‘Glynn, are you OK?’ shouted Peter again, rushing to the office door and pulling out his own gun.

Glynn appeared at the door just as Peter reached it. The gun was still in his hand. ‘Yeah. I got the bastard!’ he said. ‘But the other two have scarpered. The back door was wide open but I’ve bolted it so they can’t get back in.’

Adele stared at the gun in alarm and noticed the look on Glynn’s face. Was it relief, or satisfaction? It was hard to tell.

‘Is he dead?’ asked Peter.

‘Think so, yeah.’

‘Shit!’ said Peter. Then he seemed to spend a second in thought before saying. ‘Adele needs something for the shock. You stay here. I’ll grab a drink from the bar. Then we can decide what to do.’

He disappeared. Adele wanted to shout at him to come back but she was too late. Her reactions were delayed by panic. As soon as he was gone, she started to take in what had just happened. As the harsh reality hit her she sobbed uncontrollably till she felt she couldn’t breathe. Her whole body was shaking with the shock.

Within no time Glynn had crossed the office and was with her, taking her in his big muscular arms and holding her tightly till the sobbing subsided. Reassuring her. Calming her.

‘It’s OK,’ he said, gently stroking her back. ‘It’s over.’

He took a tissue from the box on her desk and dried her tears. Then he smoothed back her tear-sodden hair.

‘Adele, listen to me,’ he said. ‘It’s over now. They’re gone.’

She rested her head on his shoulder and drew comfort from his strong embrace. By the time Peter returned she was a lot calmer.

‘Here, get that down you,’ said Peter, pouring a glass of brandy and handing it to her. Then he turned to Glynn and said, ‘I’ve rung Mike.’

Glynn nodded and for a few seconds they watched Adele down the brandy. Then Peter asked Glynn to follow him into the corridor to talk. She could hear them whispering and caught snippets of the conversation, which filled her with terror. The gist was that the man was dead and they needed to dispose of the body and clean up.

Peter came back inside the office. ‘Right, sis, finish your drink. I’m taking you home,’ he said.

‘But, won’t we need to call the police?’ she asked.

‘No, we can’t chance it.’

‘But what will we do?’

‘Don’t worry about it. Glynn and Mike will sort it out. I’ll explain it all when we get back to mine.’