‘I can tell my kid that myself,’ the man said, aggressively.

‘Would you like to come in?’ Dom asked. He gestured to Marilyn. ‘Sorry about the mess. Our dog gave birth to puppies last night in just the wrong place.’

Our dog? Okay, maybe anything else would be too hard to explain, Erin conceded. For now Marilyn was communal property.

‘I’m not coming in,’ the man growled. ‘This place gives me the creeps.’

‘It’s a safe house, Dad,’ Nathan said in a small voice. ‘No one hits you here.’

There was moment’s deathly silence. The man seemed to freeze.

‘No one hits you anywhere,’ the man said finally, in a voice that said he didn’t believe it himself.

No one responded.

‘How’s the methadone programme going?’ Dom asked, and the man’s anger returned.

‘Bloody stuff doesn’t work. You know that.’

‘So you’re using again?’

‘Yeah, but I want the kid.’

‘You know the courts said you need to be clear for three months before they’ll consider it. Methadone and testing-you know the drill. We’ve been through it over and over. People are trying to help you.’

‘F…do-gooders.’

‘It’s all we can do, Michael,’ Dom said wearily. ‘Would you like some breakfast?’

‘Nah. I just want to give the kid the egg.’ He held it toward Nathan, not moving an inch inside the house. ‘Come on, Nathe,’ he said in a wheedling voice. ‘I bought it good and proper. With me pension money.’

‘It’s pretty big,’ Nathan said, but he didn’t look pleased. In fact, he looked close to tears.

‘So come and get it,’ Michael said.

Nathan edged forward along the hallway, inching his way past Marilyn. But it wasn’t the dog he was scared of, Erin thought. When he reached Michael his face was bleached white. Dom’s hand came down to rest on his shoulder.

‘Hey, it’s good that your dad’s brought you an egg,’ he said.

‘Y-yeah.’ Nathan took a deep breath, as if searching for courage. He reached out and the egg was shoved into his arms.