‘You got a pen handy?’ she asked. ‘So that you can write this down? Because you sound to me like you’ve been on the pop.’

‘Lucy … this is a lot to take in.’

‘Try looking at it from my perspective! Anyway, you know the Shed?’

‘The biker place?’

‘Correct. The Low Riders’ HQ.’

‘You’re there?’ He sounded incredulous. ‘And you’ve got your mum with you?’

‘That’s right.’

‘Lucy, why the fuck …?’

‘Why do you think? Mine and mum’s addresses are registered at the nick, but no one knows my connections to this place.’

‘I didn’t know you had any connections to it.’

‘Just get here!’ she all but screamed, cutting the call before he could annoy her further (as if such a thing was actually possible).

Chapter 41

‘So?’ Armstrong asked.

Lucy slipped the phone back into her pocket, turned, and found not just him, but the entire Low Riders chapter regarding her in fascinated silence.

‘Assistance is on its way,’ she said. ‘I wish I could say it will be here in the next half-hour. It should be. But I don’t think that’s very likely.’

Armstrong pondered this, and then nodded. ‘Want a beer while you’re waiting?’

Lucy glanced at a nearby tabletop, where a number of bottles, ice-cold and sweating in the muggy heat of the clubhouse, awaited attention.

‘I wouldn’t mind,’ she said. ‘But I’d better not. Might have to drive later.’

Yeah, don’t want to risk breaking the law, eh?

She laughed aloud at the sheer nonsense of this. And then, just as quickly, felt like crying.

Seriously … what had she got herself into?

Since lunchtime, she’d survived two assassination attempts, but even now – the first time in hours that she’d been able to stand back – she struggled to make sense of how they’d got to this point. There was one light in the darkness: she obviously hadn’t been officially blamed for any crime yet, otherwise the police airwaves would be buzzing with it, and even Harry, skiving at home, would have heard something.

‘Luce?’ Armstrong approached, speaking quietly again. ‘If you can give us a bit more info, we might be more use to you.’ He nodded at the gathered crowd. ‘I know you don’t see eye to eye with all these lads. But no one’s going to push it if we’re standing behind you.’

‘That would be getting more involved than I think is good even for you guys,’ she replied. But she was touched by the earnest look on his face. ‘I’m serious, Kyle … this is bad. Really bad.’

She noticed that Hells Kells had now returned, minus Cora.

‘How’s my mum?’ Lucy asked.

‘Dunno.’ The woman glared at her boyfriend. ‘Couldn’t risk staying in there, could I?’

‘Don’t fret, love.’ Lucy looked round and spotted the lavatory entrance. ‘You’ve nothing to worry about from me.’