‘Don’t tell her. Just say we’ve broken down or something,’ Raymond suggested.

Eddie paused before he punched in the number. He had never involved Joey in anything underhand before but for the first time ever, he desperately needed his son’s help.

Frankie was just writing down the order for their Chinese takeaway when the phone rang. ‘Someone answer that,’ she shouted, as she bent down to pick up Brett’s Big Mac and fries. The messy little sod had just knocked his dinner off the tray and was now crying because it was scattered all over the carpet.

‘It’s your dad, Frankie, but he wants to speak to Joey,’ Babs shouted out.

Frankie stood up and snatched the phone out of her friend’s hand. ‘What’s wrong?’ she asked her father.

‘Nothing’s wrong. Well, apart from the van playing up, that is. Put Joey on, sweetheart, I need him to ring a mate of mine who’s a mechanic,’ Eddie lied.

‘Where are the kids?’ Frankie asked suspiciously.

‘In the back.’

‘Put ’em on the phone. Please let me say hello to ’em, Dad.’

‘They’re both asleep, Frankie, and you’ll have plenty of time to say hello to ’em when we get home. Now, put your brother on the phone, else we might spend the night on the motorway.’

‘What’s up, Dad?’ Joey asked as he put the receiver to his ear.

‘Keep smiling, and don’t let Frankie know that anything’s amiss, you get my drift?’ Eddie said.

‘Yeah,’ Joey replied, in an unconcerned tone.

‘The O’Haras are behind us on the motorway and I need your help, son. Is Frankie still standing next to you?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Right, when you put the phone down in a minute, pretend you’ve got to ring a mechanic mate of mine. Ask your sister for a pen and paper and I’ll give you a false phone number. Then, end the call and ring me back out of Frankie’s earshot on your mobile.’

‘I need a pen and paper,’ Joey told Frankie.

Joey’s heart was beating rapidly as he took down the imaginary phone number. ‘Right, I’ll ring him now, Dad,’ he said.

‘If Frankie asks, I think the alternator’s on the blink.’

‘No probs,’ Joey said ending the call.

‘What’s a matter with the van?’ Frankie asked.

‘Dad reckons the alternator’s on the blink. He wants me to get one of his mechanic pals to ring him.’

‘Why don’t he just ring the AA?’

‘Because the van isn’t kosher, you div,’ Joey replied jovially. How he was putting on such a convincing act he didn’t know, but he could tell that his sister believed him.

Frankie breathed a sigh of relief. ‘For a moment there I thought that something had gone proper wrong. I had visions of Jed and Jimmy following Dad or something.’