Tony and Jake felt that they were way out of their league; they had never been involved in anything like this. They both knew they were taking a big risk with their new business venture, but they had no choice, this was all part of the deal.

It seemed simple enough and Tony had almost bitten Don Carlos’s hand off when he had been offered to manage the club. The money laundering was to continue, but they wanted someone they could trust and Tony, being Italian, gave him the upper hand as far as Don Carlos and their family connections were concerned. If Tony and Jake kept out of their business and made the once run-down club a going concern they would have the option to buy it after a year.

The accountants would have the laundered money picked up daily, by security guards. They sat in Tony’s office, going through receipts and auditing the accounts. Neither Jake nor Tony knew exactly what they did; it was all very confusing.

A few weeks later, two detectives came to see them. When they showed their ID badges, both Tony and Jake took a deep breath and swallowed hard, fearing their cover had been blown. They took the detectives into the office and Tony calmly asked what he could do for them. What they said caught him off guard.

They had been sent by the detective from Scotland Yard to discuss using the club for their annual ball. This wasn’t what he’d expected, and to be fair, with everything going on at the moment, he had actually forgotten about agreeing to it.

They told Tony and Jake the provisional date for the ball, and the numbers they were expecting. The detectives seemed relaxed and friendly. They were thanking Tony for his hospitality and he couldn’t believe his ears. For once, he was sitting in the same room as the police and he wasn’t being accused of anything!

Once preliminary arrangements were made, they all shook hands and the detectives thanked Tony and Jake again. Of course, there had been no mention of paying for the venue, and as they were looking at a Saturday night for this forthcoming event, Tony felt sick inside.

It was the busiest night of the week; he would lose a fortune, having a private party. The small consolation was the bar takings but, they both agreed, they would be expected to play host and provide free bottles of wine.

Sharon’s logic came to the rescue and made them feel better. She had a way of putting things in perspective.

‘It’s better to be on the right side of the devil, than have him breathing down your neck and raiding the place. If the police are here, no gangs are going to turn up and customers will feel it’s a safe haven,’ she said, after the police had left.

She had a fair point; the business and the money were a lot to lose, but in the long run, it could be to their advantage.