Rival

by Jacqui Rose

  Sadness oozed from her eyes. ‘Thank you, that means a lot,’ Tia said quietly.

  ‘We’ll get it sorted with Wan. God knows how, but we will … and I’m going to kill Harry. Properly kill him. I just need you to know that. I just needed to tell you.’

  Tia stared at him, thoughts rushing through her head. She opened her mouth to say something but she felt the buzz of her phone in her pocket. She pulled it out and stared at it. There was a text from Milly, several texts. She frowned and then remembered that she’d turned her phone off yesterday because of Harry; she hadn’t wanted his constant calls coming through. She was pleased to hear from her daughter because for some reason it seemed like Milly had been ignoring her. Every time she’d called, she’d been ignored and the texts she’d sent hadn’t been replied to, which was not like Milly. As she scrolled through the texts they seemed a bit incoherent. The last couple were even just letters. Just the odd letter.

  ‘Everything all right?’ Vaughn said.

  ‘I don’t know. They’re from Milly. They just seem a bit random, maybe her phone isn’t working.’ She pulled a puzzled face as she dialled Milly’s number, but it went straight to voicemail.

  ‘You worried?’

  Tia shook her head. ‘Not really … well, a bit. I just hope everything’s all right with the baby.’

  ‘Why don’t you go around to see her? I’ll wait here for any news.’

  Tia’s gaze flitted to the door of the ICU and then back to Vaughn. ‘I don’t like to leave Tammy. I need to be here in case she needs me.’

  ‘Well why don’t I go around to see Milly?’

  ‘Vaughn, I don’t think that’s a good idea, do you?’

  ‘I don’t mean to confess I’m her father, I mean to just check on her. I can just say you sent me, that’s all.’

  Tia, not looking convinced, said, ‘I don’t know.’

  He stepped forward, put his hand under her chin, lifted up her head towards him and smiled. ‘What harm can it do? I’m not going to say anything, I promise. And to tell you the truth it’ll be nice to see her. You know, just see what she looks like.’

  ‘She looks like you.’

  Vaughn was surprised and then another smile spread across his face. ‘Poor cow,’ he said, laughing.

  ‘No, she’s beautiful, inside and out. You’ll like her and I’m sure once she gets to know you, she’ll like you as well … Okay, if you would go and see her, just to put my mind at rest that would be great. But if there’s anything wrong with the baby or she’s not feeling great herself, call me and I’ll be there.’

  Vaughn leant down and kissed Tia, closing his eyes as a rush of emotions ran through him. It felt good but more importantly it felt right.

  He pulled away and with a frown he asked, ‘Will you be all right here on your own though? I mean we don’t even know where Harry is and the messages I got from him when I didn’t answer the phone yesterday are fit to kill. He’s not happy with us and at the moment he doesn’t suspect anything and we need to keep it like that. Why don’t I call him, keep him sweet or rather take his bollocking and then play his game until we’re ready to make our move? If I can get him to think that everything’s normal, then we stand a better chance. I just need a bit of time to work things out.’

  ‘Okay, sounds like a plan,’ Tia said, though she pushed the sense of unease down inside her.

  ‘And as for Wan, you say he wants some more coke?’

  ‘Yeah he wants another two kilos, but the problem is, even if it was safe to go to the farmhouse in Jockey Row to get some, it would be pointless because I—’

  ‘Tia?’ Interrupting, a nurse called out to Tia from the door of the ICU. ‘Tammy’s asking to see you.’

  ‘Okay, I’m coming.’ She turned to look at Vaughn. ‘You’ll let me know straight away what’s happening?’

  ‘Of course, now go and see Tammy.’

  A few streets away in Endsleigh Gardens, Vaughn cursed the parking warden who’d given him a ticket. He screwed it up, putting it in his pocket before leaning on his Range Rover and lighting a cigarette.

  He thought of Tia and smiled. He hadn’t felt like this for a long time, if ever. He hoped that she would give him a chance to try and make up for lost time, to try and make things better. And as for Milly, Christ, it was huge. The idea of fatherhood was both exciting and scary and in truth he was nervous to meet her. Okay, he certainly wasn’t going to start introducing himself to her but just going to see her seemed like a massive step. A massive head wreck. An Alfie kind of head wreck.

  He sighed, taking the smoke down into his lungs. But he knew before he thought of all that, he had to make a call.

  Holding the cigarette in his mouth with the smoke going up into his eyes, he pulled out his phone from his jean pocket and called Harry. It rang twice and then he heard the familiar voice.

  ‘Hello?’

  ‘Harry, it’s me!’

  ‘I know who the fuck it is, cos your name comes up, though right now, I wish it didn’t.’

  Vaughn rolled his eyes. ‘I’m sorry, Harry, I can see all the messages you’ve sent me. I know it feels like the last time we went AWOL, but it ain’t.’

  ‘It ain’t what? That you’re treating me like a muggy cunt again? That you and Tia are taking the piss.’

  ‘Harry, look I’m sorry, and you have every right to bollock me but hear me out … The only reason that we ain’t been in contact is because Tammy’s in hospital … Hello?’

  ‘I’m here for fuck’s sake, I’m just thinking.’

  ‘She’s in ICU and obviously Tia’s worried about her. That’s where she’s been, that’s where she is, she don’t want to leave her side.’

  ‘Has Tammy said anything?’

  ‘Like what?’ Vaughn said, knowing exactly what Harry was hinting at. Wanting to play the innocent, he added, ‘To tell you the truth, Harry, I’ve just kept out of it. I just waited in the corridor. The only thing I know is she fell down the stairs. That’s it.’

  There was a long pause before Harry said, ‘Fine, look, I’ve got some stuff to do on my end. I’ll speak to you later.’

  As the call was cut off, Vaughn frowned. It was odd because for some reason Harry seemed unusually calm. He’d expected him to be threatening blue murder and worse. Still, he supposed that it was a good thing and maybe it was because Harry was uncomfortable talking about Tammy – seeing as it was blatantly obvious to him that Harry was the cause of her being in hospital – and so it was a case of the less said the better.

  Anyway, whatever it was he didn’t have time to think about it right now. All that mattered was Harry clearly didn’t think anything was amiss so at least now Vaughn could focus on what he was going to do about Wan; but first he needed to get to Milly.

  Stepping into his car, Vaughn took a deep breath to steady his nerves as he got ready to drive to see his daughter for the first time …

  It nearly had fucking killed him. Speaking to Vaughn, pretending everything was all right, had made him feel like he was literally going to implode. What a cunt and God, he was going to make him pay. Slowly and painfully.

  He breathed deeply, spinning the gun on the desk. Thinking about how he was going to make Vaughn beg for his life and then he’d make Tia pay. Just as slowly, just as painfully.

  In truth he wanted to go and do it now. Shove a gun down their throats and make them choke on it. Make them choke on their lies. Oh yes, that day couldn’t come too soon. But of course before he was able to do that, he had to go and do that small favour for Wan: putting Franny Doyle in the ground.

  Although time-consuming, it would be easy. He’d never been partial to the mouthy bitch who had balls of fucking steel and the way he was feeling he was more than happy to blow that beautiful face of hers right off.

  So the only good thing right now in waiting was Tia and Vaughn didn’t suspect anything and that’s the way he needed to keep it. They were a slippery pair and if they got wind of anything, then it would make his jo
b much harder.

  He sighed again and rubbed his head, looking around his mahogany oak office. He had no idea what he’d done to deserve such a fuck-up for a wife. From the moment he’d met her, he’d looked after her. She’d been pregnant with another man’s baby, and even that hadn’t bothered him. He’d still taken her on, bringing up Milly as if she was part of the family. He’d housed Milly, fed her, clothed her, but like Tia, she’d turned out to be an ungrateful little bitch.

  When he’d gone to see her last night as usual she was a spiteful little cow. She hadn’t said, but he knew that somehow Tia was behind the fact that she was still in town.

  He shook his head and absentmindedly he touched the scratch on his face. Then, picking up the gun and slipping it in his jacket pocket, Harry Jacobs walked out of the room, wondering about the best way to kill Franny.

  49

  ‘Here get this down you … Alfie? For God’s sake wake up … Alfie? Alfie? Pass me that glass will you?’

  ‘Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!’ Alfie jumped up from the couch as Rachel emptied the glass of water over him.

  ‘What the fuck are you doing, you stupid cow?’ He glared at her but she just shrugged.

  ‘I’ve been standing here trying to wake you up. Now get this coffee down you – we need to talk. Sasha’s still here.’

  Alfie sat forward on the velvet couch of his friend’s club and rubbed his head. He looked around and saw all the punters had gone home. ‘What time is it anyway?’

  ‘Just gone nine … in the morning,’ Rachel emphasised.

  Taking the milky coffee and grateful that Rachel seemed to have put half a bag of sugar in it, Alfie looked at her. ‘I can’t even remember what happened.’

  ‘Well that’s what you get when you shove the whole of Colombia up your nose.’

  He rubbed his head again. ‘Don’t start chewing me ear off, I got a raging headache.’

  ‘If you’re looking for sympathy, jog on, Alf. We’ve been waiting to talk to you, well Sasha has; she’s been here since last night.’

  ‘Who the fuck is Sasha?’ Alfie growled, not wanting to talk and simply wanting to be left alone.

  Despairing of Alfie, Rachel shook her head. ‘She came to see me last night. She was a good friend of my sister’s, remember? She works for Wan and she thinks that Franny’s in trouble.’

  Rachel’s words made Alfie sit up. He wiped the water from his face and stared at Rachel. ‘Go on, tell me.’

  ‘Well that’s what we’ve been trying to do, since last night! Sasha, come here will you, sweetheart?’

  Shyly Sasha walked over. She gave a small smile to Alfie and sat down on one of the leather chairs opposite him, curling her legs underneath her as she did so.

  Immediately, Alfie could see how young she was … how vulnerable she looked even though her face was caked in make-up. ‘Hello, darlin’, I’m Alfie,’ he said smiling, though he could hear his words were slightly slurred and he wasn’t one hundred per cent sure if he was talking too loud or too quiet. He had a buzzing in his head and his eye felt like it was pulsating out of its socket.

  ‘Rach, pour us a whiskey will you, and make it a large one … Don’t look like that, just do it will you?’

  Obediently Rachel went across to the bar leaving Alfie and Sasha alone. ‘What makes you think Franny’s in trouble and how do you know her?’ he said, lighting a cigarette at the same time as wishing that Rachel would hurry up with his drink.

  ‘I work for Wan. I’m his girlfriend … well I was, I think I was, I dunno …’ She trailed off, looking upset.

  Before he could say anything in response, Rachel came back and handed him not only a glass but also the bottle of whiskey. He winked gratefully. ‘Thanks, Rach, you know how it is, hair of the dog and all that.’

  As Alfie quickly knocked the whiskey back hoping to feel better, he winced, feeling a lurch in his stomach as he suddenly remembered what had put him in this state in the first place: Franny and Carter. Fuck. Knowing this wasn’t the time to think about them, he pushed the thought to one side, pouring himself another drink. ‘Tell me exactly why you’re here, darlin’. Why don’t we start from there, cos I can see that it’s difficult for you.’

  Fidgeting with the hem of her jacket, Sasha said, ‘I was with Wan and he was talking to this guy. I’d seen him before, in fact …’ She paused and suddenly became coy.

  Alfie gave her a genuine smile again, his striking features lighting up. He pushed back his jet-black hair, which fell over his forehead. ‘Listen, sweetheart, I ain’t here to judge you – fuck me, I certainly haven’t got room to talk. Look at me, I’m pretty much a mess, so whatever you do say, please don’t feel uncomfortable, cos not only have I probably heard it before, but I’ve probably done it before as well.’

  Appreciating his genuine warmth, Sasha began to talk again. ‘Well I’d had sex with this guy before, several times. I don’t like it. He’s really rough; he doesn’t care if he hurts you or not. Some of the girls, well, Wan’s had to call a doctor after they’ve been with him. Everyone hates him. But Wan just says that if it hurts we should take something, you know like coke, but the stuff he gives us, I think it’s cut with something, so I’d rather take the pain. I don’t want to end up like Sophie.’

  Alfie, shocked, looked at Rachel.

  ‘Sophie overdosed. She’s not the first girl apparently,’ Rachel said, filling in the gaps.

  ‘But this guy, well he has these parties at his farmhouse. It’s really plush but they’re horrible parties. No one wants to go cos you never know if you’re coming back or not,’ Sasha continued.

  ‘Jesus Christ.’

  ‘Well he was the one who was with Louise that night. He was the last person I saw her with.’

  Alfie let out a deep sigh. He wasn’t sure what to say. From the looks of her, this girl was no more than sixteen, seventeen. Wan was scum and although it was shocking to hear it, it didn’t surprise him. After all, finding that girl bagged up on the wasteland in Essex was part of Wan’s doing. It was obvious he let his friends and the punters use and abuse the girls as if they were pieces of meat.

  ‘And why now, darlin’? Why come and talk to Rachel now?’

  Sasha shrugged. ‘I didn’t want to before. I was scared, and I love Wan and …’ She stopped and thought and then, sounding very much confused, she said, ‘I dunno, maybe I don’t love him but I can’t get Louise out of me head. I miss her.’

  Alfie’s heart went out to the girl. Over the years he’d met many girls just like her. Soho had a way of attracting them. It was like a honeypot to bees. ‘But how’s Franny involved in this? Is Wan planning on doing something to her? And why do you even want to help her, anyway?’

  ‘It’s all just a mess; too many girls have got hurt, and Franny’s nice. I like her. She always tries to make sure we’re all right. I heard her arguing with Wan a few times about the way he treats us and she’s always really kind to all of us. She bought me a couple of dresses. I dunno, I guess she’s like a mum, or rather I guess she’s like what a mum should be,’ Sasha said sadly.

  ‘She’d probably like you saying that,’ Alfie answered warmly.

  ‘Well she stuck up for us.’

  Looking at her black eye, Alfie asked, ‘Did Wan do that to you?’

  ‘No. I mean it’s not that he hasn’t done that before, but a girl did this, cos she was jealous of me and Wan … Anyway, when I heard Wan saying he wanted to kill her …’

  Alfie’s face paled. ‘Kill her? You mean kill Franny?’

  ‘Yeah or rather he wants this guy to kill her … It wrecked my head and I came to talk to Rachel. I just want it all to stop. It’s horrible.’

  ‘But how did you know that we knew Franny?’

  ‘I didn’t. I came to tell Rachel about Louise really, and everything I knew. I thought it was about time but she said that you’d be interested in hearing about Franny.’

  ‘Yeah I am, but can you promise me something, Sash? If you see Franny, don’t tell her
that you saw me – that’s really important.’

  Used to keeping secrets Sasha just nodded as Alfie continued. ‘So, do you know what this guy’s called?’

  ‘Yeah, I mean I didn’t until recently but he’s called Harry.’

  ‘Harry!’ Alfie said. ‘What does he look like?’

  ‘He’s dead handsome. He’s about six foot two and he’s got blond hair and I know he’s married. I think when he was talking to Wan he said something about her name was Tia? Do you know him?’

  ‘I do, unfortunately … Look, can I trust you to keep your mouth shut? I’ll give you my number in case you need me and don’t worry, I won’t mention anything that you’ve said to me. And, Sasha, thank you, it’s really brave you speaking out like this. I’ll never forget it and I’m sure Franny won’t either. You’ve probably saved her life.’

  Ten minutes later, after Sasha was gone, Rachel turned to Alfie. ‘What are we going to do? If Harry was responsible for Louise’s death, which I’m sure he was, then I want him to pay. I want them to both pay. I’ve waited a long time for this, Alf. It’s the most evidence I’ve had to link Wan and now Harry to the murder.’

  ‘I know and don’t worry, they won’t get away with it … But you know it’ll be dangerous?’

  Rachel shrugged. ‘Listen, I’ve spent all me life ducking and diving with a whole lot of wrong ’uns and at least doing this, at least stopping that scum, well hopefully some good will come out of it all.’

  Alfie gave a tight smile. ‘Well I’m going to fucking kill Harry for starters, but as for Wan, I’ve squared up before with the Triads and they ain’t an easy bunch to deal with. You can’t mess with them, so we have to be a bit cleverer than just going in guns blazing. But I may just have an idea.’ At which point, Alfie got out his phone and started to text.

  As Sasha walked along Kingsway, a car pulled up by her side. The window came down and she gave a half-smile.

  ‘Hello, Sasha, where’ve you been?’

  ‘Just out.’

  ‘You want a lift home?’

  Tired, she looked at the driver and shrugged. ‘I guess … thanks.’