Damaged Goods. Helen Black

      DAMAGED GOODS

      

      Helen Black

      

       Copyright

      AVON

      A division of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd. 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

       www.harpercollins.co.uk

      First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 2008

      Copyright © Helen Black 2008

      Helen Black asserts the moral right to

      be identified as the author of this work

      Extract from A Place of Safety © Helen Black 2008. This is taken from uncorrected material and does not necessarily reflect the finished book.

      This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

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      This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

      HarperCollinsPublishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication

      Source ISBN: 9781847560704

      Ebook Edition © JANUARY 2006 ISBN: 9780007281862 Version: 2018-05-24

       Dedication

      To Andrew

      There are over 60,000 children being ‘looked after’ by the state in the UK.

      One third of the homeless in this country were raised in care.

      Sixty per cent of young offenders in this country have been through the care system.

      

       Dear Mum,

      I can’t believe you did this to us. You always said that no matter how bad it got we’d have each other.

       You said we’d always be together.

       We did everything we had to.

       I even kept my mouth shut when I knew I shouldn’t.

      And what was it all for? You’ve thrown us away like rubbish so that’s how they treat us. We’ve been split up and I’m not even allowed to see the babies.

      I can’t tell you how much I hate you for what you’ve done, and if I ever see you again I’ll cut you to pieces.

       Kelsey

      Contents

       Cover Title Page Copyright Dedication Epigraph Prologue Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty Chapter Twent-one Acknowledgements About the Author About the Publisher

       PROLOGUE

      Grace worried the kitchen surface with the corner of a J-cloth, trying once again to remove a mark made years before by a hot spoon. The phone call had unnerved her and her hands shook. She bent over the cooker and lit another cigarette on the gas ring, hoping it would calm her. It didn’t. What she needed was a hit. A £10 bag would do, just enough to put her in a better place, just enough to allow her to explain things properly. To make herself clear. Just one hit to get through this.

      She checked her watch. Five past eight. That should give her ten minutes, enough time to race downstairs to the dealer on the ground floor. He charged over the odds but what could you do?

      The tap on the door was soft but Grace jumped all the same. No time to get the brown now, this was one conversation she would have to do straight.

      She took a last deep drag on the cigarette and answered the door. ‘Oh, it’s you.’

      ‘Who were you expecting?’

      Grace shrugged.

      Outside, a dog scratched and barked.

      ‘Get out of it,’ Grace yelled.

      ‘It’s probably hungry.’

      ‘Aren’t