‘I’m thinking,’ Jed said, as he put his foot on the brake and swerved into the slow lane.

Billy chuckled. ‘What about? Getting the kids back or murdering that mug, Mitchell?’

‘Neither, I was thinking about me other chavvie, you know the one I’ve never seen.’

‘What you thinking about that for?’ Billy asked bemused.

‘Because it’s mine and I’ve decided, once this is all over and we’ve finished off Eddie, that chavvie is coming home with me.’

* * *

Raymond looked at the fuel gauge and grimaced. ‘We’re on the fucking red. I’m coming up to Kendal services; we’re gonna have to fill up,’ he said anxiously.

‘I bet it’s Dad come to take us back,’ Harry whispered to his sister.

Georgie nodded and squeezed his hand. Part of her had wanted to see her mother, even if it was only for a brief visit, but on the whole she couldn’t wait to get home to Ryan. She’d only been gone a few hours and was missing him already.

‘How we gonna play this, Dad?’ Ricky asked.

Eddie had had his thinking cap on for the past five minutes. He’d had a feeling the O’Haras would come for the kids, which was why he’d ordered Terry and Stuart to stay in Glasgow, but he hadn’t reckoned on it being this quick. ‘Do you know anyone who has a silver Land Cruiser?’ Ed asked his grandchildren.

Both glanced at one another and shook their heads. Their Uncle Billy drove one of those, but they’d been taught at an early age to keep their mouths shut.

‘What should I do, Ed?’ Raymond shouted out.

‘Pull in and drive straight to the pumps. There’s fuck-all they can do on a packed garage forecourt, is there?’ Ed replied.

‘Say they’ve got you-know-what?’ Ricky asked his father. He didn’t want to say too much in front of the kids.

‘Then they shoot at us and probably blow themselves up at the same time,’ Eddie said jokingly. He was acting more blasé than he actually felt and was cursing his decision not to bring any guns up to Scotland with him.

Desperate to be reunited with his father, Harry sensed an opportunity and clutched the crotch of his tracksuit bottoms with both hands. ‘I need a wee again,’ he said.

Eddie ignored his grandson and leaned over the passenger seat to try and get a look at the Land Cruiser in the wing mirrors. For obvious reasons, Ed had asked Flatnose to get hold of a van with no windows in the back, which was a bind now they were being followed.

‘Right, we’re at Kendal services. I’m pulling in now,’ Raymond shouted out.

‘You ain’t gonna hurt my dad, are ya?’ Georgie asked tearfully, as Gary took two baseball bats out of a navy-blue sports bag and handed one to Ricky.