Read No Child of Mine for Free Online Page A

they listened to the ruckus going on outside as neighbours came to taunt the police and Laura swore unholy vengeance on the arseholes who’d never learned to wipe shit from their hands. This last, Alex knew, was a repulsively racist jibe directed at Sanjid, the uniformed officer who was the driver of one of the marked cars. He might well be used to such abuse from this estate, nevertheless it still made Alex cringe to hear it.
    Her eyes remained on Daniel. What was he really thinking? Deep down in there somewhere he surely had to be scared, or at least confused, worried, floundering about out of his depth in a world that would terrify most other kids. A sense of deprivation and violence was all-pervasive on this estate, dragging the residents into bitter feuds that regularly erupted between the criminal families. Being born into the infamous Crowe clan, this poor lad had never stood a chance.
    Knowing there was no point trying to treat him like most kids his age, Alex said, ‘Lucky you’re not any older, or they’d have arrested you for the little stunt you just pulled.’
    ‘Fuck off,’ he snorted, and wiped the back of his hand over his mouth in a gesture that seemed way beyond his years. Who had he picked that up from? His stepfather, currently remanded in custody for the robbery? His psycho uncle, two years into a life sentence for clubbing a pizza-delivery boy to death? Perhaps it was the older kids around the estate who clustered about street corners in menacing gangs, rarely going to school, or work, or anywhere that might in some way improve their lot.
    In a tone borrowed from some kind of gangster movie, Daniel said, ‘If you think you’re taking me anywhere ...’
    Alex cut him off. ‘You can’t stay here alone, you know very well the law doesn’t allow it.’
    ‘I can take care of myself.’
    ‘I know you think so, and I’m not arguing, I’m just telling you what has to happen.’
    His shifty green eyes flicked briefly to hers. He was hunched inside a shabby blue T-shirt, making her think of a small bird caught in a trapper’s bag.
    ‘Come on,’ she said, trying to sound friendly, ‘we’ve been here before, so you know the ropes.’
    His thin lips curled with contempt. ‘I’m not going with that sicko again,’ he snarled. ‘He’s a paedo, a bumfucker ... My dad’s going to kill him when he finds him.’
    Alex sank inside. She didn’t doubt for a minute that Frankie Crowe would do his worst were he ever to get hold of Daniel’s last foster carer. God, what a screw-up that had been, but who knew until it was too late that Ralph Tanner and his church-going wife had registered as foster parents with only one purpose in mind? The question still unanswered was how the hell they had managed to get clearance when the vetting process was supposed to be so stringent. It was everywhere else, but Dean Valley County Council did not have an outstanding track record where carers were concerned, which inevitably meant that the children who came under its protection didn’t do so well either. Indeed, if Daniel hadn’t spoken up when he had – and tragically so few found the courage to when they were being abused – the Tanners might still be accepting more already disturbed kids into their care.
    ‘Where are they taking my mum?’ he growled menacingly. ‘When’s she coming back?’
    Alex shrugged, because she knew how to be cool with kids like Daniel. ‘I don’t know. It’ll depend on whether she’s remanded in custody, or let go on police bail.’
    ‘She didn’t do nothing wrong,’ he shouted. ‘I was with her that night, so I know she wasn’t where they’re saying she was. Go and tell them that, bitch.’
    Knowing he probably didn’t even know which night they were talking about, never mind where his mother had been for most of it, Alex said, ‘I’m sure you’ll get your chance to speak up when the time comes. Until then, it’s my job to get you somewhere safe ...’
    ‘I told