The man nodded. ‘He thinks you are right to be concerned but Jamie is still his son. Personally, I couldn’t give two fucks what happened to the lairy little fucker. Someone’s going to put him down eventually. That is inevitable.’

Jack nodded but he didn’t say a word. What he sensed, though, was that Jamie Brewer, cunt or not, had a few of his family by his side. He sighed heavily. This could turn nasty all right. But he was honour-bound to look out for Lenny Scott’s family. He would have to do whatever was necessary.

James Brewer Senior was the main man when it came to raves, bare-knuckle fights – or any outdoor entertainments, come to that. He was a serious lump and he had his creds. Jack liked and respected him, but that was put aside for the moment. If this went off then there would be bloody murders all over the Smoke. But sometimes that kind of conflict was par for the course. Wars were costly, time-consuming and – occasionally – necessary. He would have to think this through carefully. He must wait for the other side to strike the first blow which, from what he had heard about young Jamie, he had a feeling would not be long in arriving. He had no choice now but to wait for the inevitable. It was at times like this that he missed Lenny.

Chapter Ninety-Six

Jamie Brewer was in his sister Jackie’s kitchen in Essex and she was listening avidly as he raved about her husband’s treacherous conduct. An angry Jamie was a sight to behold and Jackie was always frightened of his tempers. She knew how vicious he could be, having been on the receiving end most of her life. Now it seemed her husband had committed the cardinal sin of putting the phone down on her brother after telling him to go and fuck himself. Her husband was not a wimp – Davie Bannerman could look after himself and that was something that Jamie often forgot. Like most people, Davie thought Jamie was a twat but, unlike most people, he didn’t mind expressing this view – even to Jamie himself.

‘Where is he, sis? I am going to fucking muller him.’

Jackie shook her head as she said carefully, ‘I don’t know, Jamie. I swear I don’t know.’

Her two-year-old daughter was crying in the hallway. The shouting had terrified her, but Jackie was too nervous to bring the little girl into the same room as her brother in order to comfort her. Jamie was unpredictable like this – and the scalding episode was always in the forefront of Jackie’s mind. If she had known where her old man was, she would happily have told him to get Jamie out of her house. She wasn’t a coward by any means, but she knew what her brother was capable of when he was angry like this.

She was genuinely frightened.