R.I.P Robbie Silva by Tony Black Page B

pin-combination pad and a lock. As the guard stood there contemplating the situation, he said, ' You don ' t want to do this. '
    ' Fucking open it or I ' ll put your brain across the tarmac. Don ' t fucking test me on that. '
    Silva revved again; he was in a panic. ' Come on ... get the fucking thing open. '
    I turned to see Silva but my attention was grabbed by Ben. He had the redhead in a head lock and was dragging her to the back of the van. The gun was pointed in the air as he pushed on with his awkward load. ' What the fuck ' s going on up there? ' he yelled out. ' Where ' s the fucking money? '
    He was level with us before I could speak again. The redhead was white with terror, whimpering and crying. When the other guard saw her it was like a bolt of bravery shot through him.
    ' Now, look here, leave the woman alone! ' he said.
    Ben stared at this fat fuck like he was ready to put a bullet in him. I knew things were spiralling out of control. I stepped in, grabbed the guard again. ' You stupid fucking cunt, open this door and get the money on the street or I will put a fucking bullet in your head sure as I fucking stand here. '
    He froze. Looked at the crying, whimpering woman. ' I can ' t do it. '
    I didn ' t believe this was happening. We ' d turned up the one guard in the world who was prepared to duke it out with armed robbers.
    I looked at my watch again: we had hit five minutes. We didn ' t have enough time to unload the van. I turned towards the car. ' Right. Let ' s go! '
    Gail trooped beside me, but Ben stayed.
    ' What the fuck are you doing? ' he yelled.
    ' Get in the fucking car. Now! ' I beckoned him back but he was twitching and jumping like a lunatic. The idea of missing out on his take was high on his mind. I knew there was no chance of him listening to me. I was ready to dump him but as I turned to Silva I knew the chances of him leaving his boy behind were nil.
    ' Get in the fucking car. ' I yelled at him again, but it had no impact. I knew I ' d have to drag him. As I turned tail, headed for Ben, he got even jumpier and started to wave the gun about.
    ' Get back! ' he said.
    ' What? ... Put the fucking gun down. ' I held out my hand to him, but he was gone and I knew it. I kept walking towards him. He sensed I was almost on him when the gun went off.
    The redhead fell in a heap.
    A pool of dark red blood spilled out from beneath her head.
    ' What have you done? ' I said. The words seemed meaningless.
    I felt a rush at my back and saw Silva had got out of the car. He raced towards the scene and took it in. Ben had turned from us all and had the gun on the second guard now.
    ' No, don ' t! ' I said.
    ' Okay. Okay ... I ' ll open it, I ' ll open it, ' said the guard as Ben forced his shooter into the back of his neck.

    * * * *
    How we made it back to the flop, I have no idea.
    When we ditched the Toyota and got into the changeover car there were sirens wailing all over the shop.
    We ' d fucked up, and I knew what that meant but the others had no idea.
    Silva had taken Ben into the back room as soon as we got to the farmhouse. I stayed in the front with Gail. She looked shaken.
    ' You okay? ' I said.
    She didn ' t answer at first, just stared at her fingers, then, ' Did you see all that blood? ... I ' ve never seen blood like that. '
    I put an arm round her shoulder.
    ' He ' s an animal, ' she said.
    I presumed she was talking about her half-brother. ' What do you mean? '
    Gail started to cry. ' How could he do something like that? '
    I grabbed her tighter. All the while I was wondering how long we had before the filth started trawling for us. We were in serious shit now. I wanted to take my share of the money and get moving, but I didn ' t want to leave Gail behind.
    ' Look, things haven ' t turned out right, ' I said.
    ' No kidding. '
    ' We can ' t stay here now, it ' s not safe. I know someone who can help us, he ' s a friend and ... '
    She wasn ' t listening. As the door from the back room was opened