‘Thank you, God, and thank you, son. Untie me, there’s a knife over there, I need to check they’re both dead,’ Ed croaked, instinct taking over.

Joey’s whole body was trembling as he cut the rope off his father’s arms and legs. He then headed over to where Gary and Raymond were tied up and set them free as well.

Even though he suspected he had a broken leg and arm, Eddie had always had an uncanny knack of being able to rise above pain and still managed to crawl over to where the O’Haras lay. He picked up the gun that Jimmy had been using and slid it across the floor towards Gary. He checked both of their pulses and let out a sigh of relief. ‘They’re goners,’ he shouted, as he crawled over to where Ricky was lying. ‘God bless you, boy,’ he said in a choked-up tone.

Raymond and Joey walked over to where Ed was sitting, and stood over Ricky’s body. ‘Rest in peace, mate,’ Raymond said, wiping away a tear.

Overcome by shock at what he had done, Joey couldn’t speak. He couldn’t even cry.

‘I don’t wanna see him like that, I can’t face it. Cover him over so I can say my goodbyes,’ Gary said with a sob in his voice.

‘Put your jacket over him, Ray. I can’t take mine off ’cause of me arm,’ Eddie ordered.

Desperately trying not to cry himself, Ed took deep breaths as Gary limped over and grasped his brother’s lifeless hand. When he’d left Beverley all those years ago, he knew his boys would be OK because they had such a strong bond between them. Inseparable as children, their closeness had continued into adulthood and Ed knew that Ricky’s death was going to hit Gary harder than anyone else.

‘I love you, Rick. You were the best bruvver that anyone could ever wish for and I’ll look after your Amy for ya, I promise you that,’ Gary wept.

Eddie felt distraught. Seeing Gary’s raw pain was breaking his heart. He knew he had to be cruel to be kind, for all of their sakes. ‘Gal, snap out of it, son. I know you’re devastated, we all are, but we really do need to sort this mess out now. We don’t want Ricky to die in vain, do we? The last thing he’d want was for all of us to get life.’

Gary wiped his eyes with the cuff of his jacket and nodded. His dad was right. Ricky would hate to see them all go down.