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long hours hadn’t bothered him. I knew he could make a success of anything. I asked Connor how the club promoting was going.
    Connor shrugged. ‘They don’t take me seriously.’
    ‘Who?’
    ‘Mum and Dad.’
    ‘I’m sure they do.’
    ‘Dad doesn’t.’
    ‘He’s out of his comfort zone. Don’t be too hard on him.’ The world had changed. Hull was changing. I knew leisure and consumerism was where it was at. Maybe green technology would be the next big thing. I certainly didn’t have any of the answers.
    ‘I’m trying to get something off the ground in a club,’ he said. ‘Our own night. It’s not easy.’
    ‘With Milo?’
    ‘He’s got the contacts to get us started.’
    I couldn’t be too hard on him. My dream had been to play for Hull KR, but like my dad, it hadn’t have provided much of a living for either of us. It was never going to be a career. Not that I was given the chance to see how far I could push it. One bad tackle and it was all over. I passed Connor another beer and asked him the question that was on my mind. ‘Why did you take the cigarettes?’ He was peeling the sticker on the bottle, avoiding eye contact. ‘That’s why you’ve come here, isn’t it?’
    The tiniest nod of his head. I waited for him to speak. I stared out of the window into the darkness. There was no way someone had stumbled on to the cigarettes by accident. I’d seen the lock. Terry Gillespie just wanted the easy money. And I didn’t see Peter Hill having it in him to double-cross people. He was in over his head. It didn’t leave many suspects. No one else knew the cigarettes were in the lock-up. It had to be someone close. It only left Connor.
    ‘I heard Dad on the telephone talking about them,’ he eventually said. ‘I told Milo about them and he said we should sell them to get the club night up and running. I didn’t think it through properly.’
    I swallowed a mouthful of beer. Sometimes the most stupid decisions are no more than that. Especially when you’re young.
    ‘You can’t tell my dad.’
    I hadn’t thought that far ahead. ‘What did you do with them?’
    ‘Milo said he knew someone who’d take them off our hands.’
    ‘Who bought them?’
    ‘I don’t know. Milo sorted it.’
    ‘Who is Milo?’ I asked, more interested in him now.
    ‘He’s a mate. I met him out clubbing a while back. He’s got some great ideas about what the city’s nightlife needs. Everyone thinks he’s the business.’
    ‘And you wanted to be in the mix with him?’
    ‘Something like that.’
    He didn’t sound too clever to me. I was going to speak to speak to him. ‘Where will I find him?’
    ‘Don’t tell my dad. Please. I’ll sort it.’
    I put my drink down. ‘How are you going to sort it, Connor?’
    He stood up. ‘I shouldn’t have come here. It’s not your problem.’
    I stood up, too. ‘If it concerns my family, it is my problem.’
    ‘I’ll get the money from somewhere.’ He handed me his empty beer bottle. ‘It’s my mess to sort out, Uncle Joe.’
     
    Connor left. I watched him go before putting some music on low. I had to stop the police ruining Connor’s life before it had even started. I stared at the wall in front of me. Things were a mess. I knew Connor wasn’t a bad lad, but like most at his age, he’d gone off the rails a bit. It would break Niall’s heart to know Connor had taken the cigarettes. I couldn’t tell him. I tried to put it to the back of my mind and enjoy the music. My mobile vibrated. A text message from Sarah. Could I meet her at Hull Royal Infirmary? Don had been attacked. She was in the café waiting on news. I let the news sink in before slowly easing myself up. I’d drunk three bottles of beer without even realising, and that was enough these days to knock me slightly off-kilter.
    I found my coat and locked up. The cool air helped to clear my head straight as I walked to the hospital.
    Hull Royal Infirmary was my least favourite building in the city.