ Alice yelled at Jed.
Desperate to get back into his mother’s good books, Jed did what he was best at and lied. ‘You don’t know the fucking half of it, Mum. I told her to leave me alone, but she kept touching me in front of Georgie and Harry. I didn’t want them to see all that shit, that’s why we went upstairs. I mean, I ain’t had sex for weeks, so what was I supposed to do?’
Jed had always been the apple of Alice’s eye and she was now glad she had an excuse to stop hating him and blame somebody else. ‘Go home, Sally, and don’t fucking come back until you learn how to behave,’ she screamed viciously.
Jed pushed Sally towards the front door. ‘Wait at the end of the drive. I’ll order you a cab and ring you tomorrow.’
Sally was in floods of tears. Her dad was right, the O’Haras were scumbags and Jed was a lying, cheating, no-good bastard.
Seeing his brother Billy pull into the drive, Jed waved his hand for him to stop, then ran over to Sally.
‘I’ll bell you when the chavvies are home,’ he said, attempting to peck her on the cheek.
Sally turned her head and, seeing Jed for what he really was for the first time ever, boldly spat in his face. ‘Drop dead, you shit-bag. And I swear, if you ever try to contact me again, I will make sure my dad fucking kills you!’
Larry Peters arrived at Joycie’s at 9 p.m. He had represented the Mitchell family and had been on their payroll for many decades, hence his quick response to Eddie’s phone call. When asked by some of the snobs in his profession about his relationship with the notorious clan, Larry liked to describe himself as a family friend. He had been especially close to Harry, Eddie’s father, and had been devastated when Harry had met his maker in such awful circumstances.
Larry turned the ignition off, got out of the car and opened the passenger door for Carol. Larry had known Carol Cullen for many years. She had done him a few favours in the past and vice versa and he knew she was the right person to be involved in an incident like this. If anyone could pull some strings for him in social services then that woman was Carol.
Eddie opened the front door, shook Larry’s hand and was then introduced to Carol. ‘Thank you so much for visiting us at such short notice. My grandchildren have had the most awful ordeal and I’m very concerned over their future well-being. They miss their mother enormously,’ he said, laying it on as much as he could.
Carol shook his hand, then walked into the living room and smiled at Georgie and Harry.
‘Hello, my name is Carol. Wow, don’t yous two look nice and snug with them big bath towels wrapped around you?’
‘Can you take us to see our mummy?’ Harry blurted out.
Carol hated making promises if she couldn’t keep them. ‘Hopefully, I can organise a visit so you can see your mum, but first I need to ask you some questions, is that OK?’
Georgie and Harry both nodded. Their grandad had now told them numerous times what they had to say and his words were firmly drummed into their little brains.
‘Do you mind if I speak to the children alone? It’s the usual procedure,’ Carol asked Eddie.
Larry had prewarned him that Carol would probably ask to speak to the kids alone, so Eddie nodded and he, Dominic, Joey and Joycie left the room.
‘I hope they remember everything you told them,’ Joyce whispered.
‘Of course they will. They ain’t silly kids, especially Georgie. Bright as a button, she is,’ Eddie said confidently.
Larry joined the quartet in the kitchen. ‘Did you have a chat with ’em, like I told you to, Ed?’
Eddie
