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“She’s incompetent is what she is, Da.” Stalking over to the window, I rested my hands on the sill and exhaled a furious growl. “The woman’s a liability and my girlfriend isn’t safe in that house.” I swung around to glare at him. “None of those kids are safe with her—and especially not now that he’s sniffing around again.”

“They have social workers on the case,” Dad explained calmly as he walked over to the sink and emptied the pot of coffee down the drain. “That means house calls and strict supervision.”

“It doesn’t mean shite, Da, and you know it,” I shot back, frustrated. “She’s not safe in that house.”

“Then what do you want me to do here, Johnny?” he asked, rinsing out his cup and placing it on the draining board. “All of the Lynch children would have been spoken to after Shannon’s accident. They wouldn’t have been returned to their mother’s care without an investigation and, of course, being asked about their mother’s treatment of them. Obviously, the caseworkers involved found some merit in Mrs. Lynch’s ability to parent them.”

“They’re all brainwashed,” I hissed. “Don’t you get it? They’re fucking terrified of being sent into foster care and separated, so they lie and cover for their parents because they’re under some screwed-up belief that they’re safer where they are!”

“What’s going on?” Mam asked, standing in the kitchen doorway with her white dressing gown wrapped around her. “It’s half past four in the morning. What are you doing up?”

“Your son wanted to have a chat,” Dad explained calmly. “Nothing to worry about. Go on back to bed, sweetheart.”

Mam arched a brow and gave my father herDo you seriously think I’m buying that shite?look before stepping into the kitchen and heading for the kettle. “Is Shannon alright, love?”

I stopped pacing and frowned at my mother. “How did you—”

“Know this late-night chat was about Shannon?” Mam filled in with a knowing smile. “Because I know you.” Making herself a cup of coffee, she joined my father at the island. “Now.” Taking a sip from her cup, she looked at my father. “Start talking, sweetheart.”

With a resigned sigh, my father began to recap what we had spoken about, with me interjecting with the parts he left out.

“And there you have it, Ma,” I announced when my father was finished. “The absolute horror that is our justice system!” Swiping her mug of coffee off the counter, I tossed it back and moved for the kettle. “What am I supposed to do now, huh? Go to sleep in my nice warm bed and wait for a phone call to tell me she’s back in the hospital—or worse?” Shaking my head, I poured myself another cup of coffee, splashing water all over the counter in the process. “She deserves a hell of a lot better than the life she’s been handed.”

“I agree,” Mam said in a sad tone of voice. “They all deserve better.”

“Then do something, Ma,” I pleaded, feeling at a complete loss. “Because I’m going to lose my fucking mind if I have to drop her home from school every day and wait until I get to school the next day to see if she’s made it through the night!”

Tears filled my mother’s eyes when she asked, “And her brother? Darren?”

Frustrated, I took a swig of my coffee before answering. “He doesn’t know anything about them,” I bit out. “He’s been gone for years. He’s all about his mother’s best interests and not the kids. Joey doesn’t trust him, and neither do I.”

Mam and Dad looked at each other then, and I felt like I was being left out of a private discussion that was taking place without words. “What are you thinking?” I asked, anxious. “Can you do something?”

Dad sighed heavily. “What do you want us to do, son?”

“I want you to nail that bastard to the wall,” I told him. “I want justice for those kids. I want justice for my girlfriend. It’s not enough that he gets to walk away from this when they can’t.” I turned to my mother. “They’re completely fucked up, Ma. He wrecked them!”

Both of my parents were silent for so long that I gave up on them answering me. “Forget it,” I growled, tossing my cup in the sink. “I shouldn’t have bothered.”

Stalking toward the hallway, I halted in my tracks when Mam spoke. “We’ll do what we can, Johnny.”

I turned to look at them. “What does that mean?”

“It means we’ll do what we can to help,” Dad explained calmly, resting his hand on top of Mam’s. “Now, go upstairs and try and get a couple hours’ sleep before school.”

Feeling dejected, I headed back upstairs to my room with my shoulders slumped and my stomach in knots. The birds were singing outside when I walked back into my room and sank down on the edge of my bed to stare out the window at the dark sky. Grabbing my phone off my bedside locker, I unlocked it and scrolled through my messages, reading and rereading every text she had sent me until I had driven myself half-demented. “Fuck it,” I muttered to myself as I tapped into my phonebook and brought up her contact. I had my finger on the call button when my phone started to vibrate in my hand, signaling an incoming call from Shannon.

Heart racing, I clicked Accept and put the phone to my ear. “Shan?”

“Hi, Johnny,” came her hushed voice on the other line. “Did I wake you?”

“No, I was awake,” I replied, exhaling a shaky breath. “Are you okay?”

“I’m okay,” she whispered and I felt my shoulders sag in relief. “I just…”

“You just what, Shan?”

“I wanted to hear your voice,” she admitted. “Is that weird?”

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