Peter was still reeling from the shock, but like each of them he focussed on his suspicions. He did not share his brother’s opinion that this was the work of someone with a higher intelligence – he felt this was more on the level of wannabes. It was a botched attempt to take him out; according to the police forensics they had spoken to, it was basically amateur hour. Not a professional job as such, but perfectly adequate in the end. Like they couldn’t work that one out by themselves! Lena was dead. All the fucking money they had invested in the Filth over the years, and that was the only thing they could come up with – the bleeding obvious. Unbelievable. Fucking outrageous. Typical fucking Old Bill – clueless. As Daniel had remarked to them, they couldn’t find their own homes without a detailed map and fucking Sherpa Tenzing. Well, they were certainly aware now that they had to pull something out of the hat soon if they wanted to keep their earn. They had taken the money quick enough; but now they were expected to earn it they were acting like nervous schoolgirls on their first date. Frightened of their skulduggery being revealed, and finally having to do something for their keep, the Filth were acting far too uneasy for his liking.

Everyone in their orbit knew what had happened; it was only a matter of time before someone somewhere put two and two together, he was convinced of that. But, as he had remarked to Daniel, they were at the mercy of everyone who looked to them for their crust, and that meant there would always be someone who wanted that bit more; who wanted, ultimately, what they had. If he had died as planned, it would have left Daniel without his partner, his closest blood. And the next one to have been outed would obviously have been him.

So now they had their workforce looking for traitors, as well as sniffing round the different organisations they dealt with. Yet Peter still felt in his gut that this was the work of wannabes; those already at the top would have done a much cleaner job.

Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Three

Billy was the only Allen brother they could locate, and he was even harder than Daniel would have given him credit for. He was acting as if he was there because he chose to be, not because he had been Tasered and forced physically into the blacked-out van. His arrogance was so overt, so blatant, as to be an insult in itself.

The boys were standing around, waiting to take their lead from Daniel, as he knew they would. They were good kids.