by Jacqui Rose
‘Remember that girl in the club?’
Franny laughed, though her laughter seemed too loud in the large, newly fitted kitchen.
‘We have so many girls in the club, Alf, or rather we did. I wouldn’t remember all their names, sorry.’
Alfie nodded, watching Franny’s reaction. Watching the way her eyes darted around, watching the way she played with her hands, something she only really did when she was nervous. So maybe he wouldn’t push it with her quite yet, but maybe what he would do was go and pay Charlie Eton another visit. Take him some grapes and a magazine, and who knows what he might find out?
The ringing of Alfie’s phone broke up his thoughts. He pulled it out of his pocket and answered it.
‘Hello?’
Nodding and making humming sounds, he listened intently before clicking off the phone.
‘Who was that, Alf?’
Lighting a cigarette, Alfie matter-of-factly said, ‘The fire investigation team. Apparently they’ve found a body.’
Trying to keep her voice even, Franny feigned shock. Her heart began to race. Being here when they found Vaughn’s body was never supposed to be part of the plan. She’d imagined she’d be in Norway, safely away from Soho, and the sooner she was able to make a run for it, the better. Everything felt like it was closing in. ‘Oh my God, that’s terrible. Do they know who it is yet? Have they done any identification?’
‘No, I think that will take weeks.’
‘What else did they say?’
Alfie shrugged. ‘They didn’t, they said they’d let us know when they had any more news.’
The silence between them felt like an enormous weight to Franny as she stood looking at Alfie. Her discomfort was only met by her phone ringing. She glanced towards where it was lying on the side, wanting desperately to take the call but unable to. It was from Ma.
‘Aren’t you going to answer it? It could be about Mia.’
Hoping it was just her paranoia that Alfie was looking at her oddly, Franny waved away the suggestion. ‘No, I recognise the number. It’s just one of the girls who worked at the club, no doubt wanting to know if she’ll still be getting paid. Cheeky cow, doesn’t she realise, no work, no money … Anyway, I’m starving – what do you say to going to get a Chinese for us?’
‘Yeah, of course. I’ll get the usual, shall I?’
‘Great … And, Alf, thank you.’
Grabbing his wallet from the side, Alfie smiled. ‘No problem … and I love you, Fran, I really do.’
Franny gave a small nod. Sounding strangled, she said, ‘I love you too, Alf.’
Pulling up his jacket collar, Alfie shivered as he headed towards Chinatown, which was only ten minutes’ walk from their house. His phone beeped, and he looked at the screen, thinking it was probably Franny changing her mind about crispy duck, though it simply read:
Ask Franny what she did.
26
The minute Alfie had safely left the house, Franny picked up the black bin liner to take to the car and grabbed her phone, dialling Ma straight back as she pushed down her anxiety.
‘So, here’s what I’m thinking, Franny … I’d like twenty thousand to start with as a down payment, and then I’ll see how it goes.’
Franny spat her words down the phone but she was overcome with panic. ‘You can’t be serious. Are you kidding me?’
‘Don’t ask stupid questions. What do you think? Oh, and if you ain’t here in an hour with the money, the deal’s off.’
With her heart racing, Franny stared up at the clock. It was ten-thirty; the traffic would be bad at least till midnight and trying to get to Essex from where she was, well that would take her at least two hours if not more.
Her voice was high-pitched and strained. ‘That’s crazy, Ma, I can’t get it to you that quickly, and I don’t even know if I’ve got that kind of money in the safe.’
On the other end of the phone, Ma Dwyer shovelled a piece of Victoria sponge into her mouth. ‘Well that’s your problem, it ain’t mine. You have to ask yourself how much you want her. How much do you want Mia back?’
‘You know I want her back, so don’t start saying that. You just have to give me a little more time.’
Running upstairs to the guest bedroom where their personal safe was hidden behind a large set of white hand-carved drawers, Franny pushed the furniture out of the way. She bent down, punching in the code before opening the safe and beginning to count the money as she continued to listen to Ma talk.
‘I don’t have to give you anything, Franny Doyle. There are other bidders you know.’
Shocked, Franny froze. ‘What are you talking about?’
Ma chuckled. ‘Well Mia’s a little girl. The sort of people I know would pay a lot of money for her. Babies don’t come along that often.’
Losing all sense of composure, Franny screamed down the phone, ‘No, Ma! No! Oh Jesus Christ, you can’t even think that. Ma, listen to me, whatever you want I promise I’ll get it for you. Anything. Just don’t do anything stupid! Please, please!’ Tears filled her eyes as she fell to her knees.
‘Stupid? Getting a bit of money in my pocket ain’t stupid, and wherever that money comes from, it don’t bother me. Your readies are just as good or bad as the next person’s.’
Rocking back and forth on the floor, Franny begged into the phone, her words hard to hear as her sobbing drowned them out. ‘That’s not what we agreed, Ma. This was about not telling Alfie, but I’d rather him know. I’d rather he found out all about it than you do this.’
‘It ain’t your call though, not anymore. And when you come, I want to see Bree; though clearly, she doesn’t care that much about her daughter. I would’ve thought she’d have been on the blower to me already. So, make sure you bring her along, you hear me? Otherwise I might change me mind about doing business with you.’
As Ma cackled, Franny cried hysterically. She yelled, ‘Ma, please! Jesus Christ, please. Bree’s not here.’
‘What are you talking about?’
Franny’s words rushed out. ‘She’s … she’s had to go away … She’s … she’s not well. She couldn’t cope with the fact that Mia was gone.’
‘You seem to think that I care about your problems – well I don’t.’
In desperation, Franny shouted down the phone, ‘I’m going to call the police then!’
Ma roared with laughter before her voice dropped into a dark, nasty tone. ‘You listen here, Franny. Don’t ever threaten me. Never, never do that. You call the police, I’ll deny everything, and you will never see Mia again. Do you understand me?’
In the tiniest of voices, Franny replied, ‘Yes, yes … sorry.’
‘Now that’s more like it … and, Franny, make sure you’re here in an hour.’
In the remote countryside of north-west Essex situated just outside the village of Ashdon, close to Shadwell Wood, Ma opened the pink front door to the mobile home. She grinned at Franny who stood shaking. ‘Where is she?’
‘All in good time; now come on in.’
Franny stepped inside. It was hot, and two fat cats were lying on the sofa. Over in the corner, plates of food and empty boxes of cigarettes were discarded on the floor. ‘It’s a bit of a mess. That’s what I miss most about Bree – she was a good little worker. Lazy at times, but nothing a good hiding wouldn’t solve … Make us a cup of tea whilst you’re there.’
Franny glared at Ma. ‘I’m not here to socialise. I just want to see Mia.’
Ma sniffed, scratching her crotch through her tight, light blue nylon leggings. ‘You’re late.’
‘I know, Ma, and I’m sorry, but there was no way I was ever going to be able to make it here within an hour.’
‘Like I said before, that wasn’t my problem … Have you got the money?’
Franny emptied her bag on the table, tipping out bundles of twenty- and fifty-pound notes.
‘There’s twelve thousand there, and I’ve also brought Alfie’s watch. It’s a solid gold Bvlgari watch,
it’s worth about twenty-five grand, so the total’s more than you asked for.’
Sitting down at the small brown, kitchen table, Ma stared at the money and the watch and then up at Franny. ‘It may be more in total, but it’s not what I asked for. I don’t need some poxy watch.’
Franny picked up the watch, pushing it towards Ma. ‘For God’s sake, it’s worth a lot of money. Look at it!’
Ma pushed Franny’s hand away. ‘Like I say, I don’t want a watch. I already know what time it is, which is a good job I do, otherwise I wouldn’t know how late you are … almost double the time I said.’
Trying her best to keep her temper, Franny sat down, scraping back the chair to sit opposite Ma. ‘But I’m here now, that’s all that matters, and what I’ve brought you is just the start. Once the banks open tomorrow, I can bring you the rest of the money in cash, and you can keep the watch as well … What do you say, Ma?’
Ma leant across the table, brushing her body into the discarded plate of cold, greasy bacon.
‘I say, too late.’
Franny’s eyes filled with tears, frustration and anger welling up in her. ‘Ma, please, we’ve established I’m late but like I say, I’m here now.’
Ma stared straight into Franny’s eyes. ‘No, you don’t understand. What I mean is, it’s really too late. Mia’s gone. Like I told you, there were other bidders.’
27
Shannon Mulligan took a long, deep drag of her roll-up. Her hands shook, and her lip trembled as she picked off some strands of tobacco from the corner of her mouth. She was angry and not just a little bit angry. The other thing that Shannon found herself feeling was sad, something she rarely let herself be or rather something the crack cocaine stopped her feeling.
She sighed, trying to fight back the tears as she stubbed out her cigarette on the wall, making her way back up the stairs to the sauna she now found herself working in.
None of it had worked out like she’d thought it would. Not that she’d really thought about it at all. Not at first. It had all happened so quickly. When she’d taken the baby, she hadn’t imagined Ma would cut her out completely. Stupidly, she thought that Ma would be pleased with her. Kind to her. Proud of her even. Though that was the problem – she should’ve known what Ma was like, but for one crazy minute she’d convinced herself that her aunt would suddenly start to care.
Where she’d got that idea from, she didn’t know. Her whole childhood with Ma had been spent either avoiding getting a beating or lying on her back earning her keep. Perhaps, it was because it’d felt nice, really nice when Alfie and Vaughn had been kind to her and she hadn’t wanted that feeling of being cared for to disappear. But not only had Ma refused to tell her exactly what was going on with Mia, but her aunt had screamed at her when she’d asked to stay the night, refusing to even lend her ten pounds to get something to eat.
She’d had nowhere to go so she’d decided to go back to Charlie’s, thinking that everything was back to normal and he’d forgiven her for staying away, but the moment she’d walked in, Charlie had pounced on her, giving her a black eye.
She’d fought back and had been lucky to catch Charlie in the stomach, managing to get away before he did her some serious damage. But now she knew that unless she wanted Charlie to put her in the ground, there was no way on earth she could go back to him.
On the way out of Charlie’s she’d seen Alfie going in, but she’d felt too humiliated to go and say hello. She hadn’t wanted to admit to him that yet again she had nowhere to go. But perhaps the main reason she hadn’t gone up to Alfie was because she hadn’t known what, if anything, Ma had told him about her involvement in taking the baby. The last thing she wanted was Alfie being angry with her. Taking Mia had never been about Alfie; it had always been about Franny, but now it had turned into one big mess.
The only good news she’d had recently was she’d heard a rumour that Charlie was in hospital; though whether that was true or not she wasn’t sure. The rumour mill of Soho had a way of exaggerating things but if he was, she certainly wasn’t going to take him a bunch of flowers.
‘Oi, Shannon, hurry up, you’ve got a client.’
Shannon glanced at Laura, a tall skinny blonde behind the desk whose body looked out of proportion due to her enormously large breasts. Shannon gave a small smile then looked at the monitor watching a small, stocky, well-built man walking up the stairs.
Sullenly, Shannon said, ‘Who is he?’
‘Just another perv who likes them young. He’s only been coming a little while but he’s not keen on me – he thinks I’m too old for him. He’ll probably go for you … It’s your lucky day, darlin’ … Don’t look like that, money’s money.’
Shannon shuddered. She could feel her eyes beginning to prick with tears and it was stupid because she’d lost count of the amount of men she’d slept with over the years and she’d certainly lost count of the number of blow jobs she’d given. She couldn’t even remember when she’d first lost her virginity, though she knew it was somewhere between the ages of seven and eight.
She had thought that getting a job in the sauna – which was situated behind Tottenham Court Road in a grimy, upstairs flat – would mean that there was a chance she could work behind the reception area making bookings; something she’d always dreamt about, or even cleaning the rooms; she wouldn’t have minded that either. But it turned out apart from the owner having already told her that was never going to happen, the clients were even worse than they had been at Charlie’s, and although she’d been there less than a day, she already hated it.
‘What’s he like?’
Blowing a bubble, Laura shrugged. ‘Put it this way, all the girls here hate him. They call him Mr Weirdo. He likes it rough and when I say rough, I mean seriously rough. When I had to go with him, I couldn’t walk properly for a week. I looked like I was doing an impression of John Wayne. I don’t think my fanny could take a hammering like that anymore.’ She cackled, then added, ‘Anyway, just be careful. There’s something not quite right about him … Go on then, say hello.’
As the man made it to the top of the stairs, Laura pushed Shannon – who felt nervous and ill at ease – forward.
Shannon stared at him in disgust. He was small and squat but strongly built and muscular. His face looked like he’d been in one too many fights and she didn’t like the way he was looking at her, not once taking his eyes off her and not once showing any flicker of emotion on his face.
Grinning, Laura chewed on her now tasteless gum. ‘You’ve got Shannon today. She’s new but she’ll look after you, won’t you, Shan?’
Without answering, Shannon nodded as she walked towards room number two, biting on her lip to stop the tears rolling down her face.
Opening the door to the tiny room, which had a small massage table in it, Shannon walked in, followed by the man who still hadn’t said a word to her.
Feigning confidence, Shannon said, ‘So, what do you fancy today, mate?’
Barry Eton stared at the girl. She was slightly older than he usually liked but then she was better than nothing. He had been going to pay his son Charlie a visit, not only to have one of his girls who by all accounts were prime and up for the taking, but also to give him a surprise; after all twenty-odd years in prison was a long time. But it turned out Charlie was in hospital, so it’d have to wait. He’d waited all this time, so what difference would another few days make?
He’d been out of prison for a couple of months now, but he hadn’t been to see Charlie or even spoken to him. He’d been too busy reacquainting himself with all his old contacts. Though he’d seen and spoken to his daughter Ma a few times, and now they were going into business together, well they’d be seeing a lot more of each other. They were certainly birds of a feather.
Ma had always been different from his other kids who’d liked to complain. Even though she hadn’t necessarily enjoyed certain things when she was a child, Ma had just kept her mouth shut, something he certainly couldn’t say abo
ut his other kids.
The only one who hadn’t given evidence against him, albeit she hadn’t gone to court – too afraid according to his barrister – had been Ma. His other kids had turned against him, giving written statements along with Charlie’s testament and Alfie’s evidence. Oh yes, Alfie Jennings, that was a name he’d never forget. Alfie owed him big time.
He’d been found guilty because the jury, of course, had fallen for the bleats and whines of the hard-done-by Eton kids. Well it was a fucking joke. Anyone would think they hadn’t had a roof over their heads. But it was more of a joke now because he only had to look at his kids and know that he’d done them a favour; if it wasn’t for him, Charlie would never be on the path he was, earning good money and enjoying all the fruits that came with it.
And of course Ma. She had set herself up as a bit of a madam, and although when she was a kid he hadn’t thought she’d come to much, she had proved him wrong; growing up into a woman he was proud of. Not only that, it seemed that family meant something to Ma. She’d taken in his granddaughter when her no-good mother had overdosed on smack in some back alley. He hadn’t been sorry to hear of her death; in truth it couldn’t have come quick enough. After all, if it hadn’t been for her crying like a baby, making Charlie worry about her all those years ago, the court case would never have happened. So, the way he saw it was what goes around comes around.
Snapping himself out of his thoughts, Barry Eton lurched forward, grabbing the girl roughly by the hair. She squealed and the tears that had been threatening to come began to roll down her face.
‘You little whore, take your knickers off.’
Shaking, Shannon stared into the man’s eyes. There was something about him that didn’t feel right, something more than the usual clients. She shook her head. ‘I don’t want to do this no more … I’m sorry, you’ll have to get one of the other girls.’
Barry Eton scoffed. He knew he looked younger than his sixty-two years as his muscles – a consequence of working out every day in the prison gym for the past twenty-two years – bulged through his black jumper. ‘If I wanted one of the other girls, I would’ve asked for them, so you’re not going anywhere.’