His rage was out of control now. It was consuming him, it moved him forward to place one leg either side of Danny Evans’s bound thighs like he was straddling him. He lifted the pistol to push it into the stricken man’s pale palm and held Evans’s finger firmly against the trigger. It was also rage that lifted him up onto his toes so he could see right into those piercing green eyes that were now wide with fear, while his throat gurgled. He could now see what was jutting out of his fist to push into his mouth; it looked like the metal extension from a vacuum cleaner but cut into a long U shape. It had coarse edges like it had been cut with a hacksaw. It was taped firmly to his hand at one end and the other pushed between those thick lips that had been shaped into a leering pose for his photo. The brown hair was present too – although not so neat and slightly longer to partly conceal the ear with the missing chunk. The green eyes that had been nonchalant in the picture now jiggled around in his skull, trying to see what was going on, and flared wide with fear.

Good.

The man’s throat twitched and moved as he moaned. It was panicked, desperate. The sound started low, building to a high-pitched shriek. Richard savoured it. Even waiting until Danny Evans ran out of air and his nostrils flared to power the next one.

‘You should fucking scream. Quick and easy, that’s what you said, right? Maybe I’m the one who should offer it as a service. This is for my wife!’

The pistol roared. He was so close that the rear of the weapon recoiled to catch Richard like a backhanded slap across the mouth. He didn’t care.

It did nothing to wipe the big smile off his face.

Chapter 30

‘You’re calmer then!’ Glenn smiled. ‘I can tell that by the fact that you bought the coffees this time!’ It was their regular coffee-shop meeting place. Glenn had refused meeting somewhere more private like at one of their houses, saying that he was already in the town and complaining that it was Richard’s turn to buy. Richard didn’t want to push it over the phone. It didn’t matter anyway; no one was going to be taking notice of two old men in the corner.

Richard was aware he was still shaking. It had been a couple of hours since he had pulled that trigger but the adrenalin was still flooding back at a moment’s notice. He took a second to peer around, to make sure there was no one near enough to overhear them, before he replied. ‘I killed a man.’ Richard leaned in, watching Glenn intently. He was lifting his cup to his lips. He didn’t stop, the delay while he took his swig was maddening.