I glanced at the phone.
'Yeah,' I said.
'Well maybe now's the time to get out, leave it to the professionals.'
'Well maybe if you introduced me to one, I could hand over the reins.'
'You're funny,' he said.
'So's your face,' I said.
He left. I took out a Twix and a can of Coke. The morning was warming up. It felt good to be alive, although, obviously, all such feelings are temporary.
I am not entirely without feelings or consideration. Of course I went to the hospital. But it had to wait. I had customers. Three more that morning and two after lunch. In the early evening I took the phone off hold, and locked up the many locks that keep No Alibis safe and secure. I drove to the maternity wing at the Ulster Hospital. I took the stairs. One at a time. I lingered in the corridor until a nurse asked me what I wanted. She showed me to a private room. I looked through the glass in the door at Alison, pale, holding my son in her arms.
I entered the room. Alison smiled. There were tears in her eyes. She showed me our baby.
She held him up for me to take.
My arms would not move.
Instead I said, 'Where'd you get the monkey, love?'
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42