‘Hello, there,’ he said.

She looked at him with wariness in her eyes.

‘What’s your name?’ said Abbott. ‘And shouldn’t you be at school?’

She heard the cubicle door go and her eyes widened only to relax a little when she saw that it was Marky.

‘You best get on with it, love,’ advised Marky. ‘You don’t want Mr McGregor getting angry again, do you?’

She shook her head mutely. Abbott had already noticed the bruise at her collarbone, and when he re-entered Doyle’s office and agreed that he would stay on to do some work for the organisation, it was that bruise he was thinking of.

That bruise and the look in her eyes.

Chapter 21

CHAPTER 21

Abbott sat in the passenger seat of McGregor’s BMW. The previous evening, he’d been given his stuff back. McGregor had taken him into town, and he’d made his way on foot to the Travelodge, careful to make sure he wasn’t being followed. This morning, he’d met McGregor at the drop-off point.

‘I’ll drive today,’ McGregor told him. ‘After that, you’ll be behind the wheel.’

‘Oh yeah? And why’s that?’

‘Because I’m the bagman and you’re the muscle, pal, and on a normal day, the muscle drives, you get me? That’s just the way it be.’

‘I’m the muscle. That’s it? That’s my job?’

‘Any problems, take it up with Doyle. He’ll tell you what he told me. That you’re to accompany me on my rounds.’

‘And what rounds is this? Paper? Milk?’

‘Paper just about covers it, my friend,’ McGregor said, rubbing money fingers at Abbott. ‘Only, instead of delivering, we’re collecting.’

‘And you need me along for that, do you? Big tough Glaswegian like you can’t handle that himself?’

McGregor chuckled. ‘I’m all about showing you the ropes, Sonny Jim, so that you can fly solo. Then you get to be your own muscle.’

Abbott shook his head. ‘I doubt I’ll be around that long.’

‘That’s what the boss wants, and so that’s what the boss gets,’ McGregor said.

They drove out of the centre and into a residential area, and not the good part either, as far as Abbott could tell from his glances out of the window.

‘Looked to me like Scutter was living all right,’ said Abbott, breaking a silence best described as ‘uneasy’.

‘Oh, aye, and what’s that supposed to mean, “living all right”?’

‘I did my research, McGregor. I know that Scutter spent time in jail, and I know what for. And it’s not that common for convicted paedophiles to be living in nice new houses with an Audi slotted in the drive.’

‘Ray Doyle does things differently. He looks after members of his family.’

‘That includes approving their assassination, does it?’

‘What makes you say that?’