Free East End Trouble by Dani Oakley, D.S. Butler Page B

Clara walked out from the bar, Bernie turned her attention back to the customers. Old Bob waved at her from the other end of the bar and shouted out he was dying of thirst.
    “I’ll be with you in a minute,” Bernie said.
    Bernie was bending over behind the bar, mopping up the mess, when she heard the first gunshot.

Chapter 16
    C harlie Williams was sweating . He was absolutely furious. He’d known deep down in his gut that Gary Carter couldn’t be trusted.
    Dave had specifically told them that they were not to use violence tonight. But Gary obviously thought he knew better. As soon as they had burst through the doors, Gary held his gun in the air, laughed like a madman and started firing at the ceiling.
    The lights went out immediately, and the pub was full of shouting and screaming and people trying to run for safety.
    It was chaos.
    The Old Bill would be here in no time. It was a right royal cock-up.
    Charlie looked around, desperately trying to make sense of what was going on. His ears were ringing from the gunshots, and it was so difficult to see in the dark. He tried to make his way towards the bar but tripped on an overturned table and went flying.
    As he scrambled to his feet, the only person he could make out clearly was Gary Carter, who was standing a few feet away grinning like a madman. Charlie would have liked to smack the smirk off his face. Gary might be Dave Carter’s brother, but the man was an idiot.
    Charlie was so distracted by Gary and the punters running around that he didn’t even see the other men burst into the bar until it was too late.
    In a split second, Charlie noticed the smile dropped from Gary’s face.
    Gary held up his gun in front of him and tried to fire again, but nothing happened. The stupid bastard had used up all his bullets shooting out the lights.
    Charlie raised his gun, but he couldn’t fire. He couldn’t see who was who and the last thing he wanted was to shoot some poor bugger who had nothing to do with the Morton and Carter feud.
    All of a sudden, Charlie was tackled from behind, and he went tumbling over. He hit his head hard on a wooden chair leg. His gun went flying and came to a stop underneath a table a few feet away.
    Charlie shuffled forward on his hands and knees and tried to dive for the gun. But he was too late.
    He heard the crack of another gunshot and felt a searing pain shoot up his leg.
    It was pandemonium in the bar now. People were screaming and jumping over him. One person actually trod on his back in their panic to get away.
    Charlie turned his head and saw Gary. This time, he was by the door. Charlie reached out to him and shouted, “Help me. I’ve been shot.”
    Gary looked down at him. He blinked and hesitated for a moment and then he legged it out of the door, leaving Charlie sprawled out on the floor.
    Charlie knew he was on his own now. He had no idea where Brian had gone, but he had likely followed Gary’s example and done a runner. Charlie put a shaking hand on his thigh, and when he lifted it up, he moaned in terror. Even in the dark, he could see that his fingers were covered with blood.
    His head swam, and he knew it wouldn’t be long before he passed out. All of a sudden, he saw Red-haired Freddie looming over him, his face only inches from Charlie’s.
    A single thought worked its way through Charlie’s jumbled mind – how had they known?
    Charlie heard a voice above him. “Did you see Gary Carter? The big girl’s blouse scarpered. Haha, the big brave Gary Carter, don’t make me laugh.”
----
    W hen Charlie regained consciousness , it was still dark, and it took him a minute to realise he was outside. The night was cold, and he shivered convulsively. He was lying on something, but he couldn’t quite work out what it is. It smelled terrible, though. Like rotting fish.
    The bastards had dumped him and left him here to bleed out in a deserted alleyway.
    It took all the effort he could muster to push himself up into a sitting