Alan sniffed and looked at all the men seated around the table, then spoke loudly. ‘The upshot is this…’ When he had got everyone’s attention he continued, ‘We stick to the fuckin’ plan.’

‘Aren’t you worried about repercussions?’ asked the man.

‘Do I look fuckin’ worried?’ asked Alan, the fury evident in his tone of voice.

‘Alan doesn’t scare easily,’ sniggered David.

‘If anyone’s fuckin’ worried, it’s Pete,’ Alan said. ‘That’s why he came here with his goons. Like that was gonna fuckin’ scare me!’ He looked around at his men again, holding the gaze of one or two of them until they shuffled uncomfortably in their seats. ‘Anyway, he might try to hit back, especially if that prick that was with him has anything to do with it, so I want you all to be vigilant. Go around in pairs. Don’t walk about alone; get taxis. You know the drill.’

The men nodded. ‘I don’t want another fuckin’ repeat of Sam,’ said Alan. ‘But if they think they’re gonna just walk in here and talk us round after what they did to him, then they’re fuckin’ mistaken. Like I said, we stick to the plan. Pete and his crew won’t know what’s fuckin’ hit ’em.’

Chapter 43

‘So, how did it go?’ Mike asked Glynn.

‘It was a fuckin’ joke!’ Glynn replied. ‘I don’t know what’s got into Pete but I think he’s turned fuckin’ soft. He was practically begging ’em to leave our businesses alone. That Alan’s no fuckin’ mug either. There’s no way he’ll take any notice of anything Pete says.’

‘I thought they were mates.’

‘Yeah, years ago, but there’s no fuckin’ way they’re mates now. There’s already bad blood between Pete and Dave ever since he fired him. But this Alan has definitely taken Dave’s side. He didn’t show an ounce of fuckin’ respect for Pete.’

‘I told you that Alan was a tosser,’ said Mike. ‘I couldn’t fuckin’ stand him when we were inside.’

‘Yeah, but he’s no mug either. He’ll carry on doing what the fuck he likes unless we do something to stop him.’

‘Why aren’t we doing it, then?’

‘We are. Pete says he’s gonna come up with something.’

‘And do you believe him?’

Glynn only shrugged.

‘I told you before, Glynn, you’d make a better fuckin’ leader than Pete. He’s handling this all wrong.’

Glynn looked away, deep in thought. He agreed with what Mike was saying. He’d been feeling it for a while and this latest turn of events had made him doubt Peter’s leadership skills even more. The guy was out of his depth.