Lenny didn’t know what to say. This was getting a bit deep for him now.

Reggie took a long pull from his bottle of lager and said quietly, ‘So what’s this business you were talking about?’

Lenny sat forward in his chair and looked intently at the other man. He was clearly genuinely thrilled at the prospect opening up for him. He felt instinctively that Reggie Dornan wouldn’t waste any chances he was given – he was far too shrewd for that. Lenny had asked around, and word on the pavement was he had kept his head down and done his bird without a murmur. He was also said to be close-mouthed and that was imperative in this game.

Lenny opened another couple of beers and Reggie smiled to see him carefully binning the used bottles. His old woman had him well trained, and why not? He lived there too.

Lenny settled himself back in his seat and said seriously, ‘Whether you take this job or not, you don’t tell a fucking soul I asked you, OK?’

Reggie nodded impatiently as if that was a given.

‘I have been given a debt that will be difficult to reel in. They are being seriously slippery, but I have tracked the fucker down, and I need someone the person concerned doesn’t know to lure him out and give him the business with me.’

Reggie digested this bit of information before saying quietly, ‘Who is it?’

Lenny grinned mischievously before answering. ‘Jason Prior.’

He saw Reggie’s eyebrows shoot up and understood that this was something he needed to think about. Well, he could wait.

‘Fucking hell, Lenny. He’s a fucking nutter.’

Lenny nodded his agreement. ‘He is also into a friend of Jack’s for forty grand. Jason has it – he is a fucking premier drug dealer, for fuck’s sake – but he is also a gambler. Never liked gambling myself, a fucking mug’s game. Some of the stories my Sharon tells me about the cunts that frequent the betting shop. Anyway, I digress. How do you feel about it?’

‘Shooters?’

Lenny laughed then, a genuine belly laugh. ‘’Course! No one would go near that ponce without being tooled up.’ Lenny sipped his beer daintily before saying, ‘Jack bought the debt for five grand. That means he owes us forty-five smackeroons. Your cut will be about five grand – danger money, if you like. But I understand if you don’t want any part of it. He is, as you say, a fucking nutter.’

Reggie took a deep gulp of his beer before saying, in a sunny manner, ‘Fuck it, that’s good poke. I’m in.’

Lenny grinned and stuck his hand out. ‘Put it there, mate. Now we have to strategise. See how we can lure the fucker out into the open.’