by Jacqui Rose
‘Hey, good to see you. It’s a nice surprise.’ Her voice trilled, and Bree wasn’t sure if it was paranoia, but it somehow sounded too loud for the small space. With all the running around the pressure was getting to her.
‘You look hot,’ Franny said gruffly.
Bree could hardly get her breath and it felt like she’d been stripped of air. ‘Me? Do I? I’m fine. Yeah, God yeah, totally.’
Franny’s gaze was unwavering. ‘If you’re fine, why do you look so flustered?’
Animated, Bree waved her hands around. ‘It’s just Mia, she won’t stop crying. Gets a bit much after a while.’
Cutting her eyes in annoyance at Bree, Franny, unable to deal with having to prop Bree up emotionally on top of everything else, snapped, ‘She’s a baby, Bree, what do you expect? I hope you haven’t just left her there crying?’ She walked towards Mia, scooping her up in her arms, and immediately Mia fell silent. ‘See, that’s all she needed, a bit of TLC. I sometimes wonder about you and where your head’s at. You can be so selfish. Don’t leave her like that, you hear me? And why are her hands cold again? Have you had this window open?’
Bree nodded. She didn’t care what Franny thought as long as she didn’t think she’d been out. ‘Yes … er … it was a bit hot.’
‘Well that’s stupid to have it open by her, she’ll get ill. She’ll get a chest infection. It’s common sense, Bree.’
Bree gave a tight smile. ‘I’m sorry.’
Agitated, partly from the guilt she felt from what she was doing not only to Alfie but also to Bree, Franny walked over to pour herself a glass of water as Mia nuzzled happily in her neck. She shrugged. ‘Well it ain’t me you need to say sorry to …’ She trailed off before begrudgingly adding, ‘Anyway, how are you?’
Not seeming so much on edge, Bree sat on the chair by the window. ‘I’m okay – the usual.’
The tension in the air between the two women was palpable as the room fell silent. Eventually Franny said, ‘Look, I can’t stay long, I just brought some shopping for you and there’s a few bits for Mia as well. I better go. Alfie will be wondering where I am and I’ve got to speak to Vaughn today, which I’m not looking forward to. Anyway, I’ll call you.’ Kissing Mia, Franny handed her back to Bree, walking out of the room and down the stairs without looking back.
Letting out a long sigh of relief, Bree turned and put Mia back in her cot. She smiled at her daughter, who was attempting to chew on her own hand.
Although going outside hadn’t gone as smoothly as it could’ve done, thinking about it she felt better than she had done in a long while. She’d needed to get out and so had Mia. Maybe next time she’d go to the park. She had to be careful of course but that …
‘Bree?’ Franny’s voice behind her made her jump, cutting into her thoughts. She swivelled around to come face-to-face with Franny who stared at her coldly, her eyes dark and emotionless, her face drawn and taut.
‘Bree?’
Pushing herself back against the cot, Bree began to shake, unsure quite what was going on as Franny repeated her name with a tone that forced a chill through her body.
‘Bree …’
Bree’s voice was only just audible. ‘Yes?’
Stepping in closer, Franny towered above Bree. ‘What have you done?’
Still shaking, Bree shrugged. ‘Nothing, I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
‘Don’t lie to me, Bree.’
‘I’m not. What’s this about, Franny? You’re acting really strange.’
Franny’s voice held an ominous tone. ‘Don’t pretend, Bree, you know exactly what you’ve done.’
Giggling nervously, Bree tried to lighten the mood. ‘This is silly – just tell me.’
‘You’ve been out, haven’t you?’
Feigning shock, Bree shook her head furiously. ‘Of course not! No way! That’s absurd. It’s crazy, I don’t know where you got that idea from.’
‘You dropped the receipt, Bree. You should’ve been more careful if you wanted to fool me.’ From behind her back, Franny produced the McDonald’s receipt and waved it in the air. ‘I told you not to go out, didn’t I?’
‘That’s not mine, it’s …’
Franny shouted, giving Mia a start, causing her to begin to scream again. ‘Enough, Bree! I’m not stupid! That’s why you looked so flustered, isn’t it? That’s why you looked so guilty when I came in.’
Bree pushed Franny out of the way, stepping around her. ‘Yes, yes, it is, and I shouldn’t have to feel guilty.’
Franny’s face flushed red. ‘That’s right, you shouldn’t, and if this was a normal situation you wouldn’t, but it ain’t normal. I have put my life on the line for you. You hear that? My life. And all you’ve done is gone out and risk it. It’s a joke – you talk about not having to feel guilty, well that’s exactly what I do. I feel guilty. You try lying to Alfie and then have to see him every day. Even keeping you here, well the truth is, I felt bad. I knew it was for the best, but you know something, Bree, I ain’t going to feel bad anymore. Why should I? Especially if you don’t care, and let’s face it, I shouldn’t even be helping you because when it boils down to it, all you are is some woman who fucked my man.’
Bree looked hurt. ‘Franny, please, you know that’s not how it went. I didn’t know about you, and I’ll always be sorry, but I thought we got through that.’
Franny’s face screwed up. ‘You got through it, I just have to learn to live with the hurt.’
‘But …’
‘I don’t want to talk about it anymore, you hear me? The only thing that I want to talk about is you becoming a liability to me.’
‘But …’
Hating the fact she’d shown her emotions by opening up about Alfie, something she’d been taught by her father never to do, Franny cut Bree off in anger. ‘What did I say? No fucking buts, Bree! If someone sees you, I’m at risk. Me. Not you. Me. I’m the one who’ll have a bullet in their head. You obviously don’t care what happens to me.’
‘I do, of course I do.’
‘Well let me tell you, you have a funny way of showing it. And what about Mia? What would happen to Mia if I was dead?’
Bree looked shocked. ‘I … I …’
Pacing around the room, Franny’s eyes narrowed. ‘You haven’t thought of that, have you? Mia needs me, Bree. You’re fine as someone to change her and hold her but what real use are you to her?’
‘What are you talking about, Franny? I’m her mum.’
Another flash of anger crossed Franny’s face. ‘That’s just a title, Bree. I’ve seen the way you’ve been these past few months. Weak. Needy. Mia doesn’t need someone like that around her.’
‘Franny, this is crazy, she needs me.’
‘Keep on telling yourself that, Bree, if it makes you feel better. But I don’t think she’d appreciate you risking everything so you could have a fucking Big Mac.’
‘That’s not why I took her out.’
‘You’re a selfish bitch. You keep forgetting that you agreed to this. I didn’t force you.’
Trying her best not to cry, Bree chewed on her lip. ‘I didn’t know it was going to be this long. You’ve got to see it from my point of view, Franny. Think how you’d feel.’
‘I know I’d do whatever it was that was needed, no matter how long that took.’
‘Well Mia needed some fresh air.’
Hollering at Bree, Franny’s eyes blazed with fury. ‘Then open the fucking window because what Mia needs above everything else is to be safe, and by you taking her out, you have risked everything you wanted for her. How can I protect her if I’m dead, Bree? Because if Alfie finds out that’s what will happen, and then you won’t have a chance, sweetheart, because you’re no match for Alfie. You can’t stand up to him. You’re not me, and not only that, Alfie will hate you. He’ll take his daughter and it’ll be him who’s calling the shots. It’ll be him who decides on Mia’s life. You’ll just be some pretty thing in the corner watching
your daughter become something you don’t want her to be, and there’ll be nothing that you can do to stop it. Do you want Mia to end up like me?’
Bree sounded puzzled. ‘What do you mean?’
It was Franny’s turn to fight back the tears. ‘Look at me, Bree … Look at me! What do you see, hey? You see someone who’s strong, right? Who’s tough. Who’s hard. Who’s cold. Yeah, you do, but that’s all you see because that’s all there is to me. There’s so much missing because I don’t feel, not the way most people feel, and I don’t love, not like you. I don’t have that thing inside me to know what it is to be a woman. And you know why? You know why I don’t? Because I was brought up by someone like Alfie, in the kind of life that Alfie leads, with the kind of people that Alfie has around him. And I don’t want that for Mia, and if you had any sense neither would you. You wouldn’t risk going out. You’d wait, however hard it is, you’d wait. Because if I’m not here, if I’m not around anymore, believe me that little girl will be fed to the lions … And maybe this is the reason.’
‘Reason for what?’
Franny gazed at Bree evenly. ‘Why Mia is actually one of the few people I can truly feel in my heart. Because I know better than most people what it’s like to live that life, and I can stop it happening to her. I can stop her ending up like me … So at least now you’ll understand and hopefully realise why I have to do what I’m going to do. It’s best for both of you.’
Bree began to sound panicked. ‘What is?’
‘I wish I didn’t have to do this, Bree, but you’ve given me no choice, and in the long term, I know you’ll thank me.’
Bree began to step away as Franny walked towards her. A strange look crossed her face.
‘What are you doing? What are you going to do?’
‘Bree, look, you’ve got nobody to blame but yourself, so until I can get Alfie to take a break, this is what’s going to happen …’ Suddenly Franny grabbed Bree’s arm, twisting it behind her back before marching her towards the bedroom. With Bree no match for Franny’s strength, she was powerless to stop Franny throwing her in, and locking the door from the outside.
Hammering on the door, Bree screamed in distress. ‘Let me out! Let me out! Franny, you can’t do this! Franny, this is crazy!’
Walking across to pick Mia up who’d settled herself down, Franny smiled at the baby, calling out to Bree as she did. ‘Stop shouting, you’re going to upset Mia.’
‘Franny, have you heard yourself? This is madness. Just let me out.’
Cradling Mia in one arm, Franny began to unpack the shopping with her other. ‘Save your breath, Bree.’
‘You can’t keep me in here forever.’
Bemused, Franny kissed Mia’s head, her voice full of bafflement. ‘I’ve no intention to! And I never wanted to do this. You make it sound like this is what I want. Believe me, I’m not getting any pleasure out of this and if you’d listened to me, then none of this would’ve happened. Look, you’ll only be in there when I’m not here.’
‘And what about Mia? What’s she supposed to do? You’re just going to leave her out there in the cot?’
With a wide grin, Franny mouthed silently to Mia, ‘Your mummy’s crazy,’ before answering Bree and saying, ‘What’s wrong with you? You’ll have Mia in there with you. You’ll have everything you need. You’ve got the en-suite bathroom and you can have the kettle to make yourself a tea. I’ll cook you some food, so you won’t be hungry, and Mia will have her bottles.’
Bree’s voice dripped with anger. ‘You’ve got it all worked out, haven’t you?’
‘Well someone has to, and anyway, you should be thanking me that I’m going to so much trouble. And when Alfie does go away, which I’m working on, then it’ll all be over. You won’t have to live like this anymore, and maybe we’ll even look back on this and laugh.’
But as Bree Dwyer sank to the bedroom floor, putting her head in her hands, one thing she knew for certain was that she’d never look back and laugh.
9
‘Where is she? Where the fuck is she?’ Vaughn Sadler said the words that Alfie was thinking, not that he was going to admit that to him, but he’d been looking at his watch for the past few hours wondering the exact same thing.
He’d left Franny sleeping and by the time he’d come back to the house, she’d gone. He hadn’t been that long either. Okay, he’d stopped to chat to the girl in the park but after that he’d just made his way along Rathbone Place to get a bit of breakfast before sauntering back. At the most he’d been out for an hour and a half, which meant Franny had been AWOL again for several hours. Her phone was off. Again. She’d left no note. Again. And even if he tried, he wouldn’t be able to begin to guess where she’d gone. Again.
‘You need to fix up your bird, Alfie. Are you finally going to believe me that she’s up to something?’
Knowing full well it was too early to start on the whiskey, but not giving a damn, Alfie poured himself a large double shot and knocked it back. ‘What exactly are you accusing her of? All this agg between you is doing my head in.’
Vaughn gazed at Alfie. He didn’t look in a good way; come to think of it, he hadn’t looked in a good way for a long time. He’d looked positively ill since Bree had left. And although, personally, he hadn’t been particularly keen on Bree, he had to admit she’d made Alfie happy, and she was certainly a lot more trustworthy than Franny, not that that was very difficult to do. Jesus, next to Franny, the Kray twins would’ve looked trustworthy. Somehow, she needed to be put in her place.
But there were two problems when it came to him dealing with Franny. The first was that she was a woman, and that fact pissed him off no end. He couldn’t just go in and give her a hiding like he’d normally do when someone was blatantly mugging him off. He couldn’t just slap her around and give her a good kicking she wouldn’t forget, which led him on to problem number two: Franny was well aware that this was the case, and God, didn’t it just play right into her hands. She was having a proper laugh at his expense.
He had to admit, there was part of him that was tempted to ignore his own rule book, ignore the bottom line of her being a woman, because after all, Franny was as much a part of this life as he was, as Alfie was, as any of the other faces were, and there was no way he’d ever dream of giving them special treatment, so why would he give it to Franny?
Franny knew the rules of a life of crime; she knew the consequences as well. Jesus, the woman had been born into the business; her father had been a number-one face and he’d taught her everything he knew.
Instead of playing with dolls and doll’s houses like other little girls, Franny had been taught how to pick locks and pick pockets by her father. Party tricks, he’d called them. So, when the criminal fraternity met up at Patrick’s house, Franny, at the age of only eight or nine, had been the star attraction, delighting in showing off her skills, her party tricks, much to the amusement of everybody assembled and to the great pride of her father.
And as a result, there was no mistaking the fact that Franny knew how it all worked. No mistaking that she knew if she played with fire, she’d get well and truly scorched, and that’s why Franny always played the female card. She hid behind it, saw herself as untouchable because of it. And to a point, as much as it irked him, got under his skin, she was right. Therefore, no matter how much he wanted to knock whatever it was she was hiding out of her, he couldn’t quite bring himself to raise his hand to a woman. Though he supposed killing her would be a different matter. After all he wouldn’t have to touch her. He wouldn’t have to lay one finger on her. He wouldn’t even have to go very near her. A bullet travelled far … Oh yes, killing Franny Doyle would be easy. It might even be the solution.
Suddenly snapping himself out of his thoughts, Vaughn answered Alfie, ‘Like I said before, I don’t know exactly what she’s up to, but I do know that the books aren’t balancing. She’s spending money like water.’
Trying to play it down, Alfie shrugged. ‘She’s a woman
ain’t she. They love shopping and all that shit.’
‘Come off it, Alf, this is Franny we’re talking about. When was the last time you saw her tottering along the street in a pair of Louboutins, carrying shopping bags? That ain’t her style. You know that, and I know that. She might have a beautiful face and – no disrespect here – a banging body, but she’s more fucking geezer than most geezers I know. She’s weird. She’s different to any woman I’ve ever met, but she’s clever; fuck me isn’t she just? Ruthless as well, which in my mind means she’s fucking dangerous.’
Alfie waved Vaughn away, dismissing what he saw as melodrama, though he still felt a nagging doubt, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on why. ‘Turn it in, you sound like a pussy boy. This is Fran, she ain’t the eighth battalion you know.’
Looking serious, Vaughn leant in. ‘Have you never heard of a silent assassin? That’s who we’re dealing with.’
Pouring another shot of whiskey and knocking it back as quickly as he had done the first one, Alfie roared with laughter. ‘You need to have a word with yourself, Vaughnie. Silent assassin. Jesus Christ, what TV show have you stepped out of?’
Not to be cut off, Vaughn continued, ‘Maybe I’m not putting it right, but what I’m saying is, whilst we’re looking at Charlie and keeping our eyes out front, and whether you believe it or not, Alf, if we’re not careful, one way or another when we’re not looking, we’re going to get stabbed in the back by your missus. Again.’
Rubbing his head, Alfie, not feeling great, said, ‘Listen, I know you won’t ever be able to trust her after what she did with our money. I get it, but this obsession you’ve got with her has to stop. You’re creating something that’s not there. Every time you’re in the room together, I’m having to referee you both. It’s Charlie we need to be thinking about.’
‘You’re right we do, and that’s the point – we can’t have anybody that ain’t trustworthy in our fold. That’s the last thing we need. Keeping it tight and all together is difficult enough without having to look over our shoulders.’