Then watched as the car’s rear lights disappeared into the darkness, leaving her standing in the middle of the street, a sense of foreboding creeping over her as she began to shake.

The run-down estate in Walworth, South London, was where Alfie Jennings found himself walking. The place was neglected, and the large grey tower blocks loomed overhead. The children’s playground in the centre of the estate with its rusting swings and slides was full of a group of junkies noisily having an argument, and the boarded-up shops, complete with graffiti, ran along the bottom of the flats. The whole place was strewn with rubbish – empty bottles of wine, cans of fizzy drinks and beer – and Alfie couldn’t remember the last time he’d been in such a grim-looking place.

The arrangement had been to meet Barry and his friend, Alan, in the pub that was situated on the edge of the estate. Barry had given a description of Alan to Charlie, who’d passed on all the details to Franny, so he knew exactly what lowlife scum he was looking out for.

Apart from that, he had no idea what else to expect. Whether the boy he’d seen with Barry would be with them or not, he just didn’t know. This could just be an exercise for Barry to size him up, see if he could trust him. Though the one thing he knew for sure was that he needed to play it cool. He knew no matter how he felt, no matter what Barry said or didn’t, there was no way he was going to mess this up. He couldn’t mess this up, especially as he’d taken it on himself to go and have the meeting instead of Franny.

Taking a deep breath, Alfie, outside the White Lodge pub, leant on the wall. He could feel his legs trembling, which gradually took over his whole body, sending his muscles into spasms as if he were cold. He could also feel the sweat running down his back, and it seemed like he had ringing in his ears, and all because any minute now, he was going to have to face Barry Eton.

About to step inside, Alfie felt his phone vibrate. He pulled it out of his pocket, thinking that it would probably be Franny, but he frowned, seeing a text.

DID YOU ASK FRANNY WHAT SHE DID?