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stupid.’
    Cragg guffawed. ‘Two-fifty or three hundred is pretty bloody stupid,’ he observed, ‘and I think you’re a stupid person, JJ. Stupid enough to have a bad habit which clouds your judgement, makes you think you can steal from me, and now you’re stupid enough to expect me to believe you only took a fraction of what you really took.’
    â€˜I’m being honest with you, Ray,’ JJ insisted, opening his arms.
    Cragg snorted a laugh of contempt through his nose and stood up.
    Carrie was still doubled up on the carpet in one corner of the room, moaning and shivering. There were streaks of blood on the wall next to her.
    Marty and Crazy lounged by the door, hands in pockets, waiting for Ray to come to some sort of decision. Crazy was the more relaxed of the two, chewing gum and picking at a large spot on his face. Marty seemed restless, more eager for something to happen, his foot tapped agitatedly.
    Ray crossed to the window out of which JJ had tried to escape. He folded his arms and gazed quietly out across the rooftops of a nearby housing estate, then down to the deserted play area four floors below. It was tempting to lean on the windowsill but he did not. He was always careful to leave as few traces of himself anywhere as possible.
    â€˜You could’ve come to me and asked for cash,’ he said eventually. ‘We could’ve sorted something and you wouldn’t now find yourself in this . . . pickle, would you?’
    Despite the shakes and the booming sound still rattling around his cranium, JJ had managed to roll a replacement cigarette, which was now lighted and affixed to his bottom lip.
    â€˜I didn’t think, man,’ he wailed plaintively. ‘It won’t happen again. I swear it on my goddaughter’s life.’
    â€˜Bloody right it won’t happen again,’ Marty interjected, taking a step towards JJ, who cowered back in the settee. He knew Marty was a dangerous, sometimes uncontrollable bastard.
    Ray spun on his half-brother, pointed at him and shot him a stare which stopped him in his tracks. He did not have to utter a word. Marty’s face creased angrily.
    â€˜Normally,’ Ray said to JJ, half an eye on Marty, ‘I deal very harshly with people who shit on me.’
    JJ tore his eyes from Marty. ‘I know.’ He swallowed.
    â€˜But I’m actually feeling a bit lenient today – with you, that is.’
    JJ held his breath, his lungs full of the harsh smoke from the filterless roll-up.
    â€˜You’re not going to let him get away with this, are you, Ray?’ Marty said. ‘He needs dealing with good and proper.’
    Ray ignored him and smiled briefly at JJ.
    â€˜This is the first and last time, JJ. You skim from me again and you’re a dead man.’
    JJ closed his eyes, relief flooding through him.
    â€˜Jesus! You’re letting the twat off!’ Marty wailed, shaking his head despondently. ‘He’s fuckin’ stolen from you.’
    â€˜My money, my decision,’ Ray said, ‘so shut the fuck up.’ He spoke to JJ again. ‘If you need any extra dosh, ask me, don’t just take it. We’ll work something out.’
    â€˜Thanks, Ray, oh God, thanks.’
    Ray sat down next to JJ again, placing an arm around his shoulders – again.
    â€˜I do not believe this,’ Marty tutted.
    â€˜Y’see,’ Ray said, his lips only inches away from JJ’s bad ear. ‘I’m not that bad.’ He gave him a squeeze. ‘There is one thing I’m curious about, though.’
    â€˜What’s that?’
    â€˜If you didn’t skim two grand off me, who did?’
    Henry had followed Jack Burrows back through her house into the lounge. He sat on the expensive soft leather settee, sinking so quickly into it he was caught off balance and almost spilled his tea.
    Burrows smiled. ‘Always gets people, that.’
    â€˜Mm,’ murmured Henry