The car was getting too hot now, and Petey really wanted to open a window and let some cold air in, but he knew she was probably freezing. She had been a handy little tool tonight, bless her – she had got him away from all the fucking shit.

‘I don’t know why they think I’m some kind of fragile doll. I lost my mum, remember? I don’t care who suffers, as long as we find out who did it.’

He could hear the determination in her voice, but it was mixed with a girlish whine that just proved how young she still was. She was trying hard to be strong. Petey guessed, rightly, that she wanted to be a part of the family firm because she needed to feel like she was doing something constructive, rather than just grieving. He understood how she was feeling; she was, as she pointed out, more of a Bailey than they realised. She had the same genes, and her grandmother’s strength of character. One day, he was sure, she would be a woman to be proud of.

‘You shouldn’t have poked your nose in. You should have listened to your brother, and waited patiently like he asked you.’

She snorted in annoyance. ‘I thought you were on my side.’

He laughed then, a quiet, exasperated little laugh. ‘I am, Tania, believe me I am, darling. But you need to understand that knowledge can be a very dangerous thing, and you know something now that really isn’t good for you to know. Suppose the Filth were to pull you in? Suppose they stuck you in a room, and said unless you told them what they wanted to know, you could get banged up, eh? What about that?’

She didn’t answer him for a moment. Then she said sarcastically, ‘Like that’s ever going to happen! Our dads wouldn’t let them anywhere near me – you know that as well as I do.’

He was impressed with her logic, and her trust in her family’s ability to protect her. ‘Fair enough. I’ll concede that. But what if Terrence Allen snatched you off the street, and wanted to know where his brother was? And what if this same Terrence Allen decided to use brute force to find that out? Do you think you could keep your trap shut like his brother did? If he threatened to cut your fingers off, say? Would you tell him what he wanted to know?’