‘Don’t you think I know that? We are gonna kill ’em once the dust settles. Remember, we’re gonna have to inform the authorities that the kids are back home, and if Jed and Jimmy disappear at the same time Georgie and Harry are snatched, the Old Bill will be all over us like a swarm of bees. I know pikeys don’t usually deal with the filth, but that fat slag Alice will be on the phone to ’em as quick as you can say Bob’s your uncle if her whole family vanish. What we’ve got to do is bide our time just for a couple of weeks, sort ourselves out with strong alibis, and then deal with Jed and Jimmy.’

‘I doubt they’ll stay on the same site or wherever it is they’re living, Ed. Not if they know you know where they are,’ Terry added.

‘I know that. That’s why you’ll be staying up in Scotland watching their every movement, Tel,’ Ed replied, enjoying the look of shock on the man’s face.

‘I can’t do that, Ed. I can take it in turns with someone else if you like. My Anne will go apeshit if I fuck off for weeks on end. She moans that I’m always working all the time as it is.’

‘She won’t go as apeshit as I will when I find out for definite that you’ve shot the wrong bloke, so I’d button it if I were you and do as you’re told. Anyway, if you ain’t made a cock-up, then you won’t need to stay up there, will ya? And if you have, you wanna think yourself lucky I don’t blow your kneecaps off.’

Recognising the look of fire in Eddie Mitchell’s eyes, Terry Baldwin didn’t argue. ‘OK, mate, I’ll do it,’ he replied wisely.

‘Anyway, you won’t be on your own, Stu’s gonna be with you,’ Ed informed him.

‘Why me?’ Stuart asked. The thought of not seeing Frankie for weeks made him feel instantly depressed.

‘Because you’re single. I can’t let Tel do this on his own. Say the O’Haras spot him following ’em, and he goes missing or something? We never work alone, you know that, boy.’

‘OK,’ Stuart said, knowing he had no choice but to agree.

‘How we gonna grab the kids? I mean, they ain’t toddlers no more, are they?’ Raymond asked.

‘The same way you grabbed Frankie that night in Tilbury. We bundle ’em in the van and, if necessary, tie ’em up, Raymondo. We’ll go well prepared; we might need to use duct tape on ’em or something to stop ’em screaming. They’re bound to be frightened and kick up a fuss, ain’t they?’

‘You can’t tie ’em up like hostages. They’re only young and they’re your grandchildren,’ Ricky piped up, horrified.