About to give his daughter the good news, Eddie dropped his phone as both his grandchildren made a lunge for the handle of the back door.

Ricky managed to grab Georgie and Eddie grabbed Harry, who then did his utmost to manoeuvre his way out of his grandfather’s arms.

‘Leave my brother alone,’ Georgie screamed, kicking her grandad in the leg.

‘Right, tie their hands back up and they can stay that way until they’ve learned how to behave themselves.’

‘I hate you!’ Harry yelled in protest.

Eddie put his phone back in his pocket. He’d ring Frankie in a while when the kids had quietened down a bit. He stared at his grandchildren and shook his head in disbelief. He’d fully expected them to be rough around the edges, but he hadn’t expected them to behave like wild fucking animals.

Alice O’Hara was absolutely beside herself. She couldn’t stop screaming, was in floods of tears and her whole body was shaking from head to toe.

‘I’ve got some brandy in mine. I’ll go get it, it’s good for shock,’ Linda Maloney said. She felt anxious as well. Her Mickey had gone off with Jimmy and she knew they’d taken a gun with them. As for poor Ryan, he was in bits, bless him.

‘Bring your Ryan over ’ere. I wanna know exactly what happened,’ Alice wept.

‘I dunno if he’ll come, Alice. He’s frit to death, the poor little sod. His brothers are looking after him; he wouldn’t even talk to me about it. Loves your Georgie, that boy does.’

When Linda went off to get the brandy, Sarah, Alice’s best friend on the site, held Alice in her arms. ‘Everything will be OK. Jed and Jimmy will get your grandchildren back for ya, I know they will, angel.’

Alice looked at her friend with a psychotic expression plastered across her face. ‘They ain’t my grandchildren, they’re my babies. I brought them up. I was the only mother they had. Georgie and Harry belong to me.’

Stuart and Terry headed back to the site and parked nearby. It had taken them ages to find a supermarket, but eventually they’d come across one and had stocked up with enough food and drink to last them a week.

‘Jed’s truck’s there, but Jimmy’s still out. Do you reckon that poor little cunt’s still tied up in the barn?’ Stuart said to his sidekick.

Terry laughed. ‘Yeah, he ain’t gonna be found till tonight, I reckon. Someone’s bound to go and look for the kids at some point and they’ll probably find him then.’

‘What is the time?’ Stuart asked Terry. He’d left his watch back home in Brentwood and felt lost without it on his wrist.

‘Half-past four. We’ve got a long night ahead of us, but I ain’t that tired, are you?’