Returning to his original plan, he took out meanest-looking motherfucker first, using a hiraken, a punch made with the fingers bent at the middle knuckles in a claw-like form. The blow to the trachea crushed the man’s windpipe and ruptured his thyroid gland. Jax suspected he may have also severed his vocal cord given that he didn’t scream. Instead, he just fell to the ground and gurgled.

Now facing left after throwing his right hand, Jax was in the perfect position to attack the man behind him. He transferred all the weight loaded onto his left leg into a devastating roundhouse kick, his leg whipping through the air and straightening to create tearing torque just before his foot smashed into the Samoan’s hip. Jax continued to drive the kick even after hitting bone.

The Samoan’s legs stayed still as his torso twisted.

Pop!

With his hip ripped clean off his femur, the Samoan became a human corkscrew, his upper body twisting away from his legs before he crashed to the ground with his toes up and his belly down.

Jax loaded his right fist and swivelled to face his final foe.

‘Nah, bro,’ said the only Samoan still standing. ‘I’m sweet, hey. I’ve got nothing against you, bro.’

With his hands in the air, palms facing forward, the Samoan retreated.

‘It’s sweet as, bro,’ he said before turning and running off.

Jax ignored the three injured men, two screaming and one gurgling, and moved towards the kid. McAuliffe was still sitting on the ground, covered in blood and holding his nose.

‘Come on,’ Jax said as he helped him up. ‘Quick. We gotta go.’ He hadn’t even considered the screws, his rage rendering him uncharacteristically careless. But so far, so good.

He led McAuliffe away from the broken bodies to a bench seat away from what was now a crime scene.

‘Give me a look,’ Jax said as he pulled the kid’s hand away from his face.

The blood began to leak, then flow fast.

‘Shit,’ said Jax, pinching the boy’s nostrils shut. ‘Tip your head back,’ said he told him.

The kid complied.

‘That’s it. We’ll have it stopped in no time.’

McAuliffe started to sob.

‘What did they want?’ Jax asked, hoping the conversation would distract the kid from the pain. ‘I got flogged for two hundred bucks down at Long Bay.’

‘Don’t know,’ the kid said through the sobs. ‘I told ’em to eat a dick when they asked me something about a betting account.’

Jax’s eyes lit up. He was suddenly desperate to get back to his cell.

JAX didn’t bother getting under his sheet; he just lay on top of his military-style bedding, all inch-perfect folds and hospital corners, as he waited for lights-out. His mind had been racing since his chat with the kid.

He’d been excited at first. It was a light-bulb moment. A lead.