His eyes filled with tears. ‘They found him, half dead, down the dock road. All we know is he’s in a really bad way. If the ambulance hadn’t got to him when they did, he’d be a goner.’

‘Who called the ambulance?’ Grace asked.

Sean shook his head. ‘We don’t know. They said it was anonymous. Someone just phoned and reported him lying in the gutter. They reckon he was dumped there. Maybe it was just someone passing by?’

Grace nodded in agreement.

Michael bounced over to her then. ‘They left him to fucking die in the road,’ he shouted. ‘Like a fucking animal.’

‘Keep your voice down, the police are over there,’ Sean warned him.

Michael lowered his voice. ‘I’m going to put a bullet in that fucker’s head, Grace,’ he said.

Before she could respond to him, a doctor came out of the double doors facing them.

‘Your father is stable for now,’ he said. ‘But he’s still in a critical condition. He’s conscious, so you can see him now, but he needs to rest. He’s very lucky to be alive.’

Michael and Sean shook his hand in turn. ‘Thanks, Doctor,’ they said.

‘Are you family?’ the doctor asked Grace.

‘She’s our sister,’ Sean lied.

‘You can see him for a few minutes, but then he really needs his rest. And I’m sure the police will want to talk to him as soon as he’s up to it. It’s only two per bedside in ICU, I’m afraid. So you’ll have to decide who’s going in first,’ he said before walking away.

‘You two go in first, of course,’ Grace said.

They nodded and Grace watched as the two brothers walked into the intensive care unit.

Grace thought about her next move while she waited. Was this all her fault? Should she have just gone along with Nathan’s demands and kept her trap shut? At least everyone she loved would be safe. God, she could kill the twins for their stupidity. She’d had the perfect plan to get Nathan out of their lives for good and they’d fucked it all up. And Nathan, that evil bastard. When she was through with him he would wish he’d never laid eyes on her.

Ten long minutes later, Sean and Michael came back into the waiting room. The pain etched on their faces was clear to see.

‘You can go in now,’ Sean said quietly. ‘Just keep calm when you see him, okay? Don’t freak him out.’

‘I won’t,’ she replied, wondering at the state Patrick must be in for such a warning to be merited.