'Good.' She stroked my leg. 'We've seen all shades of shit together, Dan Starkey, haven't we?'

'We have.'

'But no one has ever described you as a man of action.'

'Inaction is how I prefer it.'

'I know. It's how I like you.'

'It's how you love me.'

'Don't push it.'

She smiled. I put my hand over hers and squeezed gently.

'Trish. Don't get your hopes up. We'll do our best, but he might already-'

'Don't. This glass is half full.'

'Okay. Absolutely.'

The passenger door opened and Joe got in. He was carrying a Nike sports bag.

'It's always good to have a sponsor,' I said.

Joe ignored me. 'Let's go,' he said.

We parked initially about a hundred metres down from the old Methodist church, on the opposite side of the road. It gave us a decent view of it in between the steady rhythm of the wiper blades. After ten minutes, Maxi pulled in just in front of us. He opened the back door of his car and took out doubled-up Tesco bags containing something heavy. He walked up to our car and climbed in the back beside me. He placed the bag at his feet.

'Okay?' Joe asked.

'Okay.'

The snooker hall was open and appeared to be doing steady business. In the thirty minutes we waited there, there were always two guys in the doorway, smoking. Not always the same guys, but always two of them.

'Got to presume they're armed,' said Joe.

'They do about ten minutes each, then switch,' said Maxi.

'Be good not to get four at the same time.'

'Be good not to get any of them.'

'They need distracting,' said Joe.

We all nodded. With the exception of Trish, who said, 'I could do that.'

I said, 'No way.'

'I could, absolutely.'

'I mean, I don't want you involved.'

'Dan, I'm here, I'm here for Bobby, I will do what I have to do to get him back.'

'No.'

'Yes.'

'What sort of distraction?' asked Maxi.

'I could undo a couple of buttons, ask them to give me a terror tour of the Shankill.'

'No,' I said.

'Three, then.' She swivelled in her seat and undid them. I'd seen it all before, but I was still looking. Maxi was looking too, and nodding. Joe, who probably had a better view than either of us, glanced once, reddened slightly and then kept his eyes on the church. 'I'll go up and ask them to take me inside and show me the finer points of snooker.'

'No,' I said.

'It's not enough,' said Joe.

'I can't go topless,' said Trish, 'I need the support.'

'No,' said Joe, 'we need something to draw them out.'

'Three buttons and a flat tyre, then,' said Trish.

'Not enough,' said Joe.

'You need to crash it,' said Maxi, 'and get hysterical.'

'Comes naturally,' I said.

She looked at me. 'You wish.'

Joe smirked and looked away.

Maxi had other things on his mind. He said, 'You up to it?'

Trish nodded.

'Okay. We transfer to my car. You take this one round the block. You see thon lamppost? You run her into that hard enough to set the alarm off and do some damage. They'll come running and we'll be in. Can you handle that?'

'Perfect,' said Trish.

He looked round us all. We were all in.

We took a few minutes to slip out, one by one, to reconvene in Maxi's car. I was the last to go. I said to Trish, 'This is mental.'

'It usually is,' she said.

I leaned across to kiss her. She kissed me back. It was passionate. We finished. We looked into each other's eyes.

'Love you,' I said.

'I know,' she said.

We left it with a smile, as it should be.

I got out and did my best to saunter casually to Maxi's Volvo. A brief glance towards the church, and I was in.

As I closed the door, Trish drove past.

Maxi started the engine and pulled out. We eased past the church and parked about fifteen metres beyond it, facing away but giving us a partial view of the doors and vestibule through the rain-speckled left-hand side mirror.

'Okay,' said Maxi. 'This is it. Dan, you've been here before, you know what the set-up is. Joe, we go right from the entrance, up a set of stairs. There's a hall with two guards at the end of it. Armed. Beyond is the Millers, don't know if they're carrying or not. Room behind them is where they'll have Bobby, if they have him. If they're having a go at him, and they run to form, Detective Inspector Springer, pride of the force, will be in there interviewing him with pliers.'

Joe nodded. 'And if they don't have him?'

'Then we'll have a lot of apologising to do to the dead folk.'

'You're killing them?' I asked.

Maxi looked at me. 'We're not a fucking debating society, Dan.'

'I know, but . . .'

'But nothing.'

Maxi lifted the Tesco bag from the passenger seat. From within he withdrew what appeared to be a sawn-off shotgun. He showed it to Joe.

'Twelve-gauge Beretta. Three in the magazine, one ready to pop.'

Joe unzipped his Nike bag. He withdrew a revolver not dissimilar to mine. He showed it to Maxi. 'Mateba semi-automatic, takes a .357 Magnum cartridge, six shots.'

I showed my weapon, and turned it over, looking for the maker's mark. I couldn't find one.

Maxi took it off me and examined it. 'Smith and Wesson,' he concluded. 'Replica.'

'Rep . . .'

'Exactly. If you pull the trigger, don't forget to say bang.'

'Fuck,' I said.

'Probably for the best,' said Maxi.

'You concentrate on the boy,' said Joe, 'we'll worry about the rest.'

'Like a wide receiver,' I said.

'No,' said Joe, 'nothing like a wide receiver. You halfwit.'

Trish's car passed us.

'Ready,' said Joe.

'Ready,' said Maxi.

'Ready,' I said, though I was precisely the opposite.

'What the fuck is she doing?' asked Joe.

I turned. Trish had driven past the lamppost, and pulled one side of her car up on to the footpath, but facing away from her target.

'Did she just overshoot?' asked Maxi.

We were perplexed, and then the coin dropped.

'She's going to reverse into it,' I said.

'Why the fuck would she do that?'

I laughed. They looked at me.

'What's so funny?' Joe asked.

'She is. Even now, this traumatic time, she's thinking about her good looks. She's going to reverse in so she doesn't set the airbag off. She doesn't want it to break her nose.'

Maxi laughed too. 'Women,' he said.

'Women,' agreed Joe. 'I'm well rid.' He checked the mirror. He looked from Maxi to me, then said: 'Tell her.'

I called Trish. She answered on the first ring. 'Go for it, gorgeous,' I said.

'Yes, boss,' she replied. 'And good luck.'

She cut the line. My heart was thumping madly. I had been through a lot of strange, dangerous adventures in my time, but I had never purposely involved Patricia in them. It did not feel good. She was doing this for someone she hardly knew, a tearaway, a dealer, and a snotty teenager to boot. She had a heart of gold, except when it came to me.

I turned in the back seat. Trish's reverse lights were on; even with the rain and the traffic, I could hear her revving the engine.

'Why is she revving the engine?' Maxi asked.

'Just floor the fucker,' said Joe.

And then she did.

The car leapt backwards with engine roaring and wheels spinning and whacked into the lamppost with a huge amount of force. The post remained standing, but the lamp at the top shattered. The car boot flew open. The rear window smashed, spraying glass everywhere. The alarm began to reverberate. Trish kept revving that engine. Passers-by lowered their umbrellas to watch, and then battled to stop them from being blown inside out. We turned to the church the two hoods on duty were looking across. One took a step down on to the pavement. The other stayed where he was.