Tony felt he should do something for Duggan, embrace him, pray with him, shake his hand, but the man’s mind was elsewhere once more and he simply repeated over and over a mantra of ‘J.B. Books.’

The ground ahead splintered into tears as Tony moved away from Duggan, past the ancient oak to join Karen and Mullan, who were waiting. Behind him, he could hear Barr moving, his progress marked by the rustling of the leaves coating the ground beneath the oak.

They moved through the trees in silence, waiting. Waiting. Waiting.

The shot echoed through the woods this time, rolling down the incline towards them. Tony glanced around, briefly, to see Duggan slump to the ground, Barr standing to his left, his gun hand still raised. The youth knelt lightly beside Duggan, lifting his dead hand and, placing the gun in it, fired off the second shot, into the air, ensuring Duggan would have gunshot residue on his skin. He realized he had misjudged the youth, the eagerness and efficiency with which he had killed Hugh Duggan, the skill with which he had made himself appear innocuous all through their journey.

‘Jesus,’ Karen said, beginning to weep. Tony moved across to her and put his arms around her, felt the wracking of her sobs, joining with his own quieter tears.

‘Well, that’s Hugh, God rest him,’ Mullan said, turning to Karen and Tony. ‘Now, what do we do with you two?’

Chapter Fifty-Five

Chapter Fifty-Five

‘You two are going to need to keep your mouths shut,’ Duggan said.

He was sitting behind them, leaning forward so his arms rested on the backs of their seats. Tony suspected he had chosen the seat so that he could keep an eye on them both.

‘We’re not going to say anything,’ Tony said.

‘We’re all in this together,’ Duggan said. ‘You know that. If they find Martin, we’ll all be implicated.’

‘We’re not going to say anything,’ Karen repeated, flatly.

As the drive went on and the woods retreated further and further away from then, Duggan seemed to resign himself to what they had done. ‘At least we know who we can trust, eh?’

His question elicited no enthusiasm from either Tony or Karen.

‘For our next target,’ he explained.

‘Our next target?’ Tony asked, incredulous that Duggan could be thinking of such a thing after what they had just done.

‘There’s always a next target,’ Duggan said. ‘And we’re a team.’

‘What about what they did to us? In the bar?’ Karen asked. ‘That hardly felt like being part of the team.’

Duggan shrugged. ‘These things happen. We all have to make sacrifices. And what we did tonight will make a difference.’

He sat, his chin resting on his arms, waiting for a response, but got none. After a moment he straightened and laid a hand on each of their shoulders in front of him.