‘Mrs Mackenzie?’ he enquired politely.

‘What do you want?’

‘Mr Cafferty would like a word.’

She relaxed a little. ‘He can have several. I’m just not sure he’d want to hear them.’

‘You’ll appreciate that he’s not as able to get out and about as he once was, so I said I’d bring you to him.’

‘And how do you plan to do that?’

‘By being courteous?’ The smile slipped from his face. ‘At least to start with.’

Elizabeth Mackenzie narrowed her eyes. ‘I know who you are now. You used to work for Darryl Christie. When he got put away, you sold yourself to a man he loathes.’ She moved her face closer to the glass. ‘Does Darryl know you belong to Cafferty now? I hear he’s pretty well informed for a man spending life behind bars. Andy – that’s your name, right?’

‘Andrew,’ he corrected her.

‘Is that because you’re all grown up these days?’ She shaped her lipsticked mouth into a pout.

‘Mr Cafferty only needs five minutes of your time,’ Andrew persisted.

‘Then tell him to call me.’

‘He’d rather meet.’

‘Are you going to move that heap of junk?’ She gestured towards the car blocking the gates.

‘Only once you’re in the passenger seat.’

‘We’re going to be here a while then.’ She heard the noise of an approaching vehicle and glanced into her rear-view mirror. ‘Or maybe not,’ she said with a smile.

The Range Rover pulled to a halt behind her, her daughter emerging from the passenger seat. A couple of seconds later, the driver climbed out. He was broad-shouldered and shaven-headed, and he examined the man in front of him the way a predator would its prey, alert to any weakness.

‘What’s going on?’ Gaby Mackenzie asked. She was a good foot shorter than the man who was now backing away from her mother’s car, his eyes on her companion, who was moving with seemingly infinite slowness towards him, hands clenching and unclenching in anticipation. Elizabeth Mackenzie unlocked her door and stepped out.

‘It’s fine, C,’ she said, causing the shaven-headed man to pause. All three of them watched Andrew retreat into his car and reverse it onto the roadway. He didn’t give them so much as a glance as he drove away.

‘Mum?’ Gaby asked, brow furrowed.

‘It’s nothing,’ Elizabeth Mackenzie answered.

‘Oh, it’s definitely something.’

She touched her daughter’s cheek. ‘Let’s keep it between us for now, eh? No telling your father.’ She got back into her car, clicked the button, and waited for the gates to do their thing.

‘I know him,’ the man called C told Gaby Mackenzie as he stared along the road. ‘I’ve seen him around.’

‘Who is he?’

‘I’m not sure.’

‘Can you find out?’ She stared at him intently as he slowly nodded.

‘Good,’ she said, striding back to the car and climbing in.