‘One of life’s missed opportunities,’ said Shepherd. ‘It’s over, Gerry. They’ve got Fletcher and he’s singing like a canary. Can’t shut him up.’

‘Bullshit.’

‘Pat Neary, too. The guys they paid to break into Roper’s house got caught in a black-on-black shooting in Harlesden and they gave up Fletcher to cut themselves a deal. And Digger’s become very co-operative. Selling you down the river and Tony Stafford, too.’

The colour drained from Carpenter’s face. ‘So it’s over,’ he said quietly. ‘Bar the shooting.’

‘Pretty much.’

‘I could shoot you now,’ said Carpenter. ‘Easy as pie.’

‘It’s an option.’

‘You’d get off one shot, so you’d better make it count,’ said Gannon coldly, ‘because if you fire that weapon, I will take you out.’

‘That’s all it would take, one shot,’ said Carpenter.

‘You’d be firing at an unarmed man,’ said Gannon.

‘What?’ said Shepherd.

Gannon continued to stare at Carpenter. ‘You didn’t think we’d give him live rounds, did you? Spider here’s out of practice, he’d be a liability firing real bullets.’

Carpenter frowned. ‘Bullshit.’

‘Not that shooting unarmed men is a problem with you, is it?’ said Shepherd. ‘Jonathon Elliott didn’t have a gun. Neither did Sandy Roper.’

‘If you’re going to shoot anyone, I’d be the one to aim at,’ said Gannon.

‘I don’t care about you,’ said Carpenter.

‘Making it personal is a big mistake,’ said Gannon.

‘Shut up!’ shouted Carpenter. ‘Let me think!’ He kept the Kalashnikov levelled at Shepherd’s stomach.

Shepherd stared back at him. Gannon’s revelation that his MP5 was loaded with blanks was worrying, but Shepherd figured it was a bluff. But he had one secret that he was keeping from Carpenter: underneath the black thermal suit he was wearing a Kevlar vest. The Kalashnikov was a powerful weapon and Carpenter was up close and personal, but with luck the vest would hold. It would hurt like hell but the bullets shouldn’t penetrate.

‘There’s nothing to think about, Gerry,’ said Shepherd. ‘It’s over. Put the gun down.’

‘If I go back to prison, I’ll never get out,’ said Carpenter. ‘You know that. The drugs charge. Kidnapping. Conspiracy to murder. Perverting the course of justice. They’ll throw away the key.’ His finger was tightening on the trigger.

‘You’ve no choice,’ said Shepherd.

‘There’s always a choice,’ said Carpenter. ‘You’ve just got to have the balls to make it.’

‘Don’t do this,’ said Shepherd.

Carpenter had the Kalashnikov at waist height and tilted it so that the barrel was pointing at Shepherd’s head.

‘Lower your weapon or I will fire,’ said Gannon. There was no doubt that he meant what he said.

‘You understand, don’t you?’ asked Carpenter, his eyes still on Shepherd. He was ignoring Gannon.

‘Yeah,’ said Shepherd. ‘I understand.’

‘Fuck it,’ said Carpenter.

‘Yeah.’