‘I do a bit,’ said Josh, thinking only that tomorrow he would be on that ferry to Ireland, and with any luck, Claire would be there and they would be reunited. She was the love of his life. He adored her, and longed to have her back. This time, he wouldn’t be such a fool. Whatever she wanted of him, she would have.

He felt deeply guilty over his involvement with Shauna. But Christ, he was a man and she fucked like a rabid stoat, that girl. Paraded around naked in front of him until he felt so hard for her he wanted to throw her on the floor and do it to her right then and there. She drained him dry. She leapt on him like a she-bear every opportunity. Devoured him. And he couldn’t resist her. He ought to, he knew that. But he was so miserable, so wretched, that he couldn’t.

‘John’s had a spot of trouble,’ said Linus.

‘Bought a pub,’ said John. ‘A free house too, not tied to a particular brewery. Thought it would be a damned good investment. But it’s a fucking nut house and I can see now why the last lot sold up and scooted.’

‘What, getting trouble then?’ asked Josh, not really interested.

John and Linus exchanged a look. Linus nodded.

‘I dunno if it’s something you’d want to do,’ said John. ‘But Mr Pole here thinks it might be of interest to you. Truth is, the place is bedlam, night after night. Stabbings. Even a couple of shootings. I can’t go on like this. Way I see it, I either do something drastic or get out. I’ll make a loss, but what the fuck.’

‘How much?’ asked Josh. All right, he was broken over Claire, but in the meantime life went on. He had to earn. Hotels were expensive.

‘To straighten things out in a month?’

‘Should be long enough,’ said Josh.

John named a sum. Josh kept his face blank to hide his surprise at the size of it. He thought briefly of Cloudy, lining his own back pocket while keeping Josh on basic. As his own manager, he was already doing better than he could ever have hoped for. Providing he didn’t get himself killed in the process, of course. Then again, if he couldn’t find Claire, who cared if he did.

‘I’ll be in Ireland for a bit,’ he said.

‘When you get back then. As soon as you can,’ said John.

‘All right. It’s a deal.’

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