Donnie’s mind swirled with the news that Demi had been found. Cammy was still stood next to him with the pliers in his hands; pain interrupted his ability to think at all. He knew his time was up, that was for sure.
Somewhere behind him, he heard Susie screaming, crying and cursing him, along with thanking god that Demi was all right. Louise moved out of his line of sight but Cammy remained.
Cammy lurched forward and rummaged through Donnie’s pockets. He pulled two mobile phones out and stared at them in his hands. ‘Two phones? It doesn’t take a genius to work out why you have two. One for your fucked up trafficking venture. You’re a dirty fucking pervert, Donnie. Demi’s barely a fucking adult! You groomed her then threw her at a pack of European wolves. If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s people like you. You deserve everything that’s fucking coming to you.’ Cammy’s words hissed through his teeth.
Donnie couldn’t speak, could only shake his head in an attempt to deny everything, although he knew it would do him no good. He felt weak, like life was draining from him slowly. He knew he had to defend himself, to protect the truth of what was going on. Demi, Louise, it all ran so much bigger than them. But all he could think about was the burning pain in his hands.
‘Scum!’ Susie screamed. ‘You’re fucking scum. How could you do that to a young girl? Last year in the eyes of the law she was just a child.’
Donnie closed his eyes, took as deep a breath as he could. He thought about Demi, about Louise. About the rest of them that no one seemed to know about. There were half a dozen or so dotted around the world. If they knew about those girls, he’d be long dead by now.
‘If you’re going to kill me, just get it over with,’ Donnie muttered. He tried to sound as though he didn’t care. Of course he did. He didn’t want to die. Not like this.
‘Not yet.’ Layla’s voice spoke above him. ‘I need to ask him some questions.’
A hot slap across the face jolted him, and he opened his eyes. His wife in front of him.
‘How long have you been doing this? Trafficking young girls? There has to be more than just two. How many?’
Donnie shook his head. ‘They’ve got it all wrong.’
Another slap, harder this time. ‘You think these lads are bad? They’re nothing on me, Donnie. I’ll take those fucking pliers and cut your balls off unless you tell me what I want to know.’
He believed her. He’d been with Layla for so long now that she’d become just a little bit like him. Ruthless when she needed to be.
‘How long?’
Donnie said nothing and gritted his teeth as another surge of pain coursed through him.
A third slap, so hard this time that she almost knocked him over onto the floor. ‘Don’t you dare ignore me, Donnie. You’re sitting here, bleeding to death, with almost half your fingers missing. For once in your fucking existence would you just tell the truth.’
He wanted to open his eyes, to look into the depths of Layla’s soul and silently beg her to get him out of this situation. But he felt so weak, yet in so much pain that he couldn’t do it. Donnie simply shook his head once more and said, ‘This has nothing to do with me.’
‘You’re a lying cunt, Donnie. You were never who I thought you were. I should never have married you. I should never have gone anywhere near you or Steff. You’ve both ruined my life, and fuck knows who elses.’
His breath was laboured and he sensed Layla getting to her feet. He wanted to tell her to wait, but the words seemed to jumble inside his head.
A solid blow to the back of the head knocked him forward. He didn’t know where or who it’d come from. Just before he hit the floor, a switch went off in his head. A loud ringing began sounding inside his ears, a sensation like warm trickling water could be felt in both ears.
Then there was nothing.