‘The police found him in the warehouse so it looks like Alan’s crew left the police to sort it out. They’ll have seen the body first, though, so we need to be ready for them when they hit. They’ll probably go for the club so we need to make sure our security’s tight.’

‘Sure,’ said Glynn. ‘I’ll get right on it.’

‘The police will be round asking questions, too, so we need to make sure our stories match. Here’s the gist of it – he worked for me but he left a couple of weeks ago, said he had a better offer. He used to help in the nightclub, carrying stock in and stuff, and he collected money from my businesses and put it in the safe.’

There was a confused look on Mike’s face. ‘You don’t wanna go telling the coppers that,’ he said.

‘I’m talking about my legal businesses,’ Peter responded. ‘The bookies and sunbed salons. I’m not gonna fuckin’ tell the coppers about our protection, am I? You numpty!’

Mike glared at Peter but didn’t comment further.

‘Right, are we all clear on that then?’ Peter asked.

‘Sure,’ said Glynn. ‘What about Adele? Does she suspect anything?’

‘No. She didn’t sound like she did, anyway.’

‘OK, that’s good,’ said Glynn, and he and Mike left the office.

Peter sat down at his desk. He needed a few moments alone to go over things in his head. He wished to God that Mike and Glynn hadn’t gone so far when they had killed Sam. Sure, he wanted to send a message. But he was seriously worried about reprisals. He knew Alan and David would want revenge.

Glynn and Mike had been gone only a couple of minutes when Peter received a call from reception to let him know that the police were here to see him.

‘Bring ’em up,’ he instructed, and then he took a deep steadying breath as he prepared himself for the worst.

Chapter 39

It was Adele’s first day back at work and she was nervous. She hadn’t previously realised just how cut off her office was from the rest of the club. It was OK when Peter and some of the other staff were around but when they weren’t there it was scary.

As she sat there going over some of the figures she found it difficult to concentrate. Every little noise set her on edge; the central heating rattling around in the pipes or the wind blowing through the corridor. And even though Peter had tried to reassure her about the increased security, she still felt exposed.

Now, as she looked up from her desk, she began to relive the night when she had been attacked. A sliver of fear ran down her spine as she recalled the way her attacker had held a knife to her throat till he drew blood.