‘Don’t bother. And don’t forget that I suffered under more than one vicious bastard of a senior NCO at Sandhurst. Which means I probably understand that old joke better than you do. I’ll bid you both goodnight.’

He turned away, clearly still irritated. Whether with Mickey or Tamara the Clarion snapper, Mickey wasn’t sure. Then turned back.

‘Oh, but I meant to ask you. How did you know she was a woman? All I saw was camo and a suspicious length of black metal.’

Mickey nodded. ‘Yeah. And your professional expectations meant that the target had to be male. And the long black thing had to be a rifle. Whereas we’re trained to observe from a wider perspective, with all due respect to the army. It was in her gait and bearing.’

‘Well I’m bloody impressed, Sergeant Bale, although it pains me to admit it. Good work.’

And left the two men staring after him.

‘Not a complete stiff-neck then.’

Wade nodded. ‘What was the joke he told you not to use?’

‘Oh, that? It’s that timeless classic. If you can’t take a joke then you shouldn’t have joined. Speaking of which, get the kettle back on. Like I said, all that talking has left me parched.’

8

‘You’re serious? I mean really serious? You actually want to go after the most dangerous gangster this side of the river?’

Mickey nodded. Staring levelly back at his friend. He’d dropped in to see Martin with five minutes’ notice. On his way back from LX, four-day tour of duty at the Hall completed. Knowing just how big an ask he was making of his closest friend.

‘I’m deadly serious, Martin. I have to do this. For Katie.’

Martin stared at him in silence for a moment. ‘You bastard. I mean I love you and all that. And you know I’d give my own life to bring her back in a heartbeat. But fuck me, Mickey, Joe Castagna?’

He shook his head in genuine disbelief. His face creasing into an incredulous frown. Stick-thin, no matter how much he ate, Martin did disappointed well. Like a pro, in fact. Mickey put it down to his having been blessed and cursed with a ready-made living. One that paid well, but made him constantly cautious. To the detriment of every serious relationship he’d ever had. Besides which, Martin’s line of business wasn’t exactly female-friendly.

Mickey had known Martin since they were both four. Taller than Mickey, always looking under-nourished despite his healthy appetite. Two snotty-nosed kids in the same pre-school, all the way to Year Eleven. United against the bullies, sometimes bloodied, never beaten. Neither of them cool enough for girls to come between them. And then, one fateful evening in the late Eighties, that friendship had changed.