‘I was loyal.’

‘You were,’ Mullan said. ‘And brutal. And effective. But you needed to feel like you were in charge. Still do.’

‘What’s that meant to mean?’

‘Like I said, you’re the man holding a gun. I told Kelly to mention to you that he’d seen the cop in the supermarket. I knew you’d come back to me, looking for permission to target him. And you did. You were predictable.’

‘Not anymore,’ Duggan said.

‘Do you think? Why are we here? You approached me about this, first.’

‘I’ve said; I want the truth–’

‘No, why did you first think about him?’ Mullan asked, smiling.

‘What do you mean?’

‘What first started you thinking about him, recently?’

‘I’m dying. My pancreas, bowel, even moved into my lungs. I’ve weeks left,’ he said, finally.

Despite everything, Tony felt sorry for the man, how defeated he looked despite holding a gun on them all.

‘I know,’ Mullan said. ‘You were spotted going in and out of the cancer centre months back. News travels fast.’ He offered no empathy, no concern. Business-like. ‘But what made you think of Martin?’

‘He was on the news. The family were looking again for him, in all the wrong places.’

Mullan nodded. ‘I wonder where they got those tip-offs?’

Duggan stared at him a moment, as if piecing together what he had said. ‘You?’

Mullan nodded. ‘We needed to get him back; I knew you were dying, reflecting on things, according to your drinking cronies. I guessed a few high-profile stories about Martin’s family and you’d be in touch. And you were. Predictable.’

‘Don’t push me, Sean,’ Duggan growled.

‘Or what?’ Mullan laughed. ‘What do you think is going to happen? Do you really think you’re going to shoot one of us, here, with all these witnesses? Or shoot all of us? And then what? Drive yourself back home? You don’t think you’ll be caught?’

‘I don’t care if I am,’ Duggan said. ‘I’ll be dead soon enough. But when I am, I don’t want to face the dead and see Martin Kelly there, blaming me for what I did.’

‘You think Kelly will be the only one waiting for you when you die?’ Mullan sneered.

‘Anyone else I did, got what they deserved.’

‘Kelly got what he deserved, too,’ Mullan said.

‘I don’t believe that,’ Duggan said.

‘But you told us there was a witness?’ Tony said.

‘What?’

Both Duggan and Mullan turned to look at him. He glanced at Karen. She seemed to give a shake of her head as if in warning, but it was too late.

‘Someone saw him going to speak to Hamilton?’ he continued.

Chapter Forty-Seven

Chapter Forty-Seven

‘Someone saw?’ Tony asked. He was standing at the bar, one hand holding the brass handrail for support.