‘You might be a criminal, but you’re also my sister,’ said Bailey. ‘And that does still mean something to me.’

A little smile edged onto Jennifer’s face. ‘You never did know when to quit, Bailey.’ She shook her head. ‘Like that time you insisted on climbing all the way up that apple tree in the back garden and got stuck at the top.’

Bailey smiled too. ‘And we had to call the Fire Brigade to get me down.’

They both suddenly broke into laughter. It was a crazy, nervous laughter, fuelled by the extreme stress of their situation. It was either that or cry.

Jennifer’s face straightened. ‘How did you get that black eye?’

‘A bit of man trouble,’ shrugged Bailey. ‘Managed to sort it out though.’

Jennifer nodded at the grenade in Bailey’s hand. ‘So I see I’m not the only one who’s au fait with explosive devices.’

Bailey looked down at the small bomb. ‘I paid a little visit to the police property storeroom before I came here. It’s amazing the things you can find in there.’

‘There’s only so long you’re going to be able to keep holding it.’

‘I’ll lob it when I have to, but for the time being it’s the only protection we’ve got.’

‘There they are!’ shouted a man’s voice.

A fraction of a second later, a shotgun blast rang out and the windows of the JCB shattered.

‘We have to move,’ said Bailey.

Wrenching themselves to their feet, they ran onwards, further into the heart of the building site, Bailey hoping somehow to locate an alternative way out.

Ahead of them, she saw three large white cylinders, horizontal tanks positioned side-by-side. Maybe behind those there would be something. Pulling Jennifer after her, she squeezed between the tanks…

… and found that they’d reached the water’s edge, the undulating black surface of the river stretching out before them.

It was a dead end.

‘Go back,’ hissed Bailey.

They turned on their heels and started to retrace their steps when Shane appeared from around the corner of a nearby Portakabin.

His eyes widened when he saw them. ‘They’re here!’ he bellowed. Moments later, a cluster of thugs poured around the corner to join him.

The two sisters ran back behind the cylinders and crouched down. Bailey gritted her teeth in frustration. They were trapped.

‘Chuck the grenade,’ urged Jennifer.

Bailey looked down at the grenade in her hand. It looked like the time had come to use it. She took a deep breath and pulled her arm back.

She was just about to throw it when she heard Shane shout: ‘Shit! They’re behind the LPG tanks. Don’t shoot at them or you’ll blow the tanks and wreck the whole fucking place.’

Bailey froze. She glanced at one of the large tanks. The words ‘Liquefied Petroleum Gas’ were stencilled in large letters on the side and below that was a warning sticker that said ‘Highly Flammable’. She guessed that the fuel in the tanks probably served some purpose related to the construction work going on here.