by Jacqui Rose
‘Uncle Alfie! Please!’
Alfie Jennings looked astonished. What the hell was the matter with the girl? Oh fuck, of course. It was probably the first time she’d seen a dead body and definitely the first time in these circumstances. What the fuck was Franny doing letting her in like that? The poor kid. His niece might be a pain but she certainly didn’t deserve to see the stuff tonight.
Alfie winked at Chloe-Jane. ‘Listen babe, I know it’s been a shock, but you’ll be alright girl. I would’ve given the world at your age to be on me own in a cushy flat. No one to tell you what to do, no one to give you grief. I long for that meself at times.’ He grinned, then whispered in her ear, ‘I appreciate everything you’ve done.’
Chloe didn’t listen. ‘Take me with you … I can come with you. I’ll do whatever you want me to do. I’ll cook, clean … Please.’ She looked over at Franny.
‘Franny, just say yes, just let me.’
‘Chloe, you’re just in shock. Everything will be fine. It’s like Alfie says you’ll be fine, and I’m betting you’ll even have fun.’
‘Don’t leave me … I ain’t got anyone else.’
Grabbing hold of Chloe, Franny pulled her completely away from the others, closely followed by Alfie.
‘Chloe, I’m sorry but I have to go away. We have to go away. Me and Alfie. It won’t be safe for us to stay here. I love Alfie, and Alfie loves me so we both have to go. He’s my family.’
‘He ain’t your family. He’s my family. Mine!’
Franny looked shocked. ‘Chloe!… Please, you don’t have to be like that.’
‘Then stay … Stay.’
Franny glanced at Alfie who was taking the easy option of saying nothing.
‘I can’t stay. Alfie needs me, all the other faces have turned against him. For some reason Vaughn has started this vendetta, and it’s only going to get worse. They don’t want to hear the truth. We’ve told them Alfie’s had nothing to do with breaking the rules. You’ve told them. And it’s because of that I have to go.’
‘You’re leaving because they won’t believe Alfie?’
‘Yes, Chloe. That’s exactly right.’
‘Well then you need to stay, because Uncle Alfie lied to you.’
24
‘Where is she?’ Lola ran into the corridor of Whispers, letting herself in by the spare set of keys she held for Alfie. Doc had been in her café, admiring her new décor as she told him about her varicose veins and wondered if he could do anything about her bunions when the phone call had come in about Casey.
Both she and Doc had set off at a pace, but like everyone that day, they’d been diverted and had ended up going the long way via Shaftesbury Avenue to get to the club.
A moment behind her came Doc. Grey-haired and red-faced. ‘Where is she?’ Doc spoke to Del, repeating Lola’s concern.
‘It’s too late, Doc … She’s dead.’
‘No … No, she can’t be. This is Casey we’re talking about. Casey. She’s a fighter.’ Lola spun round to look at everyone; refusing to accept what Del had just said.
‘I’m sorry, Lola … I really am.’
‘Well, where is she? I want to see for meself, Frank. Tell me where she is?’ No one was forthcoming, but Lola saw the flicker of an unconscious glance towards the internal door which led upstairs.
‘She’s upstairs ain’t she?… She’s up in the flat.’
‘Lola, leave it … Vaughn’s up there …’ Del spoke but Lola had no intention of leaving anything. She sped forward, looking like a woman half her age.
Hurtling up the stairs, Lola barged into the flat without knocking. ‘Casey!… Casey, love. It’s me, Lola. Casey! …’
Not seeing anyone, Lola made her way through to the next room. ‘Casey!… Ca—’ Lola’s words froze like icicles in the air. There in front of her was Vaughn, sitting on the bed, soaked in blood, with Casey lying motionless next to him.
Vaughn looked up, his eyes red from the painful tears he had cried. ‘Lo … Lo …’ He couldn’t say any more; instead he stared ahead in tortuous grief.
Lola spoke to Doc who was already by the bed. ‘He’s in shock; give him something … Oh my God, Vaughn.’
Doc had been highly trained as well as highly skilful in his profession before he’d turned to the more lucrative business of gangland doctor – which included everything from taking bullets out of people, handing out false death certificates to delivering babies born to mistresses of the married faces of Soho who needed to keep a low profile. Now, he shook his head, as he leaned over and examined Casey.
Doc looked up at Vaughn with a start. ‘Vaughn … She’s alive … Casey’s alive!’
The scream from Lola had the others running up the stairs and falling over themselves to see what the noise was all about.
Franny urged Lola to tell her. ‘What’s happened? Lola, are you alright?’
‘She’s alive. Doc says she’s alive.’
Del frowned. ‘That’s impossible, how can she be?’
Doc put his stethoscope away and stood up, getting out his phone. ‘She is … Barely, but you’ll have to get her to hospital. Now.’
Del noticed Doc begin to dial a number. ‘What are you doing?’
‘I’m calling an ambulance.’
Del walked across to Doc, pulling the phone out of his hand. ‘I don’t think so.’
Lola couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She snatched the mobile phone away from Del, giving it back to Doc. ‘What the hell’s got into you? Casey’s alive … Don’t you understand?’
‘I understand, but if you think for a moment we can afford to phone the flashing lights, you’ve got another think coming. The police will turn this place upside down, they’ll come knocking and we’ll all get nicked. And I’m sorry but I ain’t risking it, I’ve got my own family. I’m not serving a stretch for anyone.’
‘So we’re just going to stand here and let Casey die?’
‘Of course not, I’ll take her to hospital; drop her off, no problem.’
Doc piped up. ‘You can’t take her, didn’t you notice all the roads and streets are blocked off because of what happened at Frankie’s club? There’s no way you’ll get through. Only an ambulance will. It’s the only chance she has. And it’s touch and go anyway; she’s lost so much blood already. It’s your call, Vaughn.’
Franny shook her head, horrified. ‘Just do what’s right, Doc, we’re wasting time.’
Del snarled at Franny. ‘What’s right? If you were looking to do what’s right, why are you even here? Ain’t nothing right about the world we live in, you know that, and it’s never bothered you before, but now all of a sudden you want to do the right thing because it suits you. Well sorry darlin’, things don’t work that way. Rules are rules, disobey them and everything gets fucked up.’
With no one else having their mobile phones on them, having run straight to Whispers, Lola gave an order. ‘Doc, phone the ambulance … Now!’
He nodded, and began to dial.
‘I said, I don’t think so.’ Del urged caution.
‘Phone them, Doc. It’s fine.’ Vaughn who hadn’t said anything till now, stood up, his legs threatening to give way. He looked around and even though he spoke to everyone who was assembled, he stared at Del, not letting him break his gaze. ‘Tell them what happened. Tell them everything they need to know. Whatever it takes.’
‘You’re making a huge mistake, Vaughn.’
Vaughn glared at him. ‘I don’t care how much it costs me, I’ll do time. I’ll do anything to keep Casey alive. Doc, go and make that call.’
Doc nodded and took the phone into the next room, closing the door behind him.
‘What are you playing at, Vaughn? Do you really think I’m going to let you bring me down with you?’
Vaughn stepped closer to Del. ‘You’ve known me long enough to know that I’ll keep your name out of it.’
‘And you’ve also been in this game long enough to know that ain’t how it works
. The Old Bill won’t stop at just that, they’ll be sniffing around and they won’t stop unless they have us all bang to rights.’
Vaughn’s expression was one of sadness. ‘They always say you find out who your friends are when the shit hits the fan, and it’s well and truly hit. Fuck knows it couldn’t hit any harder. And I can see clearly who my friends are.’
‘Whatever Vaughn, but I swear to God, you bring me down and you’ll not live to see next week; be certain of that.’
Vaughn’s jaw clenched. ‘It’s a shame you feel like that, Del. I’ll tell them it’s a domestic. Then they won’t be looking for anyone else.’
‘Tell them what you like, but you know as well as I do that now Doc’s told them Casey’s been shot, any minute now, the armed response unit will be here and I’m not hanging around. I’m going back to Spain, my life’s there with me missus and the kids; whatever happens to Soho now isn’t my concern …’ Del quickly headed for the door, but he paused as he got to Franny. ‘Tell Alfie, I won’t forget what he did … and that goes for you as well, Fran.’
There was silence for a moment before Frankie spoke, slightly embarrassed, slightly in a hurry.
‘I’m sorry Vaughn; I’m the same, I’m out of here too. I can’t afford to be found here, especially as one of my clubs has been torched. They’re going to start sniffing; it looks well suss … I’m going to lie low meself, I’ll probably head off to Spain as well, but good luck, and I wish Casey all the best.’ Frankie Taylor stared at Vaughn, feeling emotional. It felt like an end of something really special, but he wasn’t going to hang around. There was no way he was going to do some bird. He wanted to end his days lying next to his wife, not next to some hairy prison cell mate.
He smiled, patting Vaughn on the back, knowing he had to hurry if he wanted to be clear out of it by the time the Old Bill came. ‘If it’s any consolation, Vaughnie, I would’ve done the same for me missus, and so would Del, no matter what he says; we all would.’
Five minutes after all the others had left, Vaughn Sadler stood in the flat above Whispers nightclub. He bent down to kiss Casey on her lips. ‘Come on Casey. Come on baby, I know you can do it. I know you can pull through. Do it for me … For us … I’m sorry.’
He stood up with his hands in the air as he listened to the thunder of feet charge up the stairs. ‘Hands up … Get down! Get down!… On the floor, I said on the floor … Spread your legs …’ The armed response team bellowed out their orders to Vaughn as he saw Casey being stretchered away out of the corner of his eye. The rest didn’t matter. All that did was Casey was going to get a chance; some kind of chance of getting help.
So now when the police officer shouted out, ‘What happened?’ and kicked him in his side, Vaughn was willing to say, ‘It was me, officer … I shot her. I shot Casey Edwards.’
25
‘Get out! Get out!’ Franny Doyle shouted as she threw clothes into a bag.
‘What you doing?’
‘What do you think I’m doing, Chloe-Jane?… I’m packing your stuff.’
Chloe-Jane burst into tears for the second time in five minutes.
‘I’m sorry Fran … You’ve got to believe me, I’m so sorry. I never meant to hurt you. Never.’
Franny pushed the last of Chloe’s clothes into her small bag. ‘Believe you? Isn’t that what I did before? And look what happened. I warned you. I warned you not to lie to me.’
‘I only did it because I thought it’d help Uncle Alfie … I thought if you knew what he did you’d leave him … You said that you’d go to America if he was involved in the casino night … So I thought …’
‘You thought what, Chloe? You thought you’d get involved in somebody else’s relationship. Two people you don’t even know.’
Chloe retorted, ‘I do know him! He’s my uncle! He’s my family.’
‘Oh come off it, Chloe-Jane, when was the last time you saw him before you came here? Go on, tell me.’
Chloe-Jane shook her head, putting her head down as her tears dropped onto the floor.
‘I can’t.’
Franny knew she was being harsh, but she was also too angry and too hurt by Chloe and Alfie to care. Not that she knew where Alfie was; he’d done a disappearing act in the club along with Lin when everything was going down.
‘Why not, Chloe-Jane? What can’t you do?’
‘Tell you. I can’t tell you the last time I saw him … He never bothered to come and see me, but that don’t mean he ain’t my family. He is and he always will be.’
Franny protested, ‘I doubt he’ll want to know now. You’ve messed things up from both ends. You lied to me and the way Alfie will see it, you grassed him up. It’s over, Chloe. He said you were trouble and he wasn’t wrong.’
‘Why are you saying these things? Why?’
Franny’s face was red with anger. ‘Because your lies nearly cost my friend’s life; and that’s still in the balance. She could still die. Don’t you see, Chloe, your lies have caused a lot of people to get hurt? Think about it, Chloe-Jane, if you hadn’t lied to me, telling me that Alfie wasn’t involved in the casino night then I wouldn’t have gone round to Whispers. Do you understand what I’m saying? I wouldn’t have bothered, and then nothing would’ve happened to Casey.’
Chloe was distraught. ‘Franny … Please.’
Franny’s voice hardened as the images of Casey lying on the floor in Whispers flashed into her mind. ‘No, it’s not please Franny. Like I keep telling you, it’s over. I want you gone and I don’t want to see you again.’
Chloe-Jane held onto Franny; tugging at her sleeve like a young child. ‘I’m sorry!… I’m so sorry, Franny, please. Please don’t throw me out, I ain’t nowhere else to go … I got nowhere else to go.’
It hurt Franny to see such a vulnerable girl in such turmoil. But her weakness towards the situation only lasted for a moment; she knew she couldn’t live her life in the heart of such lies. She didn’t want to be around people who could hurt her. And Chloe-Jane had.
‘I’m sorry Chloe, I’ve said all I there is to say. You need to leave now.’ Franny put her hand out to Chloe-Jane. ‘Can I have my keys back?’
‘Fran …’ But the look in Franny’s eyes made Chloe stop. She’d seen that kind of look before. The look that said it was pointless. The look that told her it wasn’t worth putting up a fight any- more.
Going into her pocket, Chloe pulled out the key, placed it gently into Franny’s hand then turned and walked out of the flat, into the darkness of Soho. Alone once again.
‘Well?’ Mr Lee waited for Lin to close the door behind him. They were streaming live and the sound of the girl screaming wasn’t conducive to discussions.
Lin, feeling a bit of food in his back teeth, rolled his tongue in his mouth. ‘More interesting than either of us thought.’
‘I’m intrigued.’
‘You were right. Certainly the cat was amongst the pigeons. Vaughn Sadler’s girlfriend was shot.’
Mr Lee stood up as if he’d just received an electric shock. ‘I didn’t give you orders to do anything. Just go and see what was happening I said but now …’
Lin grinned, interrupting. ‘Not me. They had done it to themselves …’
Self-satisfied, Mr Lee nodded. ‘And so they fall.’
‘I got word from one of our sources that the only one left in Soho is Alfie Jennings.’
‘Ah, yes, the irrepressible Mr Jennings.’
‘What would you like me to do?’
Mr Lee walked across to the window. Watched the leaves fall from the tree. How apt. How like the leaves the faces of London were. So quickly they’d dropped and divided. He hadn’t expected it to be this easy.
And as they had run and dropped Soho, Mr Lee would run and pick it up. Pick it up and do with it as he saw fit. And there was nobody to get in his way, nobody except …
‘Get rid of him. Get rid of Alfie Jennings, permanently.’
Lin raised his eyebrows. ‘In any particular way
?’
Mr Lee smiled. ‘As painful and drawn-out as possible.’
26
Alfie Jennings sat in the waiting room in the hospital, his head in his hands. He didn’t even want to contemplate the past few hours’ events. He couldn’t. He had lost everything. Yes, he still had his money from the diamonds he’d sold from a robbery, given to him by Franny some time back, well for the time being anyway; but what good was money when everything you held dear had vanished or collapsed?
‘Oi, is there any word yet?’ Alfie called to the passing nurse.
‘I’m sorry, there’s no news yet, Mr …’
‘Jennings.’
Alfie went into his pocket and brought out some money. Taking a quick look round to make sure no one was watching, he pushed the money into the woman’s hand. ‘Find out, will ya?’
The nurse, tired from her long shift, sighed irritably. She stood back, distancing herself from the money. ‘I’m sorry, but that won’t make a difference.’
Alfie’s anger was palpable. ‘Won’t it?… Well how about this … And this.’ He threw more money at her, pulling fifty-pound notes out of his pocket and showering the nurse with them as if it were confetti. ‘Here you are, love. Not enough hey? Why don’t you take it all? Go on … take it. If it means you’ll tell me what’s happening with Casey; take the frigging lot.’
The nurse raised her voice to be heard over Alfie. ‘Mr Jennings!… Mr Jennings! It’s not about money.’
‘No?’
‘No … If you can just calm down, then I can explain.’
Alfie was now almost beside himself. ‘And you couldn’t have done that before hey? You couldn’t have fucking explained before?’ He kicked out at the blue plastic chair, not really thinking anything of it until a split second later when an extraordinarily sharp pain shot through his toe and into his foot, sending shockwaves of excruciating agony up his leg.