The masked group stood at opposite ends of the yard, their black outfits allowing them to blend in with the dark night. The still and silence of the place around them meant that Kev could hear absolutely every breath, every heart beat as though the sound was coming through a speaker.
‘Donnie Black’s security are usually on the door twenty-four seven,’ Cammy said. ‘But even fuckers like big Chud need to piss.’
Kev nodded. ‘You’re sure we’ve got enough time to get this done?’
‘Aye,’ Cammy said. ‘Mackie and Thomson are already set. Mackie would rather set fire to a chair with Donnie on it, mind you, but we can’t have it all, can we?’
Kev smiled. This was nothing in comparison to what Kev and the rest of them had planned for Donnie and Steff. In particular, Kev wanted to see Donnie suffer for what he’d put him through. His promise to Darcie sat in the back of his mind. If she knew what he was about to do, she might well leave. He’d have to make sure she didn’t find out.
‘They’re bad bastards, Kev,’ Cammy said.
‘I know.’
‘Naw, I mean bad, bad bastards.’
‘Like the McAdams?’ Kev asked, remembering the stories about Barry, Marcus and Tommy McAdam. The city was run by them at one point, and everyone knew what they were up to but were too scared to say anything against them.
‘Aye. But worse. I mean, cross country shit. You know what happened to the McAdams’s, don’t you? Nothing short of fucking genius if you ask me. This city cannae afford another firm like them. That’s why we need to sort Donnie Black out. Obviously he needs paying back for setting you up, that’s a given. But with the rest of his shit, he’s only just getting started and rumour has it he’s responsible for that young lassie going missing, and fuck knows how many more. Folk are saying she’s in Europe now, being sold as a sex slave. It’s fucking disgusting.’
Kev’s stomach churned at the thought. ‘If I’d known any of this, I wouldn’t have done any of those jobs for him at all.’
‘None of us would, Kev. That’s why we need to show him that he can’t get away with what he’s done, or what he wants to do. And nobody shoots a Barrhouse boy and lives to tell the fucking tale.’
Before Kev could respond, he saw Mackie raise a hand, and Thomson threw his bottle across the gate into the yard.
There was a loud pop, then an explosion before the boys bolted from the scene and took their spot in the trees to watch Donnie’s yard burn to the ground.
‘Let’s hope the bastard is in there and he’s burning to death,’ Mackie said, an evil smile on his face.
This was just the start. A warning to him and to Steff that the city wasn’t theirs for the taking.