Under the counter, the man kept a hammer and a large mallet in case of burglaries. If he could have got hold of a gun, he’d have that too. He took one weapon in each hand and stood up.

‘Get out of my fucking shop, you little bastards.’

The brothers burst into laughter and mimicked him. Adam lifted his sweater and the man saw a long knife stuffed in a kind of makeshift holster. Sweat formed on his brow, but he couldn’t go back now.

‘Get him, Adam,’ said Jason.

The man moved first and he was quick. The brothers responded, separating, so that by the time the man emerged from behind the counter, he was flanked on both sides. Adam took out his knife.

‘You wanna hurt, old man?’

‘My CCTV is on!’ the man shouted.

‘We don’t fucking care.’

As the man looked frantically between the two, Jason struck him on the head with a wooden club he’d brought out of his jacket. He went down like a sack of shit and the brothers stared at one another. Without speaking, Adam went to the office out the back and checked the CCTV monitor. He found what he was looking for and pulled it away from the unit in which it sat, removing the disk from the drive. When he got back, Jason was straddling the guy’s chest, punching him in the face.

‘Fucking hell, Jay, you’re gonna kill him.’

Jason stopped. ‘Nah, then he wouldn’t be able to pay. Let’s go.’ He got up and stepped around the body of the man he’d beaten half to death. The man groaned, and they knew he was alive, for now. They cleaned out the till, then took the envelope and left.

As they walked away, they heard a scream from the shop: the old man lived upstairs with his wife, and she’d probably found him. Maybe this would teach them both a lesson.

‘My fist hurts,’ said Jason.

‘No fucking wonder. You should have knifed him.’

‘We don’t want another fucker dying yet. The pigs are already crawling around.’

‘Did you see Sharon Bradley on YouTube? She’s a fucking nutcase.’

‘Don’t worry, she won’t find nothing, and no one will tell her. Come on, we’re late.’