Page 160 of The Guilty Girl

‘Don’t know.’

‘Who burned his car?’

Oscar shook his head. ‘I really don’t know.’

‘What do you know about Lucy’s death?’

The boy shrugged.

‘Come on, Oscar. You have to tell me what you saw at the house.’

‘He has to tell you fuck all!’ Ivy roared.

‘Ivy Jones! Your father will ground you for a month if you don’t lose that mouth.’

‘This is ridiculous.’ Ivy got up and moved to the door. She pointed at her brother. ‘You don’t know the half of it, Mum. He’s stoned off his face most of the time. How can he even know what he saw? Might be hallucinations. A figment of his warped imagination.’

‘You’re the one with the warped imagination!’ Oscar cried. ‘You and that DJ bollix, screwing in his van. Now who’s ridiculous?’

Ivy leapt across the room, grabbed her brother’s T-shirt and spat into his face. Lottie and Rita reached them at the same time, each taking one teenager, successfully separating the screaming pair.

Lottie’s phone rang, its shrill tone splitting the noise. Caller ID – Boyd.

She left Lynch to calm the teenagers, and as she answered the call, the room slipped into an uneasy silence.

73

In the garish hallway with its faux chandelier, Lottie sat heavily on the bottom step of the stairs. Slipping her tired feet out of her shoes, she found the cold tiles strangely therapeutic.

‘What’s up, Boyd? Did you talk to your police contact over there?’

‘I tried to tell you earlier, but you hung up. Then I had to get food for Sergio. It’s about Jackie.’

‘Has she reappeared to stop you taking Sergio with you?’

‘You’re half right. Mind-reader.’

She didn’t hear the usual laugh in his voice. ‘Oh shit, Boyd, what are you going to do?’

‘I’ll figure something out, but that’s not why I’m ringing you.’

‘I’m listening.’

‘This is hard to believe, but I think it’s true. Jackie’s been working as an informant with the Spanish police, snitching on her drug pals. This is relevant to your investigation. She’d been infiltrating the world of Albert McAllister and Terry Starr for some time.’

‘Albert is a drug dealer?’

‘That’s what they thought originally. But Jackie stumbled on something much more sinister. She felt she might lose her cover and once Sergio was safe with me, she went into hiding, trusting I’d keep him safe. I had no idea what she was involved in, and her police handlers had no idea where she’d gone.’

‘Go on.’

‘Jackie discovered that there’s drug smuggling via Spain to Ireland, but it’s small-time. A bit of coke here and there. GHB and pills.’

‘So that might be why Albert hightailed it to Spain when he was threatened. What’s the sinister news?’

‘Terry Starr. She uncovered something about him that really scared her. And believe me, it takes a lot to scare Jackie.’

‘Something to do with underage girls?’

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