He shook his head. ‘I dunno. I just work for him.’ He looked across at Jaguar.

‘You won’t get away with this!’ hollered Peto.

‘If you’re not happy with a scar down ya face, you can have a bullet to match?’

Gripping his face, Peto looked to the floor, completely defeated.

‘Right, let’s start from the beginning. This Governor. Where does he come from? What colour is he?’

Jaguar knew he’d been outsmarted. ‘He’s white, a big man. I’ve no idea where he comes from, though.’

‘So how did he recruit you lot of inbreds?’

Jaguar got up from his knees, holding his hands up in abject defeat. ‘He runs South-East London. He has a huge firm. He pays well, and he’s ruthless. Once you’re on the firm, you have to do whatever he says because he knows everything about you. I’ve known him to do some bad shit.’ His eyes filled with water and his face crumpled.

‘Like what?’ she demanded.

‘He’ll send in men to rape ya sister or ya mother, and he’s burned down a house with someone’s granny in it before. He doesn’t give a fuck.’ His voice changed as if he might be having a regular conversation. ‘He supplies Flakka to everyone, only it’s not really even Flakka. He’s mixed it with some other shit that makes people angry but also addicted. Once you’re hooked you’re fucked, because there’s only one source and that’s him.’

He looked around the room at the carnage. ‘These are my men. I had me firm only supplying weed. I’d a good little business going, as my boys supplied Peckham, Lewisham, and Bromley. Then, he got wind of it and offered me a deal to supply this new drug. He said it was like ecstasy but better. I had my punters in the clubs and so I took it on. Of course, I tried the gear meself and so did my crew. Fucking hell . . . ’ He sighed heavily. ‘I wish now I’d never agreed to it. I got addicted right away, and the more I had from the man, the more he wanted from me until I ended up in his firm.’

Zara was taking it all in. ‘How did you know we were gonna be here tonight?’

‘He told us you would be. He told us to go in eight-men-handed and take you lot out. He said there was twenty grand apiece in it for us, but it wasn’t about the money. He said if we refused or fucked up, then he would see to it that our families were hurt.’

‘Set up a meeting with him!’