‘He broke into Dominic’s flat, made him lie on the floor naked and threatened to chop his penis off and shove it down his throat. Dom won’t see me no more, Mum, he’s too scared. And now I’m worried about Frankie. If Dad did that to Dominic, what will he do to Jed?’

Jessica felt the hairs on her body stand on end. She suddenly didn’t feel as if she knew her loving husband at all. ‘We need to ring Frankie and warn her, Mum. Dad’s capable of anything, I just know he is. Dominic told me that Dad even made a little cut on the end of his penis, then he laughed as he wiped the blood all over his dressing gown.’

Jessica felt physically sick as she told Joey to search his sister’s bedroom. Frankie hadn’t taken her mobile with her and they needed to find Jed’s number to ring him. As Jessica felt a sharp twinge in her stomach, she lay on her bed and prayed. ‘Please God, keep me and my children safe. Amen,’ she whispered.

A few miles down the road, Eddie and Raymond were doing a bit of digging. After leaving home, they had purchased a bottle of Scotch and a bag of ice, and headed straight to Ed’s salvage yard.

‘That’s deep enough,’ Eddie said, handing Raymond the haul they had dug up from his father’s house. Eddie knew it was about to all go off, and he didn’t want anything dodgy indoors in case the rozzers came sniffing around.

‘What about the painting?’ Raymond asked.

‘I’ll deal with that. You OK for a minute? I’ve gotta make a couple of phone calls. If you need me, I’ll be in the cabin.’

Pouring himself a large Scotch, Eddie drank it, then rang Gina’s number. ‘Well, are they still in Rainham?’ he asked.

Gina smiled when she heard Eddie’s voice. ‘No, they’re in Tilbury. Earlier they went shopping, bought clothes and a sleeping bag and now they’re in an old trailer on what looks like some kind of scrapyard.’

‘Get yourself home now. Can you get back there first thing tomorrow? I might need you to watch them all day. Money’s no object, you know that.’

Gina was usually very professional, but couldn’t resist letting her guard down for once. ‘I’ll do it on one condition, Mr Smith.’

‘What?’ Eddie asked.

‘That you buy me dinner as a thank you.’

‘You’ve got a deal,’ Eddie lied. He had no intention of taking Gina anywhere. Not once had he ever even thought of cheating on Jess, and he wasn’t about to start now.

‘I’ve gotta go now. Get there at six,’ he said, ending the call.