‘Well, that’s brilliant news,’ Frankie exclaimed excitedly. She and Babs had spoken many times about renting a little house on their release and living there with their children like one big happy family. Now their dream could finally become a reality.

Babs held Frankie’s hands. ‘I want you to thank your dad for me, Frankie. He must be a very lovely man to do all this for someone he’s never even set eyes on.’

Frankie grinned. ‘I wouldn’t go as far as calling him lovely, but he’s a proper character, Babs. As you know, me and my dad clash something rotten, but I can honestly say I wouldn’t swap him for the world.’

Over in Rainham, Terry Baldwin had just pulled up on his motorbike. He’d found the perfect place to hide himself and the bike and had his escape route well planned. The one big problem he did have was that Jed never seemed to be alone. For the past five nights, Terry had frozen his bollocks off in the cold February air waiting to shoot the little bastard that had destroyed his, his daughter’s, and his grandson’s lives, but Jed was either always with that cousin of his, or if he wasn’t, he was with his bloody father.

Crawling behind the hedges, Terry sat down and prepared himself for another long wait. Jed’s motor was currently on the drive, and Terry hoped he’d go out again this evening, which seemed to be his usual routine. Thinking of the predicament he found himself in, Terry sighed. Anne had rung him from Australia today to inform him that she was flying home the next week and he desperately needed to finish the job before she got back. Anne could be a suspicious cow at the best of times and there was no way he could disappear every night when she returned. Terry made a decision there and then. He couldn’t arse about much more; he had neither the time nor the patience. Three more days he would give it and if he couldn’t get to Jed alone, then he would have to shoot whoever was with him as well.

Less than ten miles away, Eddie, Gary, Ricky, Raymond and Stuart were all sitting in the back of an inconspicuous-looking white Renault van. Eddie had bought the van off an old pal of his father’s and, like most things he got his grubby paws on, it was clean but untraceable. Ed had added some easily removable stickers down the side of it that read ‘Beryl’s Flowers’ and showed a false address and phone number underneath. The windows in the back were blacked out, but only from the outside, so the lads could easily see Jamie Carroll if and when he left the snooker hall.