‘Me too, brah,’ said Tyrone.

‘He’s vulnerable and desperate. I can hear it in his voice. There are so many people who are lining up to be his opposition, and he knows he’s done. He’s gonna split but thinks he has a chance at the money first, if I help him.’

‘But why would you?’

‘I’ve always done shit on time, no worries, no sides, no beef.’

‘Beef?’

‘Trouble. They have enemies in Manchester, Preston, Wigan; you name it. Any one of them could have set Jason up. He trusts no one right now.’

‘That includes you.’

‘Maybe, but I don’t intend on going there alone.’

‘He gave you an address?’

Jackson nodded.

This created a huge problem for Kelly. It should be rung in. Armed Response would be needed. However, to get that, she’d have to go through HQ, and Ormond. She thought quickly.

‘Where is it?’

Jackson told her, and she called HQ, asking for Ormond but praying he wasn’t there.

‘Sorry, ma’am, the super called this morning and requested urgent annual leave: a personal matter. He said he wasn’t to be disturbed under any circumstances.’

‘I need clearance for the armed response unit. I’ve been given information as to the whereabouts of the two prime suspects in the Watson and Bradley murders.’

‘Right, ma’am, give me a minute.’

The operator put Kelly on hold. While she waited, she told Rob what Ormond had done.

‘Interesting. Game over?’

‘Let’s hope so.’

Approval was given for a raid on the address with ARU backup. A tactical unit, supported by the ARU, would go in first. It was standard procedure, and Kelly was given the details of the ARU commander on duty. Now that the job was generated, there was no way back. Technically, she’d just been told by Counter-Corruption that her team was suspended, but that wouldn’t come into place in reality until they moved into her office. She couldn’t let this go.

‘Shit, man.’ Tyrone spoke from the back seat.

‘What is it?’ Kelly asked.

‘Look.’ He showed her a YouTube video: the march to police HQ had turned violent, and the clip had gone viral.

‘What the hell?’

She watched the footage again and clicked on other videos, including one showing an attack on a policeman. It must have been recent, because videos like that were usually removed fairly rapidly.

‘Jesus. Let’s get back to Penrith. Use blues; the RV is Tactical HQ near the castle.’