Sometimes she wondered what exactly it was Kevin liked about her. Whether it was the fact that her father was Patrick Kelly, or whether it was her car, or whether it was in fact her he liked. She tried not to dwell on thoughts like these as they upset her. Like her father’s girlfriends who were getting younger and younger by the month. She looked at her watch again. Eight twenty-five. Oh, sod Kevin! She wasn’t going to stand here all night.

She went into the phone box and picked up the phone. It was dead.

That was all she needed. Pulling her coat tighter around her she began to walk down the road, still keeping her eye out for Kevin and her car. The car that she never got the chance to drive any more.

She saw a set of headlights coming towards her and her heart leapt into her mouth. Please let it be Kevin!

It was the dark blue Orion and it stopped beside her.

‘Come on, Kevin. Have one more drink.’

‘Nah. I’d better get going. Mandy will be doing her nut.’

Jonny Barker laughed out loud and looked at the crowd of men around him.

‘He’s well and truly pussy whipped, ain’t he, boys?’

Everyone laughed, none more so than Kevin Cosgrove himself. ‘Nah, I’ve got to, lads. I’m half an hour late as it is.’

Garry Aldridge clapped Kevin on the back. He was as drunk as a lord.

‘I’ll tell you sommick, mate, since that murder I won’t let my bird go nowhere unless she’s in a cab or a crowd.’

Kevin looked at his friend’s open face and for the first time worried about Mandy. She was a pain in the arse in a lot of respects, but he would not like anything to happen to her. Not just because he cared about her, though that was part of it, but because her father was what was known as a Bad Man. A very Bad Man indeed.

Putting his pint of lager on the bar, he said his goodbyes and made his way hastily to the car.

Opening the door, he climbed into the luxurious smell of leather and musk perfume. Mandy’s perfume.

He loved this car. He envied Mandy her father’s money, but admired her more because she still went to work. She was a beautician. In a few months her father was going to buy her her own shop.