Changing meant they’d emerged from school after kids in regular lessons had cleared off. The twins crossed a paved yard with nothing but a few Year Eight girls standing around an outdoor ping-pong table. As they moved through a gate on to the pavement, they were surprised to spot the old man who’d beckoned Oli into the taxi office the previous afternoon.

‘You boys,’ he shouted, beckoning them towards a seven-seat VW parked across the street. ‘Get here.’

The twins were curious as they waited for a break in traffic before jogging across. If they’d had their com units inside their ears they could have alerted James, but they’d taken them out before playing football in a soggy field.

The car was arranged so that the front passenger seat had been swivelled to face in towards the rear seat. ‘You know who I am?’ a stocky, olive-skinned man asked.

The old dude urged the boys to climb through the van’s sliding door, but the boys stood their ground.

‘What’s this about?’ Daniel asked.

‘I’m Trey,’ the stocky man said, as an even bigger dude in the driving seat turned around to eyeball the boys. ‘Been looking for your smartass friend Oli. He got detention or something?’

The twins shrugged and exchanged nods before Leon said, ‘He’s not at this school. He goes to Fresh Start, over somewhere … I don’t know exactly.’

‘Got expelled from here,’ Daniel added.

The old guy kept urging the boys into the van, but Leon knocked his arm away when he gave him a shove.

‘Don’t touch me,’ Leon growled.

‘We’re outta here,’ Daniel added.

But as he took a step back, Trey pulled out a pocket revolver and cocked the trigger. ‘In,’ he ordered.

Leon wondered if there was some way he could get his com from his backpack and alert James as he settled on a rear bench with stained blue covers stretched over it. The old guy slammed the sliding door, and didn’t get a chance to jump in before Trey signalled his driver to pull out.

‘What do you know about my print shop?’ Trey asked, pocketing the gun as the van accelerated. ‘I’m told Oli left Nurtrust with two older boys last night. Must be you, right?’

Trey clearly had a source, so the twins both nodded. ‘Sure.’

‘What in the name gives you the balls to think you can rip off my print shop? You think you’d get away with it?’

‘Little dirt bag stole that key from under my nose,’ the driver added.

Leon and Daniel’s jaws dropped. ‘The print shop was yours?’

‘My father’s,’ Trey said. ‘How dumb are you?’

‘Oli told us you run a protection racket,’ Leon explained. ‘Said we had to trash the joint. Owner hadn’t made his payments or something.’