Realising that Frankie was telling the truth, Raymond felt all the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. ‘Jesus! No!’ he screamed, as he spun the car around and raced back to the scene of the crime.

* * *

Eddie smiled as he saw the dealer boots poking out from under the bed. He would have liked to have tortured the little fucker for a while, but he really didn’t have the time. Poor little Jed must have crawled in here after Raymond clumped him over the bonce. Smiling, Eddie prepared his speech.

‘Bye-bye, Jeddy boy. This is what you get for crossing me,’ he said as he let fly with the machine gun.

With blood splattered all over himself and the walls, Eddie decided enough was enough. He was extremely thirsty and decided he needed to have a little refreshment before Raymond got back. The cleaning-up process was much harder work than just killing people, unfortunately.

Eddie went to the fridge and was pleased to find a can of lager. ‘Cheers, you little gyppo cunt,’ he toasted, as he sat down on the old sofa.

Sipping his beer, Eddie took a good look at the surroundings. ‘So this is how pikeys live, is it?’ he said cuttingly.

Smirking, Eddie slurped his beer. Frankie wouldn’t thank him for a while, but he had literally saved his daughter from a life of hell. Any man in his position would have done the same as he had. Every father in the world only wants the best for their daughter, don’t they?

As the sound of brakes screeched outside, Eddie shot up like a jack-in-the-box. Raymond wasn’t due back yet, so who the fuck was this?

Eddie picked up the machine gun and lifted back the old net curtain. As he saw Raymond running towards him, Eddie guessed there had been a hitch, but still breathed a sigh of relief. Flatnose Freddie would have thought he was taking the right piss if he had turned up with a boot full of bodies instead of just one.

‘What’s up?’ he asked as Raymond let himself in.

‘Where’s Jessica? Have you seen her?’ Raymond asked frantically.

‘Of course I ain’t seen her. She’s round her fucking mother’s,’ Ed replied, looking at him as though he was mental.

‘No, she ain’t. Frankie said she was here, she came to see her,’ Raymond said nervously.

‘Well, she ain’t here now, is she?’ Eddie said, fuming that his wife had gone behind his back.

‘Where’s Jed?’ Raymond asked, as a sudden feeling of dread washed over him.

‘Having a little rest under the bed. Don’t worry, Ray, I’ve put about two hundred bullets in him, so he’s hardly likely to jump out on us,’ Eddie said, laughing.