‘So, this is why you’re keeping her close and not allowing her to report to Gifford or Lee before she reports to you? You trapped and trained her, so she’s yours.’

‘Yes, she is. And when all of this is over, I want to let her go,’ Jack said firmly.

‘Well . . .’ Ridley took a moment to empty his glass and pour himself another. ‘I can’t wait to meet this woman, Jack. She must be quite something.’

Jack’s burner phone buzzed in his pocket. Ridley offered to hang up so that Jack could answer it, but Jack said no and let it go to voicemail.

From inside the empty bar, Jack then played the voicemail on speaker, so that Ridley could hear it. ‘Richard. Michael De Voe here. So, I’ve secured the emeralds for the necklace you commissioned, and that’s being created as we speak. It’ll match the ring you chose in every detail. As a bit of a side issue, my assistant mentioned you were into your horses, said one of your girlfriend’s Arabians had just won something or other. Anyway, as you’re spending a good chunk of cash with me, the least I can do is stand you a day at the races. What do you say? Oh, and that bracelet you showed me. I’ve had it valued and it’ll bring the price down by £800. Call me back when you get a moment and we’ll arrange things.’

Ridley could practically hear Jack grinning. ‘Be careful, Jack. He’s a game player. And he’s used to winning.’

‘Not this time, sir. This time he loses.’

Ridley took the opportunity to impart one piece of wisdom that he knew for a fact Jack didn’t have. ‘I was an UC officer for seven years, back in the day. Don’t get too confident. Some UC officers get too comfortable and start seeing the criminal underworld as a home from home. But the dangerous truth is, the likes of De Voe can see us coming. We don’t truly fit in. We don’t know how to play their game. So, don’t be tempted to toy with De Voe; keep the relationship simple and keep your distance, because if he figures you for a copper, he’ll kill you.’

Jack sat at the corner table in the bar of The Fox Hunters for another hour. Ridley’s words of warning had fallen on deaf ears, as Ridley suspected they would. But . . . not because Ridley had got De Voe wrong – he’d got Jack wrong. Jack could fit into the criminal world undetected. He did know how to play that game. It was in him. He hadn’t invited it or encouraged it, but he had allowed it, because it gave him a feeling of power that was intoxicating. It’s what would allow him to control both Charlotte and De Voe, even though they were on opposite sides. Jack knew only too well that good and bad were more closely related than most people suspected.