‘Ollie’s dead and now my mum’s gonna die. I need to be with Regan. They’ll have to let him come home now, won’t they?’ Calum gabbled, clinging on to Michael. He’d always been closer to his younger brother than he had to Oliver, but he’d still loved him a lot. Now he didn’t have an older brother any more. A disfigured corpse was all that was left of Ollie.
‘The professionals are working on your mum now. Fingers crossed, she’s gonna be OK, boy. Let’s both say a prayer for her, eh?’
‘Nah. God’s a fucking wanker. I don’t believe in him anyway.’
‘Dad! Nan, there’s Dad,’ Ava shrieked, the relief in her voice clear to hear.
Shocked at the horrific sight that greeted his eyes, Vinny scanned the room for his mum and dashed towards her, throwing his arms around her, then Ava. ‘Thank God you’re both all right. Where’s Little Vinny, and Michael? Is all the family OK?’
‘Little Vinny and Michael are, but Oliver and Sammi-Lou both got shot. He’s gone, boy. Ollie’s dead,’ Queenie sobbed. It was only recently her great-grandson had visited her in her new home. Laughing and joking, he’d been, telling her all about his college course. She couldn’t believe she’d never see him again. His life had been wiped out in front of her very eyes, in an instant.
Vinny looked at his mother as though she had lost the plot. ‘Ollie? Where is he? He can’t be dead.’
The gaff was now swarming with police and paramedics. Tears rolled down Queenie’s cheeks as she pointed towards where Oliver lay. The once-clean carpet was soaked in blood and gore. And most of the blood was her great-grandson’s.
Vinny ran over to the lifeless body of his first-born grandchild. ‘Move out the fucking way,’ he demanded.
A police officer grabbed hold of Vinny’s arm. ‘You can’t go near the victims, sir. We’re doing everything we can, as are the paramedics.’
Vinny pushed the copper out of his way. ‘I wanna see my grandson. I’ve got every right to.’
Another police officer stepped in. ‘I’m so sorry, but your grandson is a fatality. Now, can we clear this area? Move everybody outside. This is a crime scene,’ he yelled at his colleague.
Stunned, Vinny couldn’t move. He could remember holding Oliver in his arms as a baby for the very first time, and had felt great pride in watching him grow into a charming young man. The lad had his whole life ahead of him, how could it be wiped out in a split second?
Vinny was jolted back to reality by Eddie Mitchell’s voice. ‘Stuart’s in a proper bad way. Been shot in the gut and shoulder. I’m going in the ambulance with him. He’s unconscious.’
‘Jesus wept! I hope he’s gonna be all right. They reckon Oliver’s dead. He can’t be, surely? We only went to the pub. Who would pull a stunt like this at a wake? And why?’ Vinny mumbled. The carnage around him was dreadful, and he just couldn’t take it all in at present. How the hell was his son going to cope if Oliver was dead? That boy had always been the apple of Little Vinny’s eye. As for Sammi-Lou, she’d been the making of his son. No way would he be able to carry on without her.
Looking around for Little Vinny, Vinny heard the blood-curling scream come from his mouth before he saw him:
‘You can’t die, Sammi-Lou. Me and the boys love you. We need you. Wake up, sweetheart. Please, I beg you. Wake up …’
Eddie Mitchell paced up and down the hospital corridor. Stuart was currently undergoing a life-saving operation and the doctors had already warned Eddie that his chances of pulling through were no higher than fifty–fifty.
‘I’ll go and get us some coffees. Anyone hungry?’ Raymond asked. Not many men would still be pals and employed by a bloke who’d ended their sister’s life, but Raymond had been employed by Ed since he was a teenager and wasn’t a man to hold unnecessary grudges. Eddie Mitchell was a good person, Jessica had idolized him. What had happened was no more than an accident, a horrific case of mistaken identity.
Gary Mitchell, Ed’s eldest son, shook his head. He and Raymond had been out collecting a few debts when they’d heard through the grapevine about the shooting. News travelled fast amongst the underworld and as relieved as Gary was to learn his dad was unscathed, he was gutted that Stuart had copped it. Stu was a good bloke and since he’d taken up with Frankie, he’d well and truly become one of the family.
When Raymond walked away, Eddie plonked himself on his chair. ‘I’m such a cunt when that Scotch gets in my veins, ya know. Stu wanted to leave the wake, but I weren’t having none of it. Spoke to him like a piece of shit, I did. If only I’d listened to him. Poor bastard’s fighting for his life now because of me.’
‘Don’t beat yourself up, Dad – you weren’t the one who went loopy with a poxy gun. Any idea who’s responsible? Gotta be somebody who’s got it in for Vinny, surely?’
‘I heard a murmur as I left that they were Turks. Someone said they shouted out Ahmed’s name.’
‘Ahmed who?’
‘Ahmed Zane – you must remember him. Used to be Vinny’s business partner, and pal. Slimy shitbag, he was. I never liked him. Well, he wronged Vinny, him and his cousin Burak, so Vinny made them vanish. Years ago now, though. Why wait all this time for revenge?’
Gary sighed. ‘It’ll all come out in the wash, I dare say. I bet you wish you’d never got involved with Vinny bloody Butler now?’
Eddie shrugged. ‘Even if it’s true that it was revenge for Ahmed, it ain’t exactly Vinny’s fault. Ahmed had it coming to him and disappeared years ago. Whoever is responsible must be the same sickos who sent us the rats and snake.’
‘What rats and snake?’ Gary asked.
Eddie explained about the unwanted gifts that had turned up at the casino.
‘Why didn’t you mention that before?’
‘Didn’t seem important. I thought it was something to do with the pikeys, if I’m honest. Something Harry said pointed towards those bastards.’
‘Stu better pull through, Dad. Frankie’ll go to pieces without him by her side. No way will she be able to manage the devil’s spawn on her own.’
About to reply, Eddie was stopped from doing so by the appearance of a stony-faced doctor. ‘I’m so sorry, Mr Mitchell. We really did do everything we could, but Mr Howells’s injuries were far worse than we could have imagined. The bullet was lodged only a centimetre from the heart and as we tried to dislodge it, he went into cardiac arrest.’
‘He’s dead?’ Eddie mumbled stupidly.
The doctor nodded.
Little Vinny Butler felt like his whole world had collapsed, and it had. He’d been sick and couldn’t stop shaking, and as an image of Molly flashed through his mind once again, he shut his eyes and rocked to and fro. He could see his little sister clearly, she was smiling at him, laughing almost, and he knew without a doubt this was retribution for his past sins. To lose a much-loved child was an excruciating feeling, and Little Vinny now knew how his dad must’ve felt when Molly died.
‘I think the doctor needs to sedate him, love. He looks grey and can’t stop trembling, bless him,’ Queenie muttered in Vinny’s ear. They were currently in Newham General Hospital. Against all odds, Sammi-Lou had been resuscitated after her heart had stopped. However, the doctors weren’t overly hopeful of a full recovery, as her heart had stopped for a good few minutes.
‘I wanna go home. I need to phone Regan,’ Calum spat. His tears had turned to anger, and he hated the world.
‘I’ll ring Regan’s social worker in the morning. Once the authorities know what’s happened, they should allow him home,’ Vinny replied, rather coldly. He had never particularly been a granddad type.