Payback by Kimberley Chambers

in the amusements. I wonder if that handsome Mike is still running the arcade?’
    Queenie squeezed her sister’s hands. Vinny had been trying to entice her down to Eastbourne ever since the holiday park reopened in April, but Queenie hadn’t been able to face it. She and Vivvy had loved that place and, without her sister by her side, it just didn’t feel right. ‘Oh, Viv, of course we can. I am so glad to have you back. My life was empty when you were ill.’
    Vivian’s eyes filled up with tears. ‘And I’m sorry for what I put you through. I love you, Queen, and once I get out of this funny farm I intend to live the rest of my life to the full. I know we’ve both lost sons, but your Roy and my Lenny wouldn’t want us moping around.’
    Queenie smiled. ‘You bet they wouldn’t.’
    Michael Butler picked up the newspaper and immediately threw it back on the kitchen top. ‘BURNED ALIVE’ was the front-page headline and Michael could not stomach such stories any more.
    Trevor Thomas’s death still played on Michael’s mind. Three days after his remains were found, the police had turned up at the club asking questions. Trevor had been identified by breaks he’d suffered in his collarbone and left leg in the past. He’d also had a plate and screws put in his knee, which made him even more identifiable.
    Vinny had been as cool as a cucumber when the Old Bill showed up, insisting that he had not seen Trevor since he ran off with Yvonne. ‘No disrespect, officer, but I was no more than a child when Trevor ran off with my bird. I am now a man in a stable relationship with my second kid on the way. Do you honestly think I would still be bothered about some teenage love affair that happened all those years ago?’
    Michael had been anything but cool, but had backed up the alibi that he and Vinny had concocted. Forensics had managed to narrow down the day the fire had been started on, and the guvnor of the Blind Beggar had verified that Vinny and Michael had been in the pub that particular evening.
    Thankfully, the police hadn’t returned. Michael had asked Vinny not to talk about Trevor’s death any more. He did not admit to his brother that he kept having reoccurring nightmares about it. What would be the point? Vinny would only have taken the piss out of him.
    Daniel and Adam running into the kitchen snapped Michael out of his daydream. ‘We’re going now, Dad,’ Daniel said, hugging his father’s leg.
    Michael Butler ruffled his sons’ hair and kissed his wife goodbye. Nancy was spending the night at her parents’ house with Daniel and Adam, which she now did a couple of times a month. Michael was quite happy with the set-up, as it gave him and Nancy a break from one another.
    Life had been OK since Nancy came back home, but it hadn’t exactly been a bed of roses. His wife was very needy and it grated on Michael that when he wasn’t around to give her a helping hand she struggled with the basics of motherhood. She also treated Lee differently to her own sons, and that pissed Michael off immensely. In his eyes, if Nancy was a decent human being she would include Lee in the trips to her parents and the days out they had. She knew Lee had no grandparents on his mother’s side.
    ‘I’m looking forward to seeing the dog, Dad, but I am gonna miss my brothers,’ Lee told his father on the journey to his aunt’s house.
    ‘I know you will, boy.’ Lee had an aunt in Bow whom he stayed with whenever Daniel and Adam went to their grandparents, and he adored her old bull terrier, Spike.
    After Michael had dropped Lee off, he got back in the car and grinned. His best pal Kevin was usually under the thumb but his wife was away visiting relatives, so today he and Kev were going out on a good old-fashioned pub crawl. Letting his hair down was just what Michael needed.
    Vinny Butler was feeling anxious. He had never found out who had sent those flowers, and knowing somebody had it in for you, but not knowing who that