‘We can’t risk the kids seeing anything in case they say something. Fuck me, they’re only nippers and if the Old Bill question ’em, they’re bound to blab and stitch us up,’ Ricky said worriedly.

Eddie turned to Stuart. He might be a relative newcomer and the youngest member of the firm, but he was as bright as a button and even in the nick, Ed had sought his advice over matters. ‘You got any ideas?’ he asked.

Deep in thought, Stuart rubbed the stubble on his chin. ‘I think the only way to do this is to forget about kidnapping ’em. We’re gonna have to break in their house while they’re sleeping and do it there.’

Gary and Ricky glanced at one another and laughed sarcastically. Both lads had grown to like Stuart, but they were still slightly jealous of their father’s close relationship with him. Therefore, if they could get a dig in against Stu, then they would.

‘What a great idea! Let’s blast ’em away in their beds while the kids are in the house as well,’ Gary said mockingly.

Ed glared at Gary and mulled over Stuart’s idea. It was dodgy and dangerous, but was there any other valid option? ‘I think Stu has a point. I mean, some cunt broke into my father’s house, murdered him in bed and got away with it, didn’t they? It can be done, providing it’s done properly.’

‘Yeah, but Grandad lived alone. There’s five living at the O’Haras’ if you include Georgie and Harry,’ Ricky reminded his father.

‘Does anyone know the layout of the house? If Jimmy and Alice sleep in a room that’s nowhere near Jed’s, we might just get away with it. If we break in in the middle of the night and use a silencer, I doubt the kids will wake up,’ Stuart added.

Gary didn’t like the sound of the idea at all. ‘And what do we do when we’ve killed ’em all? Just fuck off and let the kids find their blood-soaked bodies in the morning?’

Eddie shrugged. ‘Yeah, I suppose so.’

Raymond turned to Eddie. This was beginning to sound proper heavy now. Polly had their first child on the way and he didn’t fancy spending the first twenty years or so of his kid’s life stuck in some poxy prison cell. ‘Ed, Georgie and Harry have already seen that Luke boy murdered. He was shot right in front of ’em, wasn’t he? Can you imagine the trauma they’re gonna endure if they find their dad and grandparents blasted to bits as well?’

Being the youngest son of a gangland boss, Eddie had been brought up around violence from a very young age and that had made him extremely thick-skinned. ‘The kids are only young – they’ll soon forget about it and get over it,’ he said tactlessly.