‘Right, well, I won’t lie,’ Alan began. ‘I went to see if he would give me work. I know you don’t like what he did to you but I prefer to keep an open mind about these things, Dave. Besides, if I got my foot in I might have persuaded him to take you back on. And I did hope I might soon be running the show.’

David didn’t say anything but he had a feeling Alan knew there was more to his parting from Pete than he had admitted. That was the thing about Alan, he was smart. And Alan always had a way of knowing.

‘Anyway,’ Alan continued. ‘I didn’t like the fuckin’ set-up. That bloke called Glynn that you told me about has got his size nines right under the fuckin’ table. And Pete’s taken another bloke on as well. Mike fuckin’ Shaftesbury. Right slimy bastard he is. I know him from inside. There’s no way I could work with a twat like him. I’d be watching my fuckin’ back all the time.

‘That fuckin’ Glynn’s well in favour, too. Pete reckons he’s his number two. He even had the cheek to tell me I might get on in his firm if I step up to the plate. Cheeky bastard! I think he’s forgotten who was the brains when we worked together.’

‘I told you how it is,’ said David, relieved now that Alan was on his side. ‘I think he’s forgotten who his fuckin’ friends are, too.’

‘Yeah, but I don’t forget anything, do I? Like when he did a fuckin’ runner at that house break-in and left me to carry the can. He could have helped me tackle that bloke and we could both have got away. Instead I ended up doing a long stretch while he’s building up his fuckin’ empire.’

‘So, what are you gonna do?’ asked David, eager to hear Alan’s plans.

‘Well, I’ve been thinking, haven’t I? I know a couple of decent blokes. We could team up with them to do bigger jobs. And we’ll take over some of the fuckin’ security, for a start. Let Pete know he’s not the only fuckin’ firm in town. I’ll teach him to dangle me on a piece of string.’

‘Brilliant,’ gushed David, delighted at this turn of events. ‘So, when do I get to meet the other lads?’

‘Give me a few days. I need to see ’em myself first, see if they’re interested. Then, once they give me the go-ahead, we can arrange our first meeting.’

‘Great.’

‘OK, well, there’s something else I want you to do,’ said Alan.

‘What’s that?’

‘Pete mentioned a couple of blokes who’ve worked with him for years. I wondered if you knew them.’