Raymond yanked open the bedroom door and breathed a sigh of relief as he saw a pair of boots poking out from underneath the bed. ‘Thank God. You did see his face, didn’t you, Ed?’ Raymond asked confused. He could have sworn that Jed was barefoot when he had left.

‘You ain’t losing the plot, Ray, are you? You clumped him, he crawled under the bed. I came in, shot the cunt, job done. So what is your problem?’

Raymond felt ill as he turned to Eddie. ‘Ed, Frankie reckons Jess crawled under the bed and was hiding there.’

Eddie stood up. ‘My old woman don’t walk around in dealer boots,’ he said, as he strolled into the bedroom.

Grabbing hold of the ankles, Eddie was shocked as the boots came off in his hand. Seeing a pair of perfectly manicured feet, Eddie sank to his knees. ‘No, no, it can’t be! No!’ he shouted.

Raymond pushed him out of the way, grabbed the legs and dragged the body out. As Eddie screamed out his wife’s name, Raymond started to sob.

‘Jessica, Jessica. I’m so sorry, I love you. Why did you come here? Why?’ Eddie howled, cradling her bullet-ridden body in his arms.

Raymond was too stunned to speak. He could barely believe that his beautiful, vivacious sister was the bloodied corpse he was looking at. Jessica’s body was lacerated beyond recognition. Her beautiful blonde hair was matted with blood and her face looked contorted with shock.

‘Oh my God, Eddie. What have you done?’ Raymond whispered.

Sobbing like a baby, Eddie clung to his wife’s lifeless limbs. Raymond tried to drag Eddie off his sister and, as he did so, Ed started to yelp like a wounded animal. Raymond stared at Jessica’s face once more, then bent over and vomited.

As Raymond’s gun fell out of his pocket, Eddie immediately picked it up. Without Jessica, his life was nothing and he knew he could never forgive himself or get over what he had done. ‘It’s all right, darling. I’ll look after you and our baby. I’m coming with you,’ he said, as he pointed the gun towards his temple.

‘No, Ed! No!’ Raymond yelled, as he lunged towards Eddie.

Outside in the car, Frankie was still tied up. She was frightened, thirsty and desperate to know what was going on. As she heard the gunshot echo in the wind, she let out a piercing scream.

‘Jed! Mum! Where are you?’ she sobbed.

FORTY-THREE

Raymond crouched down. He had managed to knock the gun away from his brother-in-law’s head, but it had still gone off and had whizzed through Eddie’s shoulder. ‘Stay with me, Ed. I’m calling an ambulance right now,’ Raymond urged him.

Eddie lay moaning and groaning. He was conscious, but not really with it. ‘Let me die. I want to die,’ he muttered.