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.

Chapter 21

CHAPTER 21

Everyone was waiting. It was the hardest part of any sting operation.

Barrowman’s charity buffet was due to begin tomorrow at midday and would go on into the evening. The entire community would be there and, based on the new information from Charlotte, they now knew that all five burglaries would happen at some point after twelve noon and would happen simultaneously.

The five addresses, selected by Ridley, would all be under surveillance from the second they became vacant.

The targeted homeowners were unaware of what was about to happen. Hearst had decided that sharing this knowledge with them could compromise their safety and, in turn, the success of the operation: the gang had to be allowed to enter the properties and be caught in the act.

The police presence around the charity event itself was high profile. Uniformed officers mingled with thousands of locals and visitors in a show of force. Hearst wanted the gang to think that all resources were focussed in the wrong place; but the central location of Barrowman’s event meant that these officers could be dispatched as backup in the blink of an eye.

*

Lee perched on the edge of the sink, staring at the single closed cubicle door. The toilet flushed, the door opened, and Mason stepped out. ‘Jesus, Eamonn. You scared the life out of me.’ As Mason washed his hands, Lee talked.