Everyone on the floor!’ Kevin Patterson’s mouth opened but no sound came from his lips. As the tall man brandishing a sawn-off shotgun came rushing towards him, customers and bank staff threw themselves onto the ground in sudden panic. A second man was standing in the middle of the room, his weapon describing an arc of menace over bodies lying stiff with terror. ‘You! Put your hands up where I can see them. No funny business,’ the gunman added in a hoarse voice. Kevin stared at the figure and felt his hands begin to tremble. Was it so obvious that his fingers had been drawn towards the panic button on his desk? The man came closer, watching the teller, his blue eyes like chips of coloured glass behind the black balaclava. Kevin froze. Even as he stared back he knew these eyes would be the stuff of nightmares for months to come. ‘You. Get me the money. All of it.’ The man jabbed Kevin with the tip of the gun, making him whimper. ‘Now!’ The shout came like a bullet from the open mouth, causing one of the women on the floor to cry out in alarm.
