Now fully composed, Maggie took charge. ‘We’ll use vodka to sterilise the wound, then we’ll pull the bullet out.’ Maggie looked for Dante who was stood on a chair, cutting down the makeshift dummy Alex had hung from the bar. ‘What are you doing Dante?’ she snapped. ‘For Christ’s sake, help us.’

‘I am,’ he replied. ‘The lights are on and there is the shape of someone hanging and swinging around the bar. I’m cutting it down so the neighbours won’t see it. We need antibiotics after this to clean any infection, and painkillers. Lots of really strong painkillers. Any ideas?’

A thought crossed Deana’s mind. Antibiotics and painkillers? Luke! If anyone could get their hands on some prescription medication quickly, it would be him. Recalling where he lived, she felt it was worth a try. ‘I might be able to help there, but I’ve got to go to the other side of town.’ She averted her eyes from both of them, knowing they would be looking at each other questioningly about where she could get such items. But if she could help, what did it matter now?

Once they had moved Alex into a better position, Maggie and Deana could see the head of the bullet protruding through his chest more clearly.

‘Thank God it was his right side, Mum. That could have gone through the heart if it had been the other side.’

‘It could have gone through his head, but it didn’t. I need to try and get these pliers around the bullet. It’s so slippery with all that blood,’ Maggie sighed.

Dante walked forward and while adjusting his glasses, put some vodka on the pliers to clean them and then a piece of bandage on the top to give Maggie a better grip. Maggie nodded her head and pulled with all her might, but nothing happened. ‘It’s not shifting Dante.’

They could see the sweat pouring down Maggie’s face as she twisted and tried loosening the bullet from Alex’s chest. With all her might she heaved and suddenly the bullet popped out, causing Maggie to fall backwards off her haunches. Blood poured from the wound and Maggie was panting for breath as Deana and Dante knelt beside Alex and tried to stop the flow.

‘We need to get this place cleaned up before opening time. But what are we going to do with these dead bodies?’ Maggie asked when the blood flow was staunched. She ran her bloody hands through her bedraggled hair.

‘I’ve got an idea,’ Dante said. ‘We do what they do in all of the good gangster movies and put them in the freezer until we can dispose of them.’ He grinned. ‘And we, Deana, have three massive walk-in freezers. I suggest we wrap them up in cling film, and put them under the bottom shelves. If need be, we take out the plug and tell Chef the freezer is broken. That will stop him from entering. We can replace any food we lose by using some of that money Dad said he had stashed away. And as far as the blood is concerned, we have an industrial carpet washer. It might not clear it all up but this is a pub and the carpet is already full of beer and food stains. It’s going to take a lot of hard work, but with the three of us we can manage.’

Frowning, Deana looked him squarely in the face. ‘For fuck’s sake Dante, you’re scary. For a fucking wimp, you’re a genius. Let’s get Dad upstairs and then get the cling film out for these two.’ For the first time that night, she laughed.

Maggie stood up and looked around the bar properly for the first time. Everywhere seemed to be covered in blood. Alex’s chest was rising and falling, but he still wasn’t conscious. ‘Dante’s right. Let’s get rid of these two bodies and if you know where to get a prescription, I suggest you go. The sooner the better, Deana.’ Picking up a bar towel, Maggie mopped her sweaty face.

Deana looked at Maggie, her brows furrowed with worry. ‘Do you think he’ll be okay Mum?’

‘I don’t know, but we’ve done our best. We just have to clean up and cope with the fallout now. Your dad’s well out of it. Come on, let’s get this place sorted.’

22 DANGEROUS GROUND

Deana remembered where Luke lived and the location of the house, but in the early-morning daylight, they all looked the same. Sighing, she looked around for inspiration. She knew the house was one of three, so she decided to use her initiative and knocked on the first one. The landing light went on and a woman popped her head out of the bedroom window. ‘What do you want?’

Standing back on the path, Deana smiled up at the window. ‘Sorry to bother you, but a young man called Luke called us. I’m a district nurse.’ She grinned. ‘I thought it was this house. Did you call a district nurse?’ she asked politely.

‘No, two doors down. Number twelve.’ The woman thumbed in the direction of the house. ‘Is his mum ill?’ the woman asked, sticking her head out of the window further.

‘Just need to do some bloods. Nothing serious,’ Deana lied, not knowing what else to say. Why else would a district nurse be going that early in the morning? It had been the first thing that popped into her head. ‘Thank you, sorry to wake you!’ Wanting to end the conversation quickly, Deana waved and walked out of the gate, knowing full well that the woman from the window was still watching her.

Once she had knocked on the door of number twelve, she waited, but there was no response. In desperation she opened the letter box and shouted Luke’s name and then cast a glance to see if the woman at the bedroom window was still watching her. Fortunately, Deana could see the window was shut. Suddenly it sounded like a herd of elephants were stomping down the staircase and then the door swung open. Standing in his boxer shorts and T-shirt, Luke rubbed his face. ‘What’s with all the bloody shouting? My mum’s asleep.’ Then, through his half-dazed state, he saw Deana.

‘Diana, it’s you. What’s up?’ He yawned.

‘Deana, you prick. And you can call me Nurse Deana.’ Deana cast her eyes to the woman’s house she had just come from.

Taking her lead, Luke opened the door and let Deana in. ‘Oh nurse, thanks for coming so quickly, I really appreciate it,’ he said in a loud voice.

Rubbing her hands together from the cold, she followed Luke into the kitchen and welcomed the heat to warm her. ‘Blimey, it’s hot in here.’

‘Mum feels the cold,’ Luke said. It wasn’t a lie, but he didn’t mention the other reason for it being so warm: they were sat on top of a basement full of cannabis plants and heaters.

‘It’s my dad. I need some antibiotics,’ Deana blurted out.

Puzzled, Luke looked at her suspiciously. ‘I’m just going to check on Mum upstairs and then you can tell me everything, Nurse Deana,’ he emphasised. ‘Like why you haven’t called a doctor for your dad for a start.’

Blushing slightly, Deana nodded and rubbed her hands together again.

Once Luke disappeared, she decided to make herself useful and put the kettle on. She needed a hot drink herself. Looking around the gaily coloured kitchen, Deana couldn’t help but notice how clean and tidy it was with everything in its place. The only odd thing she noticed when searching for a mug, was that there weren’t any. There were only little flowery china teacups and saucers, already prepared on a tray with a matching tea pot.

Rushing back into the kitchen, Luke startled her by saying, ‘You need to come up when I take Mum her tea Deana. Your shouting has worried her, and she’s a little agitated this morning.’

‘Of course. Sorry,’ she apologised. ‘The kettle has boiled; shall I be mother?’ She smiled, not knowing what else to say.

‘No, I will, but you can put some bread in the toaster if you want?’ Luke blushed awkwardly.

Looking at him from under her lashes, Deana saw a very different Luke to the man she’d met at Percy’s. Although just out of bed and unshaven, he looked a lot different to how he had seemed on their first meeting. His hair was a chestnut brown when not smeared in blood, and matched his warm brown eyes, which seemed to have a mischievous glint in them. He was quite tall, but not beefy or muscley. Attractive though, she thought to herself as she buttered the toast.

Following Luke’s lead, Deana went upstairs and into his mum’s bedroom. She waited while Luke set the tray near a comfy floral chair, which his mum was already sitting in.

‘This is my girlfriend, Deana, I was telling you about,’ said Luke as he poured the tea. Puzzled, Deana shot him a glance. Seeing Luke nod his head, she reached out her hand to shake Luke’s mum’s. ‘Nice to meet you. I’m sorry I woke you.’

‘Kneel beside me Deana, I don’t feel like standing.’ She did as she was told and the woman raised her hands and stroked them around Deana’s face. ‘You are pretty Deana, and you have such a pretty name. But you seem flushed and worried. What’s wrong?’

Blushing under the old woman’s touch, Deana smiled. ‘I’ve been running. I thought Luke would be up by now. And I am a little worried, because I’ve woken you up. Sorry.’

‘Tell me about yourself. Luke hasn’t said much, but men don’t, do they?’

Nervously, Deana looked up at Luke, who was busy passing his mum her small tray and placing it on her knee. Awkwardly, he blushed and frowned at Deana, urging her to speak.

Once Deana started speaking, she couldn’t stop. She told her that her parents ran a pub, that she was at college, and that she had a brother. The old lady sipped her tea while she listened and commented in some parts. ‘Well, that really has been a nice breakfast chat, Deana. You will come again, won’t you? Although I feel I’ve kept you for far too long. I’m feeling a little tired now, Luke.’

‘Come on Deana. We’ll talk downstairs.’

A smile crossed the old woman’s face as she patted Deana’s hand. ‘Off you go dear, I’m sure you have things to talk about.’

Deana followed Luke downstairs and waited until he shut the kitchen door behind them. ‘So, what’s going on with your dad?’

Not sure where to start or how much to say, Deana decided to blurt out a shortened version of the truth. ‘Dad’s been shot. We’ve cleaned the wound and taken the bullet out, but he’ll need antibiotics. We don’t want to involve a doctor, because we don’t want to involve the police. I wondered if you could get any for us… for him…’ Deana trailed off and looked down at the table as Luke placed her cup and saucer in front of her and sat down.

‘Shot? Christ, Deana, your family don’t do things by halves. I thought my life was fucked up.’ Luke’s eyes widened and he let out a low whistle. ‘I already knew there was more to your dad than met the eye, so I’m not that surprised. And yeah,’ he sighed, ‘I can get you the antibiotics, but not until at least lunchtime.’ Luke’s brows furrowed. ‘Why didn’t you just use your dad’s mobile to contact me? He uses it now and again if he needs to get in touch with me.’ Seeing the confused look on her face, Luke grimaced and put his head in his hands. ‘Oh Christ, you didn’t know about it, did you? Me and my big mouth. You can’t tell him I told you.’

‘I won’t. But I wish he’d told me. It would have saved me one hell of a journey and you a lot of embarrassment with me turning up. Anyway, are you sure you can’t get some quicker than lunchtime? I really need the meds now,’ she pleaded.

‘Actually…’ Luke said. ‘Mum had a chest infection a few weeks ago, and got given some antibiotics, but they didn’t agree with her, and they prescribed some different ones. The others will still be upstairs. I can give you those to start off with. As for painkillers, I can give you some of Mum’s morphine patches. The doctor always gives her more if needed, because they don’t always stick on too well.’

Taking a sigh of relief, Deana smiled. ‘Thank you Luke, I really appreciate you putting yourself on the line like this.’

‘You put yourself on the line for me once Deana. It’s payback time.’ He grinned. Looking down at himself, he realised he still wasn’t dressed. In all of the dashing about it had never dawned on him. Now, suddenly, he felt shy. ‘I’d better get dressed and sorted. Let me get those meds for you.’ Standing up, Luke reached for his wallet on the kitchen worktop. ‘And here’s thirty pounds. It should be enough for you to get a taxi home.’

Surprised, Deana looked at the money. ‘I can’t do that, Luke. I’ll get the bus, but thank you.’