Page 44 of Vengeance is Mine

‘Have I?’

‘Yes. In profile. It’s strange. I was aware a girl Dominic had been seeing had got pregnant, but I must have put it to the back of my mind or something, because until you turned up on my doorstep, I never thought about it.’

‘You’ve been through a great deal over the years,’ I said, as I turned onto Langdale Road.

‘Oh God!’ Anthony said.

‘What’s the matter?’

‘I recognise that car.’

‘Which one?’

‘The dark red Range Rover. It’s Dominic’s solicitor.’

‘Clare Delaney?’

‘That’s her. The viper. What could she possibly want?’

I pulled up behind Clare’s car. It was showroom-bright and clean, and it screamed of wealth. It had the personalised number-plate ‘BO55 BCH’, and when Clare opened the door on the driver’s side, a step came out from underneath, so she didn’t have to jump down to the ground.

Clare was wearing a black trouser suit and a knee-length leather coat with a fur trim around the collar which I guessed was probably real fur. Against the brightness of the sun, she was wearing large-framed sunglasses. As soon as she saw us, she beamed a toothy grin.

‘Two birds with one stone. I was going to call you later, Dawn. Mr Griffiths, how are you?’

‘I’m fine, thank you. What do you want?’ he asked. There was tension in his voice.

‘I’ve come to update you on your son’s case.’

‘Ms Delaney, we’ve spoken about this on many occasions – I’m really not interested. Dawn, could you bring my shopping in?’ he asked, as he pulled a key out of his pocket and hobbled to the front door.

‘Of course.’ Then I turned to Clare. ‘What did you want to see me about?’

‘I have a letter for you from your father.’

‘What?’ My head was in the car as I was in the process of scooping up Anthony’s shopping. I stopped and looked daggers at Clare.

‘I gave him a call, told him all about you. He was very interested,’ she said, with a devious smile.

‘You had no right to do that. I said I’d let you know if I wanted to contact him.’

‘The health and wellbeing of my client are my number-one priority. He’s feeling a tad low and worrying about his impending release. He’s frightened about what kind of a world he’s going to be living in. I thought it would be beneficial to his mental state to know there was someone for him on the outside.’

‘I don’t believe a single word you just said.’ I slammed the car door closed, and the alarm went off. ‘Shit.’ I fumbled in my pocket for the keys and pressed a button hard on the fob to silence it.

‘Expensive things, cars, aren’t they?’ Clare said. ‘I’m sure your father would help you out once he receives his settlement.’

I wanted to slap that grin off her face, but judging by the amount of make-up she was wearing, she probably wouldn’t even feel it.

‘I pay my own way in this world, thank you. Now, if you’ll excuse me,’ I said, pushing past her and heading for Anthony’s front door.

‘I have the letter right here if you want it.’

I turned back from the doorway. Clare stood holding up an envelope like it was a golden ticket.

I placed the bags of shopping on the ground and walked over to Clare with my head high. I snatched the letter and returned to the house.

‘There’s a visiting order in there for you, if you’d like to pay him a visit. He’s currently in HMP Holme House, not far from here to prepare him for release. Did I tell you his release date? It’s the thirteenth of February. Not long to go.’

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