‘You can either take the money, or you can be a moaning big girl’s blouse. After what that rancid old bastard did, his debt to me’s never going to be paid off. At least this way we got something.’ She dumped the spoon in the dishwasher, then screwed the lid back on the final resting place of Desperate Doug MacDuff.

Logan peeled off his jacket and draped it over the end of the bed, hiding Samantha’s charts, then wriggled out of his tie. ‘It’s like a furnace in here.’

She pulled the duvet up under her arms and settled back into the pillows. ‘Don’t whinge. Did you bring it? ’

He leaned forward and dug in the jacket pocket, coming out with Chalmers’s carrier bag. The book went on the bedside cabinet, next to the bottles of Lucozade and tattoo magazines. ‘Chalmers gave me a copy of Witchfire in the pub. I thought she was coming on to me.’

‘Ha!’ Samantha’s voice fell to a featureless monotone: ‘That’s because you’re so damn sexy us women just can’t keep our hands off you. Ooh, you stud you. Etc.’

‘You can be a sarcastic sod at times, you know that, don’t you? ’ He went into the other carrier bag – the one stashed underneath his seat – and produced a tin of Stella. Still cold from the off-licence. The ring clicked off. ‘You want one? ’

‘Can’t. Medication.’

Fair enough. The beer fizzed and crackled its way down, cutting through the thin layer of grease left behind after the fish and chips. ‘Steel thinks I should take Wee Hamish’s money.’

Samantha tilted her head to one side and stared at him. ‘Have you put on weight? ’Cos you’re looking a bit chunkier than usual.’

‘You know, there are other women out there. Women who might appreciate a thoughtful boyfriend like me.’

‘Why are fat people always so touchy? ’ Samantha picked up the copy of Witchfire. ‘So? Are you going to take the cash? ’

‘I’m not fat. Steel says it doesn’t really matter where it comes from, what matters is what you do with it.’

‘Kinky.’ Samantha peeled the stickers off the book’s front cover and dotted them onto her face. Now her forehead was ‘SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE!’ and her left cheek was ‘2 FOR £10!’ She puffed out her cheeks and dumped the book in her lap. ‘I’m bored.’

‘How can I take money that’s come from running protection rackets, drugs, Post Office jobs, prostitution. . .? ’

‘Bored, bored, bored, bored, bored.’

Typical. Might as well be talking to himself. Logan took another sip of beer. ‘What happened to that Stephen King I bought you? ’

Samantha’s shoulders slumped. ‘CD player’s knackered.’

‘Then get your arse better and come home.’