‘Oh, Maureen, what have I done?’ he whispered, squeezing his eyes shut. ‘What the hell have I done?’

‘Who you talking to?’ Nick barked, rattling the handle. ‘You’d better not have another phone in there, or I swear to God I’ll blow your fuckin’ head off!’

Frank quickly unlocked the door and held up his hands to show that he didn’t have a phone.

‘I was talking to myself,’ he said, falling against the door frame when the man barged past him and scanned the room. ‘And it was force of habit to lock it, but I’ll leave it open this time.’

‘Nah, I ain’t taking chances,’ Nick said. ‘Do what you gotta do, and hurry up.’

Frank couldn’t pretend that he needed to sit down with the man watching him, so he unzipped his fly and tried to urinate instead. But nothing happened.

Losing patience, Nick booted him in the back of his thigh.

‘I told you to hurry up, dickhead!’

‘I can’t go with you watching me,’ Frank croaked, putting his hand on the wall to keep his legs from buckling.

‘You trying to tell me you’ve never had a slash in front of another bloke?’

‘Not one who’s aiming a gun at me, no.’

‘Right, fuck this,’ Nick said, pushing Frank back out onto the landing. ‘You’ve had your chance, so don’t bother asking me to fetch you up again.’

Evening crawled into night, and Frank’s body stiffened as he sat rigidly in his chair while the others watched a seemingly endless stream of Christmas films. Irena had nodded off, her head resting on Karel’s chest, and Frank guessed that the men, who were halfway through their second bottle of whisky, wouldn’t be too far behind if their drooping eyes were anything to go by.

Karel had placed the shotgun on the coffee table, and a plan began to form in Frank’s mind as his gaze drifted to it. It was closer to them than it was to him, and Nick still had the handgun stuffed in his waistband. But if both men closed their eyes, even for a second, he could easily grab it and use it to secure his escape. And once he was safely out of here, he would warn Evan and Marie to get out of their house and then call the police.

Karel suddenly stretched and sat up straighter, killing Frank’s hopes of getting his hands on the gun.

‘I’m going to bed,’ he said, nudging Irena awake before standing up. ‘Go and get it warm for me. We’re having the big room at the front.’

‘That is Frankie’s room,’ she told him quietly as she sleepily rose to her feet.

‘It’s ours now,’ he said, narrowing his eyes as he added, ‘Unless there’s a reason why you don’t want to sleep in there with me?’