‘It’s obvious you don’t fuckin’ smoke,’ said Anna whose voice had now adopted a defensive tone. ‘Otherwise you’d know how fuckin’ dear cigs are.’

‘OK,’ said Adele. ‘But I hope you haven’t got any more drugs in the cell. I don’t want to get in trouble if the guards do a search.’

‘I haven’t,’ snapped Anna. ‘It’s all fuckin’ gone now, isn’t it?’

Adele remained silent. The incident had troubled her, not only because Anna was doing drugs but also because she was so petrified of Shazza. It said a lot about the sort of person Shazza was. And now it seemed that Shazza had taken against her, too.

The few words that Denise had spoken had also made it obvious that her previous fight with Adele was not forgotten. There were bound to be repercussions and as Adele lay struggling to sleep that night she became seriously worried about what those might be.

Chapter 13

Peter and three members of his gang were sitting inside a souped-up Ford Escort, a few metres away from Smart and Sons, and tucked behind a Volvo. Sam was in the driving seat, with Peter in the front passenger seat and Glynn and Mike sitting in the back.

‘Right, according to Mickey they should be coming out any minute now so keep your eyes peeled,’ Peter said.

They all looked across the road at the doorway of Smart and Sons cash and carry where a stream of people was beginning to emerge.

‘OK, here they are,’ said Peter, watching most of the people cross the road and file into the Commercial pub. ‘Regular as fuckin’ clockwork, just like Mickey said.’ They continued to watch the procession of staff go into the Commercial.

‘Those two look promising,’ said Glynn, with a smile painted on his handsome face as he eyed two attractive young women.

‘Yeah, I’ve already spotted them,’ said Peter.

‘Mike, I think you should stick to the old crones,’ said Glynn. ‘Sorry, mate, but I don’t fancy your chances with those birds.’

‘Thanks a fuckin’ million,’ said Mike. ‘You saying I’m an ugly bastard or summat?’

The other men in the car laughed. It was commonly accepted amongst them that Mike wasn’t the best looking; Peter and Glynn were the ones with the looks. As an elderly worker walked into the pub, Glynn said, ‘There y’are, mate. You never know. Your luck might be in.’

When their laughter had subsided, Peter glanced at Glynn and Mike in the back seat and asked, ‘Right, lads, are we ready?’

They nodded in response and Peter eased open the car door and bid a quiet farewell to Sam. Glynn and Mike joined Peter on the pavement and the car sped off down the road.

‘Right,’ said Peter, as they walked towards the pub. ‘Remember what I said. Don’t be too fuckin’ obvious. We don’t want to give the game away.’