had been devastated and the future had looked truly bleak. But as one door closed another one had opened. He’d been approached by Roy Slack’s people and invited to join the biggest and most ruthless firm in the capital.
He’d then met Amy in one of Slack’s West End clubs. After only five dates he realised that he loved her and on the seventh date she’d announced that she was pregnant.
She’d thought he’d be angry and disappointed, but he couldn’t have been happier. At twenty-six he was ready to be a father and was determined to make a good job of it.
He’d been telling himself that he would always be there for his son or daughter, and he’d try to give them a better start in life than the one he’d had.
But was that going to be possible given what he now knew?
It was one of the many questions that were piling up inside his head as he stood on the bridge and fought against the panic that was threatening to overwhelm him.
He felt a little better by the time he got home. The walk had flushed most of the alcohol through his system and his head had stopped spinning.
It was just after 1am when he let himself in through the front door of their terraced house, within walking distance of the Imperial War Museum.
He’d been renting it for two years and the location was perfect. But now they’d have to move. After what he’d learned tonight there was no way that he and Amy could stay here. It just wouldn’t be safe.
‘Is that you, babe?’ Amy called out.
‘It is,’ he replied, closing the door behind him. ‘I’ll be straight up.’
He took off his coat and went into the kitchen to pour himself a glass of water. He spotted two new glossy wedding magazines on the table where Amy had left them. The date had been set for January fourth, three months from now, but the details still had to be worked out.
He wanted a cheap and cheerful affair in a register office and a few drinks in the pub afterwards. But Amy had her heart set on something more elaborate, and so they were looking at a hotel do with a combined ceremony and reception for up to eighty people.
As Terry fingered the edge of one of the magazines more questions popped into his head.
Would their wedding plans have to be put on hold? Would Amy still want to marry him after he told her what Roy Slack had said? Was it fair not to break the news to her straight away?
‘What’s keeping you, babe?’
Her voice wrenched him out of himself and he hurriedly filled a glass with tap water. Then he took a long, deep breath, switched off the kitchen light and climbed the stairs.
Amy was sitting up against her pillows, her swollen breasts resting on the duvet, her long dark hair cascading over her shoulders.
She was the same age as him but looked at least five years younger. Her pale skin was flawless and her eyes were an electrifying blue.
He forced a smile and crossed the room to plant a kiss on her lips. As always he felt a rush of affection for her. She was the first woman he had ever loved and he couldn’t imagine ever being without her.
Since meeting her he had changed for the better. He’d mellowed and matured. He no longer kept trying to live up to his fearsome reputation as a short-tempered thug. Those days were behind him and he was glad of it.
He still sorted people out when ordered to do so but he no longer threw his weight around or started unnecessary fights just for the fun of it.
‘You look done in, Terry,’ Amy said. ‘Is everything all right?’
‘Sure it is,’ he told her. ‘I’m late because I had a meeting with the boss.’
‘What about?’
‘Oh, just business stuff. But he got me drinking champagne and it’s gone straight to my head.’
She laughed. ‘I have no sympathy. You know that bubbly doesn’t agree with you.’
‘Yeah, well, best to keep the boss sweet.’
He went into the en suite, cleaned his teeth and emptied his bladder. He was anxious not to get drawn into a conversation because he might just blurt out something he’d regret.
‘I need to get some shut eye,’ he said as he climbed into bed. ‘I’ve got another early start in the morning.’
He gave her a cuddle and at the same time reached over to switch off the lamp.
‘Are you sure you’re OK?’ Amy asked him. ‘You don’t seem your usual self.’
‘I’m fine. Honest. Just dead tired.’
‘Only I was hoping that maybe we could get it on. I’ve been so bloody horny all evening.’
Pregnancy had boosted Amy’s libido to the point where it seemed she couldn’t get enough of it, and normally he was only too eager to satisfy her craving. But right now a shag was out of the question. With what was going on inside his head he was sure he wouldn’t even be able to get it up.
‘It’ll have to wait until morning, babe,’ he said. ‘I’m so knackered I know I’ll disappoint you.’
‘Why don’t you let me work my magic then,’ she said as she reached under the duvet.
But she failed to get a rise out of him and he was relieved when she gave up after thirty seconds and rolled over.
It wasn’t long before she started snoring so he didn’t have to pretend to be asleep. He was able to lie there on his back with his eyes wide open, his mind wrestling with a growing anxiety.
He was still awake an hour later when a chilling sound reached him from downstairs – the sound of the front door being smashed in.
He knew instinctively what was happening before the shouting started. It was a police raid and they were sure to be mob-handed.
He heard their boots pounding up the stairs and he felt the floor shudder.
Then the landing light went on and there was another crash as the door to one of the other rooms was rammed open.
‘Armed police,’ a voice called out. ‘Stay where you are.’
But Terry was already on the move, throwing off the duvet and leaping off the bed.
As he fumbled for the lamp switch the bedroom door was flung open and Amy screamed.
Terry, naked and disoriented, spun round so fast that he lost his balance and lurched towards a police officer in full body armour who was standing in the doorway. The officer reacted by discharging two bullets in quick succession from his Glock 17 pistol.
Both shells slammed into Terry’s chest and he was thrown onto the floor.
The last thing he heard was Amy screaming, but he died not knowing that she was in the throes of a painful miscarriage induced
