Money doesn't buy silence.

James recalled his fathers' epitaph as he grabbed a shovel from the boot. Surrounded on all sides by snow, Will's red work van looked like a flare. In such pristine snow, it wouldn't take a pair of binoculaurs to see it from miles away.//

"Worrying about the van again?" Asked Will as he slammed the back doors shut.

"I just think you could've picked something a bit more discrete."

"It doesn't matter, we're here now," he responded, making it clear that there would be no further discussion. Will looked around, gathering his bearings. After a few short seconds, he began trudging through the snow.

Before long, the pair arrived in a clearing. petrified trees guarded them from the trespasses of the rising sun, giving the duo an extra hour of darkness to work with. James planted his shovel into a patch of soft snow, trying to gauge how thick it was.

"Looks deep enough to me," Affirmed Will.

Other than instructions, the two of them exchanged few words. By the time the hole was deep enough, the sun had crept to its zenith, banishing the stars to the realm of darkness. Now, only the shadows of looming trees protected them from unwanted eyes. James could feel his nerves intensifying. They weren't as far from the motorway as he would've liked; the sound of engines rushed past faintly in the distance, waning and waxing.

"Right, Lets go get the bod--" Cold steel buried itself into James' face. Will held a revolver tightly in his hand, his aim unwavering.

"Turn around James," he commanded, finger pressed against the trigger.

"Will?" questioned James, his voice as brittle as the ice he kneeled in.

"Turn around."

Only the howling wind pierced the silence between them. James complied. A faint noise gnawed at his mind. The cars? No, his heartbeat. It very suddenly dawned on him that no one would find his body. He had to do something.

"Please Will. They threatened Sarah!" He pleaded.

"You set us up." Will remained stoic.

"I didn't have a choice! You would've done the same!" Tears began to descend down James' cheeks, forming a pool in the shallow grave.

"That's not how this life works, James. You know that. You knew that when Tommy got found out. You knew that when your dad died. You knew that when you set up the bank job," Emotion began to creep into Will's voice, though he couldn't quite place it.

James took one last deep breath. the air was cold and harsh, drifting away from his mouth on the wind.

"There's no use..." He mumbled to himself, "Go on then."

Will remembered his father's words. He finished off the sentence in his head as Will depressed the trigger. Money doesn't buy silence, but death does.