‘You sure this is what you want to do?’ asked Glynn as they drove to the Sportsman’s with two heavies in the back of the car.

‘Seems like the best way to sort it out,’ said Peter. As he glanced over at Glynn he thought he detected a look of disdain. ‘Don’t you agree?’

‘Yeah, sure. You’re the boss and you know the guy so perhaps you can talk some fuckin’ sense into him.’

When they arrived at the Sportsman’s, Peter said to Glynn, ‘Leave the talking to me.’ Then he turned to the two heavies. ‘You two come in with us, but stay by the door. We don’t want to wind anyone up unless we have to.’

Again Peter noticed that look of scorn on Glynn’s face and, although he wasn’t saying anything, Peter felt that Glynn would have handled things differently. He could appreciate his point of view but violence wasn’t always the answer. Besides, he and Alan went back a long way so he was a bit perturbed at the way Alan had teamed up with David. He secretly hoped he could make him see sense.

They walked inside the Sportsman’s and the two heavies stayed at the door as instructed. But the customers had noticed, and as Peter crossed the room with Glynn he could feel all eyes on them.

‘That’s him, the hard-looking one in the corner,’ he whispered to Glynn, who stuck to him tightly.

Peter noticed David sitting next to Alan, with several others in the same corner of the room. As he drew nearer to the table where they were sitting, David’s eyes locked with his. The look was hostile – venomous, even – and Peter tried to hide the disquiet that tugged at his insides.

‘Hi, Alan, David,’ he greeted, nodding at the others as well to let them know it was a friendly visit. ‘Can we have a chat, Alan?’ he asked.

‘Fire away,’ said Alan, leaning back confidently in his seat.

‘In private,’ added Peter.

‘There’s nowt you can say to me that you can’t say in front of my friends.’

Peter noticed Alan’s use of the word ‘friends’ rather than ‘employees’ or ‘men’. ‘OK,’ he said. ‘I’m here to ask you to back off our businesses.’

Alan sniffed. ‘Don’t know what you’re talking about,’ he responded casually.

‘I think you do, Alan.’ Peter then took a deep breath, trying to stay calm. ‘Look, I’m not here for trouble,’ he said. ‘I’m asking you nicely to leave my businesses alone.’

‘And what makes them yours, exactly?’ asked Alan with a smug look on his face.

‘Come on, Alan. You know how it works. Everyone knows we look after them. There are plenty of others you can collect from.’