Wearing a pair of black tracksuit bottoms and a T-shirt, he wandered into the club. Jake was standing at the bar having a coffee with Sharon, while she was working out the strippers’ rotas for the week.

‘Well, rise and shine, Tony. How are you feeling?’ Jake said. He reckoned he could see how Tony was feeling – his face was pale and those wide blue eyes were now slits. He was unshaven and his hair hadn’t been combed. Jake grinned. ‘Pretty rough, I’m guessing.’

‘Do I look as bad as I feel?’ Tony walked towards them. Thankfully, Sharon was on hand to pour him some coffee, then she rummaged in her handbag for some painkillers.

‘Here,’ she said, ‘keep the whole strip. I reckon you’ll need them.’

‘Did that Ami turn up last night, then?’ Jake waited for an answer as Tony picked up his coffee mug from the bar, walked to a nearby table and sat down at it. He was nursing his head in his hands. Jake joined him.

‘Yes, she did, mate. Don’t worry, my reputation is intact. No problems there. It was an outstanding performance, even if I do say so myself.’ He attempted a smile, then picked up his coffee and took a gulp.

Jake turned to Sharon and saw her grin. She was holding her usual clipboard and gave them both one of her glances. All these years on and they were both still like naughty schoolboys.

‘What did she say about the blue bits?’ said Jake, smiling; he lowered his head a little so he could see Tony’s face.

‘No idea, mate, everything was in blackout mode. Which, in your language, means I kept the lights off.’

That made Jake smile.

Tony rubbed his face took another sip of his coffee. ‘Aaah, that’s better. Did you hear Ralph Gold say he would make us an appointment in his diary?’ The spark suddenly came back in Tony’s eyes.

‘Yes, in a bloody year’s time. What’s he doing for the rest of this year, for Christ’s sake?’ Jake thought it was useless. A year from now, and he was going to put it in his diary. Yeah, right.

‘He’s testing us, Jake. He has been all this time, and it seems we must have cleared some of his hurdles or he wouldn’t have even mentioned it. A year’s not too long, it gives us time to plan and get it right.’ Tony took another drink of his coffee and gave Jake the thumbs up.

‘Have you thought any more about Angus and that other little plan of yours, or are you going to leave everything as it is?’

‘Not now, Jake.’ Tony picked his mug up and started walking away. ‘Let me have a shower and then I’ll tell you all about my master plan.’

‘Master plan, indeed,’ said Sharon, still writing on her clipboard. ‘What he means is, he’ll think about it in the shower, and then he’ll tell you his cockeyed scheme. Why do you always go along with it, Jake?’ Sharon was exasperated; Jake always fell in line when it came to Tony’s plans.