Presumably she was enjoying a lengthy exercise session. With a massage, perhaps. And even a bite to eat in the cafe afterwards. But eventually, no matter how long she took, she was going to hit the bricks. And he’d be waiting. Ready to follow her back to her apartment, where his de facto deputy Rocco was waiting. Ready to snap her up. One in front of her, one behind. No escape. Lewis’s task was simply to follow her. Make sure she didn’t spook and try to run for it. And if she did, to follow her to wherever she ran. Deal with anyone that got in his way. And get the one piece of information from her that his boss needed. Two words. A name.

His phone rang. Eddie.

‘She’s on the move. You see her?’

‘Nah. She ain’t come out yet.’

‘Well her phone has. It’s heading north, up the main road. Ac1d’s tracking her. Keep the line open and we’ll put you right on top of her.’

Lewis, liking the sound of that, jacked the Rhino round in a U-turn.

‘How far ahead is she?’

‘’Bout half a mile. Going slow though. You give it the beans, you’ll soon be on her tail.’

Giving it the beans not being all that easy, even at closer to nine than eight. But Lewis had a rep to maintain. Never having let the boss down. Not an image he intended giving up. He wove through traffic. Using the Merc’s outrageous power to punch past the cars in front of him. Slotting it into the spaces in front of them, ignoring their protesting horns. Already knowing what the woman was driving. A white MX5. And there it was. Two hundred yards up the road. He relaxed and fell into a follow pattern.

‘Yeah, I’ve got her. She’s still going north. But she’s going nowhere without me.’

Eddie, sounding bemused, said, ‘That’s not the way to her fucking flat. Someone must have tipped her off.’

Yeah, Lewis thought. That fucking rat. One of these days Joe was going to work out who it was. And then Lewis would be the man to take some fingers and toes off with a hammer and a chisel. One at a time. Until the fucker told them everything. After which, he firmly expected, Joe would tell him to keep on chopping pieces off. Just larger ones.