He followed her into the office and gazed around. It was as though he’d walked into a vampire movie set, with the tall brass candlesticks and heavy curtains, along with the oversized gilt-edged paintings. The layer of dust everywhere added to the ambience. ‘Er . . . I think you need to get a cleaner in.’

She smiled. ‘Or hire it out for Halloween, perhaps?’

Shamus nervously chuckled, yet he still felt spooked. Then his eyes fell to her scarred wrist. Eerie thoughts whirled through his head all at once. The story of her having her hand cut off and then being kept a prisoner down in the basement of this creepy mansion plagued his mind.

That was until she said, ‘Right, as I said, start from the beginning. Ignore the décor. Get your mind back on the issues at hand.’

Shamus felt his face flush and wondered if she was telepathic. Her frail state belied who she really was, and Shamus wasn’t deluded by any means. Behind those hypnotic eyes was the Iron Lady of Gangland Britain. Even her voice had an edge that commanded attention.

‘In the last six months, the cocaine leaving the restaurants has dropped by fifty per cent. The Colombians have upped their price because we aren’t selling enough. The city slickers are still buying it, but the scallies who make up fifty per cent of the business have backed off. Apparently, they’re into a new drug. It’s cheaper and gives them a better hit.’

Zara listened, paying careful attention to every word that left Shamus’s mouth. ‘So, this new drug. Why don’t we find our own supplier?’

Shamus sat back on his chair and slowly shook his head. ‘I don’t know about you, Zara, but there are some things we just don’t get involved in. Like heroin for instance. And this new drug is worse. It’s so addictive and although the hit apparently is euphoric it also sends the kiddies mental.’

‘Kiddies!’ she gasped.

He gave her a stern nod. ‘Yeah, it’s cheap, really cheap, and the teenagers are buying it with their pocket money. Once they’re hooked, they’re fecked.’

She swallowed hard and sighed. ‘So, if this drug is being sold and obviously the supplier is making a mint, why are they threatening my restaurants?’

Shamus clasped his hands together and bit his lip. ‘I don’t think it’s about the drugs. I believe it’s a takeover. It’s just odd that one minute we had everything running smoothly, and then the next, it was as if ants were running all over everything.’

Zara frowned. ‘Ants?’

‘Yeah, yer know, how they all descend and take away bit by bit whatever’s on offer, but you just don’t see them unless there’s a mass. It’s similar to that.’

‘Give me examples.’