Jonny Parker was a clever boy, and Jack thought the world of him, but he believed he had crossed one too many lines with this latest rigmarole. Bloody drugs, they caused no end of trouble, whether it was for the dealer or the buyer. Look at Jimmy, he was snorting up that white powder like his life depended on it. Although living with that fucking daughter of his, he could feel sorry for him in many ways. But drugs were drugs, and Jack didn’t like them, and he didn’t like the mayhem they caused for all concerned. But he would keep his own counsel for now and see what occurred. The problem was, his Celeste was in the firing line if it went tits up, and that was what was really worrying him.

In Jack’s day, there was honour among thieves, as much as that sounded like a contradiction in terms. Not any more though – now it was every man for themselves. And Jonny Parker wanted it all for himself, every pavement, and every earn.

It was nothing more than a recipe for disaster.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Jonny Parker was not as worried as he probably should have been, and that fact pleased him no end. He was taking a big chance and he knew it; he was putting his life on the line. But if he didn’t do this, he knew he would regret it one day. He had always gone with his instincts and they, so far, had never let him down. He could only hope that this was another one of his more lucrative ideas.

His instincts now were telling him the time was right. It worked on paper, admittedly, but paper never allowed for the reactions of the people involved. He was always wary of the reactions to his more outrageous business enterprises. But, where this one was concerned, he would do murder if necessary, because he was determined to see this one through to the very end.

He was a much harder fuck than people realised. But after this next coup – and it was a very audacious and dangerous scam – his real intentions and his real personality would be known to all and sundry. He had bided his time, and this was the moment he had been working towards. If he was honest, he was still a bit nervous about it but, as far as he was concerned, that nervousness was all to the good. It would ensure he didn’t take anything for granted. Didn’t let his guard down. It was when people became too sure of themselves that they tended to make mistakes, and he had no intention of fucking this one up.

‘You all right, Jonny?’

Celeste looked worried, and he forced a smile of nonchalance on to his face.

‘I’m fine, sweetheart, just thinking that’s all.’

Celeste grinned then. ‘You’re always thinking! What’s on your mind, mate?’