Rival

by Jacqui Rose

  ‘It’s not your fault. Please don’t think it’s your fault.’

  ‘But if I hadn’t told him, she’d still be alive … Oh God, I think I’m going to be sick.’ She retched on the floor of the Range Rover and Franny, feeling slightly nauseous herself now, held back Ellie’s hair.

  ‘Are you okay? You think you’re going to be sick again?’ Franny said caringly as she gave her a tissue to wipe her mouth.

  Ellie shook her head and sobbed quietly as Franny spoke. ‘Ellie, sweetheart, just because you told him, that doesn’t mean you’re responsible. He was the one who did it. Not you,’ Franny said warmly.

  Ellie stayed silent for a moment and then quietly muttered, ‘They threw her body into the water. It was horrible, Franny, horrible.’

  ‘I’m sorry you had to see that, but it’s over now. We’ll keep you safe. We’ll take you somewhere where they can look after you, okay?’

  She gave a small nod. ‘I told him about Milly too.’

  ‘Milly!’

  ‘See, I knew you’d hate me.’

  ‘No, no, I don’t. I’m just following what you’re saying. Go on, tell me. Tell me about Milly.’

  ‘Well I heard Milly talking about her baby to Wan. He said it was his and I got angry. I didn’t even know she knew him. She was my friend and she didn’t even tell me. I felt stupid and that’s why I said about Milly as well, cos I saw her talking to you afterwards. And I was jealous.’ Ellie burst into tears again.

  ‘Ellie, you’re just a kid who has had a really bad time and met a really, really bad man, and you’re really brave to talk to us. Ain’t she, Alfie?’

  Alfie nodded and smiled at Franny but again he didn’t say anything. His heart felt too broken for Sasha.

  ‘Ellie, did he do anything to Milly? Did he kill Milly as well?’ Franny asked slowly.

  ‘No, cos we couldn’t find her. We went to the bedsit but she wasn’t there.’

  Franny let out a sigh of relief. She looked at Alfie. ‘So Milly’s still out there – the question is where. And the problem is, time’s running out …’

  55

  It was 2am on Monday morning and having spoken to Carter on the phone and taken Ellie to the safe house Carter had asked them to, Franny sat next to Alfie in the front seat with Vaughn now sitting in the back of the cleaned car, though the stench of Ellie’s vomit still sat in the air mixing with the car deodorant the all-night car valet had used.

  They drove in silence, all in their own thoughts, all shocked and hurting for the girls.

  Alfie, driving in the fast lane, gave a quick sideward glance to Franny. ‘You all right, Fran? You did really well with Ellie back there. I hope she’ll be all right.’

  ‘Yeah, so do I. No doubt in a couple of days she’ll be begging to go back to Wan. Underneath everything it’s clear she still loves him, or rather, what she thinks love is. It’s so sad and messed up, but at least where she is, they’ll look after her and they won’t let her go and see him. I don’t think she’ll like that, but it’s for the best. Hopefully she’ll have a chance to turn her life around.’

  ‘It was tough, wasn’t it though, listening to what she was saying, cos I know she’s only a kid and has had a fucking rotten time of it, but part of me does think, if only she hadn’t said anything, Sasha would be alive.’

  Franny looked out of the window, watching the passing countryside rush by. ‘Yeah, but she had no idea. She was just desperate that no one took Wan away from her. She didn’t know that was going to happen and not only will she have to live with the images of Sasha being murdered in her head for the rest of her life, she’ll have to live with the guilt as well.’

  ‘Do you think Wan will wonder where she’s gone?’

  ‘Not at first – he won’t get suspicious probably for a day, maybe two days. They come and go as they please, the girls; Ellie’s always out and about.’

  ‘So that just gives us forty-eight hours to turn this around and find Milly. I’m just hoping that she went into hiding, you know? Maybe she got wind of Wan looking for her. That’s possible, ain’t it?’ Vaughn said from the back.

  ‘Yeah maybe that’s what happened, mate,’ Alfie replied warmly but convincing no one.

  They fell silent again and it was a good five minutes later before Alfie pulled up on a country lane, parking up behind some trees. He swivelled around to the back to look at Vaughn. ‘You sure this is going to work?’

  Vaughn shrugged. ‘No, but unless you can think of a better idea to get that scum off the streets without pulling those girls into it, then what other choice do we have?’

  ‘What did Tia say?’ Franny asked.

  ‘I haven’t said anything to her. I thought it best in the circumstances she don’t know anything. What’s the point? She’s got enough shit going on without me adding to it and the less she knows the better. We don’t need her anyway. I know where it is. Harry apparently keeps his stash of cocaine in a trunk in the outhouse.’

  In the darkness as the wind began to get up, the three of them battled their way through the dense trees and bushes, making their way towards the farmhouse.

  ‘You sure it’s this way?’ Franny whispered but she got no reply from the others who continued up the steep slope of the rugged fields and hedges. They hurried through the overgrown fields and nettle-strewn ditches until finally getting to a clearing where Alfie nodded towards the horizon. From where they were standing, he could see the outline of the main house as well as a barn and an outhouse.

  ‘Over there, that’s where we need to be,’ he said.

  Franny’s eyes flitted towards the farmhouse. There were no lights on but she knew they still had to be careful. ‘Come on then, the sooner we get out of here the better. For all we know Harry is about.’

  Pulling his gun out of his pocket, Vaughn said, ‘Then let’s go. We ain’t got time to waste.’

  With the ground a little easier to run on, they dashed along the potted track, clambering over one of the wooden fences before dashing through a small wood and across to the outhouse.

  Getting to the door of it, Vaughn stared at the thick, rusty padlock. ‘Fuck, how we going to get in?’

  ‘We can always shoot it off,’ Alfie suggested.

  ‘Yeah but if he sees it, it’s like we’ve left a calling card for him.’

  Alfie then turned to Franny. ‘You want to do your party trick then?’ he said, knowing that she’d been able to pick locks almost before she could walk on account of her father, who’d been a number-one face, teaching her. And now she was somewhat of an expert, to say the least.

  ‘No problem,’ Franny said as she looked at the combination lock.

  She pulled on it, applying a constant downward pressure from the padlock’s silver shackle to the body of the lock as she tested each wheel to find the one with the most resistance. She bent down, listening carefully for a click as she then turned the top wheel and felt the lock move down slightly. She repeated the process for each wheel until there was a final click and the silver shackle popped out of the lock. ‘Hey presto,’ she said.

  ‘Too slow,’ Alfie replied, winking at her but clearly impressed by her skill as usual.

  They moved quickly inside the outhouse and pushed their way past an old tractor to get to the main part of the building. Vaughn looked at them both. ‘Let’s each take a part of the place. You take the left side, and Franny take over there and I’ll take this side but we have to hurry. We’re looking for a trunk – that’s what Tia said he stored it in. Make sure you’re as quiet as you can.’

  Without replying, Franny and Alfie rushed to their designated areas and began to search, carefully moving boxes and crates, old rusting equipment and empty sacks all the time listening out for anyone approaching the outhouse.

  Fifteen minutes later, a despairing Franny walked across to Vaughn. ‘I’ve searched the place three times over and I still ain’t finding anything.’

  ‘It must be here. Just keep on looking.’

  A
lfie walked over to join them. ‘But where? There ain’t anywhere else to look. Maybe he’s moved it. Come on, you said yourself that it was only a vague remark Tia made. I knew you should’ve spoken to her before we came here.’

  Irritated and stressed, Vaughn barked at Alfie, ‘Look, I didn’t see you coming up with any good ideas, so don’t fucking have a go at me for trying.’

  ‘Yeah but this ain’t a good idea, is it?’ Alfie retorted.

  ‘Alf, at least he’s trying,’ Franny said.

  ‘Oh, and I’m not?’

  She sighed. ‘Did I say that? No, I didn’t. I didn’t say anything.’

  Alfie glared at her. ‘No, but you often don’t say anything. You often keep things to yourself, don’t you?’

  ‘I don’t know what you’re getting at, Alf, though I think I can guess. In case you’ve forgotten, we are in the middle of nowhere looking for bags of coke and you’re talking about me and Carter.’

  Alfie was incensed and yes, he knew of all the times and places this certainly wasn’t the time but the pressure of Wan and the girls and Harry was getting to him, and the guilt he felt over what happened to Sasha after she came to talk to him and Rachel was overwhelming. So, like he often did when he was angry and hurting, he transferred his pain into other issues. ‘Oh so there is a you and Carter?’

  Angry and wanting to shut him up, Franny shook her head as she hissed at him, ‘There is no me and Carter, but there was sex, good sex mind, but that’s all it was. There is nothing between us, cos as you keep telling me, I do love you and I want to be with you. Happy now? Is that soft and romantic enough for you?’

  He stared at her, wanting to kill her himself. He clenched and unclenched his fists, but he managed to turn away, marching towards the door, stomping across, but then he suddenly stopped. He tapped his foot on the ground and then he tapped it again. The floor felt different, sounded different and dropping to the ground, he moved a broken crate out of the way.

  ‘Quick, come over here! There’s a wooden flap.’ He lifted it up to reveal the way down to the basement.

  With his heart racing, Alfie stepped onto the ladder and carefully began to make his way into the darkness followed by the other two.

  At the bottom of the ladder, he started searching the area, lighting up the room with his torch.

  For the next ten minutes the trio searched the room, moving and squeezing past empty wine crates, piles of old boxes and bags, looking for the trunk. Then, getting to a pile of tarpaulins in the corner, Alfie kicked them out of the way, revealing a cupboard with another padlock on it.

  He glanced across at Franny. ‘Fran?’

  She nodded and bent down and was able to pick the lock just as quickly and easily. Hurriedly, she opened the cupboard door to reveal a trunk. Holding her breath Franny slid it out slowly.

  ‘Alf, you want to do the honours?’

  Alfie bent down alongside her and flicked open the catches of the trunk, pushing up the lid. He grinned as he saw what they were looking for. He turned to Vaughn. ‘That’s a nice stash of coke there … Maybe, it wasn’t such a bad idea after all.’

  56

  It was just before 6am and back in Soho, Vaughn, Alfie and Franny sat in Franny’s blacked-out Range Rover.

  ‘You sure you’ll be all right?’ Vaughn asked.

  ‘Yeah, absolutely, there’s nothing strange about me going into the club; in fact it would be strange if I didn’t. I’m usually there at this time when they’re all locking up … Why don’t I meet you back at my house? Here’s my keys … let yourself in. I’ll see you soon.’

  ‘Be careful, cos don’t forget, there are a lot of people who want your head on a plate,’ Alfie said.

  She leant over and kissed him. ‘Thank you, and I will.’

  Inside Wan’s club, Franny walked around, nodding hello to the cleaners and various other men who worked for Wan. Nothing unusual, nothing different, which was perfect.

  Walking into the back office, Franny closed the door then quickly rushed over to a cupboard. She opened it to reveal a safe and knowing the combination as quickly as she could she unlocked it.

  Glancing at the door to make sure no one was coming, Franny went into the satchel she was carrying, pulling out one of the kilo bags of cocaine they’d taken from Harry’s. She placed it in the safe then closed it, hurrying out, before making her way down the stairs to Wan’s office.

  Knowing he wouldn’t be there but knocking on the door just to be on the safe side, she waited and, getting no answer, opened the door.

  She moved quickly inside and went to a large, expensive wooden cabinet. Going into her satchel again, she pulled out the remaining two bags and carefully pushed them, jamming them in behind the cabinet.

  Smiling to herself, she closed her eyes letting out a sigh of relief. If the girls couldn’t nail Wan, she hoped that this would. And by her reckoning he’d be going down for a long time …

  ‘Well, what did Carter say, Fran?’ Vaughn asked as he sat in the expensive hand-crafted white kitchen of her house.

  Pouring herself a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice, Franny looked at both Alfie and Vaughn, the surreal sense of the three of them being back together – for now – not being lost on her. There was no way only a few weeks ago she could ever have contemplated being in the same room as Vaughn without wanting to kill him there and then, but for now at least, she knew they had to put their differences aside.

  ‘He said he could get a unit to the club within the hour. They’re going to raid it and he knows exactly where to look. So now we just wait. He’s going to call me when it’s done but that’s not going to be until much later, cos no one can know that we’re involved. He’s just going to put it down as a tip-off by one of his sources, so he won’t be able to call me from his work phone. He’ll have to wait until he’s home. But it’ll be worth the wait. He’ll be able to arrest Wan straight away and the amount of coke we hid, well, Wan’s looking at a hell of a lot of time behind bars.’

  Vaughn nodded as he smoked his cigarette. ‘And Milly? What did he say about her?’

  ‘He’s going to come and talk to us as soon as possible, you know, try and work out what the best thing to do is … I know it’s hard but please try not to worry. We’ll find her.’

  ‘How though? Dead or alive?’ The room fell silent.

  Half an hour later and the wait was killing Alfie. He paced along the kitchen floor, waiting for news about the raid. But with the pressure getting to him he made his way into the bathroom and pulled out a carefully folded piece of paper from his pocket.

  He placed it on the marble surface, opening it just as carefully as he’d folded it. Then he pulled out his credit card from his wallet and tapped the contents – the couple of grams or so of cocaine he’d siphoned off Harry’s stash – out of the paper onto the grey vanity unit.

  He began to chop it up with the side of his bank card before separating it into several, thick lines. Eagerly he rolled up a twenty-pound note and bent over it, greedily snorting one line after another. But then he frowned and immediately snorted up another line … and another … and another.

  ‘What the fuck?’ Suddenly he raced out of the bathroom and down the stairs where Franny and Vaughn were still sitting. Charging into the room, panicked, his words tumbled out. ‘That coke, that coke we took from Harry’s place, I don’t think it’s coke at all.’

  ‘What?’ Franny said as she stared in bewilderment. ‘What are you talking about?’

  ‘Look at me, I ain’t got a buzz, not a sweat, not one damn fucking note of a high.’

  ‘So?’

  ‘Well that’s what I’m trying to tell you – I’ve just tasted the goods, and it ain’t cocaine.’

  Vaughn stood up and, like Franny, he stared at Alfie. ‘You sound fucking high to me, cos you ain’t making sense.’

  ‘Look, maybe I shouldn’t have but when I was putting the bags of coke in the satchel for Fran, I just took a little bit for meself. Don’t fucking
look like that, Vaughn, cos the rights or wrongs of me doing that ain’t the point. The point is, that is not coke. Which means—’

  ‘What we hid in Wan’s club ain’t coke,’ Franny said, filling in the gaps.

  It was Vaughn’s turn to begin to pace. ‘Maybe it just wasn’t mixed properly – you know as well as I do that they put all sorts of shit in coke to stop it being so pure. Maybe you just got a part that hadn’t been blended in properly.’

  Alfie stared back at Vaughn. ‘I think we need to get in touch with Carter, call it off, cos if they raid the place and only find dummy cocaine then not only will Wan still be walking free, but he’ll also know he’s being set up and it won’t take him too long to work it out who it is. Then not only are the girls fucked, but so are we. At least if we stop Carter going in, Franny can get back the coke and we can get it tested, I dunno, something like that …’

  ‘Maybe Alf’s right, maybe we should call Carter, but we can’t, can we? Shit. The only number I’ve got is his personal phone,’ Franny said, looking worried.

  Looking just as worried, Alfie began to pace again. ‘What about we go round to the club? We stop him going in.’

  Angrily, Vaughn yelled, ‘Then we’ll all be fucked. It’ll hardly be discreet will it? Us all turning up at the club. We might as well put a sign around our necks telling Wan we turned him over.’

  ‘Then you tell us what we’re going to do cos whatever way I look at this, we’re fucked. How could we be so stupid not to know it wasn’t coke?’

  ‘Stop being so fucking dramatic, Alf, of course it’s coke. What else would it be? It’s not like Harry’s Mary Berry, is he? He’s hardly going to have bags of fucking self-raising flour locked away. Look, I tell you what, just to shut you lot up …’ He stopped and pulled out his phone, dialling and waiting for it to be answered.