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have been at home tonight.’
    ‘Course she was,’ Terry replied adamantly. ‘She’s always there when her mam goes out. Sue thinks I don’t know what goes on, but she forgets that Leanne’s mam lives across the road. And she makes sure I hear all about everything.’ Pausing, he fisted one large hand and cupped the other one around it as if to control his anger before continuing. ‘It’s all wrong, you know: making Nicky look after Connor when they could both come to me. But she reckons I’ve got no rights because I did the dirty on her. And she’s already had me nicked for going round there when I thought she was out, so what am I supposed to do? Demand to see them, and have the lying bitch tell you lot that I’ve battered her again? I don’t think so.’
    Jay could feel his frustration when he stared at her, challenging her to deny that he’d been given a rough ride. He had previous for violence, and there was no denying that there was something decidedly unsavoury about a man of his age surrounding himself with the type of young girls she’d glimpsed through the door of his flat tonight. But he obviously cared about his children, and that was no bad thing in a world where so many fathers walked away without a backward glance.
    Slumping back in his seat after a moment, Terry stared up at the ceiling and blinked rapidly to keep the tears that were stinging at the backs of his eyes from bursting through. He’d been on a knife’s edge since arriving at the hospital to hear that Nicky hadn’t been brought in along with Connor, terrified that she was injured or dead. But, much as that thought grieved him, he equally couldn’t bear the thought of Connor being alone in the house.
    Waking up in the middle of an inferno with no one to comfort and protect him. Calling for his daddy and getting no reply . . .
    Assuring him that the fire crew would do a much more intensive search of the house as soon as the site had been cleared for safety, Jay said, ‘In the meantime, can you think of anywhere else where Nicky might have gone tonight? Any relatives she might have decided to visit, or school friends? Or maybe she could have met up with her mother?’
    ‘No way,’ Terry spat, his cheek muscles jumping as he clenched his teeth. ‘Sue might have got her own way with making me back off, but she wouldn’t dare drag my kids into any of her shit.’
    Coming along the corridor just then carrying two steaming Styrofoam cups of coffee, Leanne narrowed her eyes when she saw the blonde talking to Terry. Quickening her pace, she marched up to them and demanded to know what was going on.
    ‘She’s from the police,’ Terry told her quickly, knowing from her expression that she was on the verge of kicking off. ‘They’re trying to find Nicky, and they want to know if I’ve got any idea where she is.’
    ‘How are you supposed to know?’ Leanne said sharply. Then, to Jay: ‘How’s he supposed to know when he wasn’t even there when it happened? He came straight home to me after work – and you can ask my friends if you don’t believe me, ’cos they were all there.’
    Shaking his head surreptitiously to shut her up, because she was being too defensive and that was bound to make the policewoman suspicious, Terry said, ‘I’ll tell you everything in a bit, but I need to get my head round it first. And I’ve got to try and think where Nicky might be.’ Looking at Jay now, he said, ‘No point talking to mine or Sue’s families, by the way. They fell out with us before Nicky was born, so she doesn’t even know where any of them live.’
    ‘Okay, well, we’ll start with her friends,’ Jay said. ‘But don’t worry if you can’t think of any – I can always contact the school.’
    ‘I’ll try,’ Terry said, pushing himself to his feet. ‘But I’m going to have a bit of a walk, ’cos I can’t think straight while I’m so close to . . .’ Trailing off, he gestured with a nod towards Connor’s