Colin had no choice, he had to tell it like it was. Jonny was not going to make it easy for him, but it was too late to back out now.
‘Rob and Dicky have taken a few blokes, and they are on their way over to Patrick Costello’s house where, incidentally, he is having a big fucking party to celebrate his wedding anniversary. Rob and Dicky seem to think that they can easily gain entry into Patrick’s home, and then they plan to take out the Costello family en masse. I assume they didn’t discuss any of this with you, because you would have told them that they were on a death wish. It’s fucking lunacy, Jonny. But you know young Rob – he’s got a serious fucking hard on for Michael Flynn, and Dicky has always wanted to pay back Declan Costello for past misdemeanours.’
Jonny Barber was unsure if he was actually awake. This could only be some kind of nightmare brought on by narcotics or some kind of serious illness. No one in their right mind would think – even for a moment – that they could take out the Costello brothers. And certainly not in their own fucking home, for fuck’s sake! It was so blatantly outrageous a claim, yet so like something Dicky was capable of, he knew that it could only be the truth.
He understood that Colin Dawes was only trying to help, was doing him what he felt was a favour – being loyal and decent even. But he wished Colin Dawes had kept his big fucking trap shut.
Jonny wasn’t sure if he was willing to get involved. He would rather have been able to say, in complete honesty, that he had known nothing about any of this, and that it was as big a surprise to him as it was to everyone else. Thanks to this cunt, he couldn’t do that now.
There was no way in hell that his brothers would be able to walk away from this. It was never going to happen. The fucking Flying Squad would be hard pushed to infiltrate Patrick Costello’s house, even with a warrant and a tag team from the SAS. Patrick Costello had always made sure he was well protected from any outside aggravation. He was a man who was always two steps ahead and who, therefore, had put in place security that might be needed should any threat arise.
Jonny felt faint suddenly. His head seemed to be filling up with hot air, he couldn’t breathe properly. He felt himself choking; his mouth was so dry, he had no spit left. He had only the sticky dryness that came from extreme fear. His chest felt tight, as if a steel band was squeezing all his breath out of him. His heart was beating so loudly in his ears it was drowning out everything else. He knew that he was on the verge of collapsing. For the first time in his whole life he was experiencing acute terror on a grand scale, and it was coupled with the knowledge that there was nothing he could do about any of it.
He was clutching his chest, but he was dismayed because he wasn’t having the heart attack he so dearly craved. He was aware that he was already thinking clearly again, and that his natural instinct for self-preservation was kicking in. Even as he realised that, he felt guilty because he knew that he should be at least trying to do something to help his brothers out. But they had already made their beds. They had not seen fit to tell him what they had planned, so he could do nothing for them now. They had undertaken this madness alone – and they would have to take the consequences alone.
He had been left out of the loop because they had both known he would have forbidden it. So fuck them for the treacherous bastards they were! He could only look out for himself now, guard his own interests, and try to salvage what he could from what was, in reality, a situation that was fucking unprecedented in the world they inhabited. He would have to make damn sure that the Costellos and that ponce Flynn were given every assurance that he personally had no knowledge whatsoever of his brothers’ suicidal mission. It was about self-preservation. His brothers were as good as dead already; he had no option but to try and save his own arse if it was in any way possible. But he didn’t really hold out much hope.
‘How about a drink, Colin? And then you can tell me everything you know, eh?’
Colin Dawes was thrilled by the invitation, unaware that he was actually being kept there as Jonny Barber’s alibi for the evening and that he was putting his own life in danger if it all went pear-shaped.
Chapter Twenty