Petey Bailey was at panic stations at the moment; unlike his father, he didn’t have the brains to think everything through. So Terry Allen was confident that he had the edge; it was just a matter of time until the tables turned.

Chapter One Hundred and Five

‘Come on, Danny, you can’t keep up this silence indefinitely. You must remember something about what happened the other night. Petey had to go to the Allens alone, for fuck’s sake!’

Of all the brothers, Davey was closest to Danny; he’d been like his shadow as a child and now that Danny was heading up operations, Davey was his right-hand man. Davey had no real desire to be a leader; he was a man of few words, who didn’t feel the need to prove himself.

Davey knew it was completely out of character for his brother to miss a meet because he was drunk or stoned; he took his responsibilities very seriously.

‘Just let it drop, Davey, all right?’ Danny sounded as pissed off as he looked.

‘Is it something to do with Petey?’ Davey was trying to work it out. He might not be a contender for Countdown, but he knew when he had hit a nerve. It was always about Petey in the end – he was such a fucking wind up. Danny could be a lairy fucker when the fancy took him; he sailed quite close to the wind on occasion, but that was Danny, he was a maverick. He used his nous to stretch his earn, but he made sure the earn was shared by them all. But Petey was greedy – he always had been. Even as a kid he had always had to have what they had – he would even take their pocket money from them. Like all gamblers he had no real care for the people he hustled. Danny was different, and his brothers were willing to let him call the shots. He was the eldest, he was the man their father trusted to see that everything was running smoothly, and he was more than capable of doing that job.

‘Come on, bruv, what’s the problem? I know it involves Petey, I just can’t work out how.’

Danny sighed. ‘The truth is, Davey, I feel exactly the same. I haven’t worked it out yet, but there’s something I need to find out. I want you to come with me – we need to get to the bottom of this. I think there’s skulduggery afoot, as you obviously do too and, if it does involve Petey then the fewer people in on it the better.’

Davey was silent for a few moments, digesting his brother’s words. ‘I see. It’s like that, is it?’

Danny nodded.

Chapter One Hundred and Six