Cox glared at her. ‘We don’t have time for this. We need to be gone. There’s no time for a bloody debate.’ He caught Frankie by the arm and pulled her away. ‘Say your goodbyes.’ He turned back to Nikki. ‘Much as I’d love to stay and watch you both die, we’ve got a little bit of business to attend to. Benny! Get it over with, and fast!’

One of the three Flukes drew a knife, stepped slowly towards her, and Nikki’s heart began hammering in her chest. She loosened her hold on Joseph, and as she did her hand touched a rough piece of timber that lay just beneath his arm.

As the thug moved closer, Nikki saw an odd expression on the man’s face, an expression of apprehension.

In that second, as she saw the man’s Adam’s apple move jerkily in his throat, she knew instinctively that he had never killed before, and she seized the moment.

With nothing left to lose, Nikki grabbed the piece of wood, and launched herself at him. Swinging the makeshift club with every ounce of strength she could muster, she landed a crushing blow on the side of the man’s head.

Taken completely by surprise at her sudden attack, the man screamed in pain and crashed to his knees, before lurching forward and laying still.

It wasn’t until Nikki saw the blood pouring from his temple that she noticed the ugly, rusted nails sticking from the end of her impromptu weapon.

Her eyes snapped up and swiftly took in the amazed faces of her assailants, then, still clutching the bloodied chunk of wood, she sprang back to Joseph, and stood over him like some fearsome shepherd protecting her lamb from the wolves.

Nikki barely knew what happened next, but she did hear a loud shout echo across from the far side of the car park. ‘Police! Get away from her! Now!’ Then she heard the wail of sirens and saw the two remaining Flukes spin around in shock.

‘Fucking blue lights, boss! What about the…?’

‘Shut up, you fool!’ screamed Cox. ‘There’s too much at stake! Come on!’

Nikki saw her assailants turn and race for their cars, then she threw down her weapon and dropped to Joseph’s side.

‘Give my love to Hannah!’ shouted Frankie as she fled away.

‘Rot in hell, bitch! You’ve made a big mistake by not killing me, because I’ll see you cold and dead on a slab one day!’

Nikki turned back to Joseph. His pulse was still erratic, but at least he had a pulse. She just didn’t like the way his eyelids fluttered and his breath was now coming in short, ragged gasps. She ripped off her thin jacket, balled it up and pressed it firmly against the wound in his side.