Petey and Liam pulled him from the car gently.

Jack looked around in confusion. ‘Where are we?’

Liam smiled. ‘We’re in Essex. Dad owns a lot of warehouses here, and he wants to talk to you in private.’

Jack entered the building willingly, safe in the knowledge that his nana, his mum and everyone in the family who loved him knew about his fuck-up and wouldn’t let anything happen to him.

Liam turned on the lights while Petey unloaded a carrier bag, pulling out a couple of bottles of whisky and a pack of children’s paper party cups. They looked far too festive in the dimness of the warehouse, far too colourful, and brimming with the promise of good times ahead.

Petey poured a large drink and passed it to his little brother. Jack gulped at it gratefully, all the while thinking that what he could really do with was a joint, something to take the edge off.

‘Sit down, mate.’

Liam pushed a chair towards him, and he sat down. The building had high ceilings, and it was chock full of electrical equipment. Jack guessed this lot came from lorry heists; it was a lucrative business, mainly because the lorry drivers were more than happy to be robbed for a price, especially coming up to Christmas. If he had known about this place he would have asked for an in by now; it was a scam for the future anyway, so the night would not be totally wasted.

Chapter Eighty-One

Tommy Barker was sorry about the whole situation, more so because it had hit Theresa harder than any of them, except maybe poor Ria. She had believed that her intervention would be enough to keep her grandson alive, but he had known that was never going to be an option.

The boy had killed a young girl without a care, beaten her to death over a fucking few grams of heroin; nothing could ever wipe out something so fucking outrageous no matter who his father was. Junkies were scum, they were without any scruples, were devoid of even the most basic moral code. All they seemed capable of was treachery, betrayal and, worst of all, the inability to see what they had become. They were fit for nothing in the Life, and they were not to be tolerated.

Jack’s death was a necessary evil – sad, tragic, but inevitable. He would have become the weakest link and, through him, the whole family would have been in jeopardy.

‘Come on, Theresa, let’s go to the Irish club, eh?’

Theresa looked at the man she had found so late in her life and she nodded sadly. ‘OK. I know, Tommy, deep inside, that nothing is going to change my Peter’s mind, is it?’

He shook his head. ‘No, mate. It’s going to be harder on him than anyone, don’t forget.’