by Jacqui Rose
‘Who? What are you talking about? Shannon, who did you see?’
Shannon’s face paled. She really wanted to tell Vaughn about Charlie and how much he’d upset her, but something in his eyes told her that she was probably better off leaving it. ‘I … I … just … saw someone I knew from my past and I was worried that they might follow me here … That’s why I didn’t come back straight away.’
Vaughn continued to stare at her. She looked terrible. It was clear that she’d been crying and she did sound genuine. ‘You better not be lying to me, Shannon, because I’ve had it up to here with people lying right to my face, and if you and me are going to make this work, then we have to have nothing but honesty between us. Do you understand?’
Shannon swallowed and nodded as she passed Mia to Vaughn. Apart from making sure Mia was safe, the only thing that did matter to her was making sure that Vaughn trusted her.
‘Yeah, of course, but I wouldn’t risk it, I wouldn’t do anything to mess this up. I’m happy here and I appreciate what you’ve done for me. The last thing I’m going to do is screw this up. It’s the best thing that’s happened to me.’
Shannon smiled and in that moment Vaughn felt terrible. He had no right to take it out on her. She was a good kid and had basically done everything that he’d asked of her, including giving a statement to Detective Balantyne behind Alfie’s back.
She hadn’t questioned it. She hadn’t asked him for anything in return and she certainly hadn’t mentioned it to Alfie. She’d just listened to what she had to do and backed up his story about Franny and what had happened to Bree. So who cared? Who cared that she took Mia for a walk, instead of letting some scummy lowlife follow her to the flat? In fact, it was a pretty smart thing she’d done.
Backing down, he smiled at her. ‘Look, Shan, I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t mean to snap at you. I’m a bit wound up. I had no right to have a pop at you. What do you say I go and get a curry for us both? And then we can watch a bit of telly later. You up for it?’
Shannon’s smile lit up her entire face. She nodded enthusiastically. ‘Yeah, that would be great. I’ll put Mia to bed now if you like.’
‘Sounds like a plan.’
Vaughn leant over and kissed Mia on the head before impulsively kissing Shannon on the head as well. She really was like a crazy kid sister. ‘That’s my girl.’
And with that, Vaughn turned and left, leaving Shannon to whisper back at him, ‘Yeah, I am your girl, I am.’
Twenty minutes later, Shannon had given Mia a quick bath and put her in her cot where she was now sound asleep.
She stood watching Mia for a moment, her thoughts fleeting from Alfie to Franny and then to Vaughn before she quietly closed the door.
She could feel butterflies in her tummy at the idea of spending the evening watching a movie on the couch with Vaughn. Just her and him with no one else about. It was perfect.
Looking about and realising she’d left the flat in a bit of a mess, she rushed around to tidy up the magazines, nail polish, make-up and the numerous different cuddly toys Mia had.
Sticking most of the stuff underneath the expensive leather couch, she smiled to herself in anticipation. Any minute now Vaughn would be home. Then, hearing a tap at the front door, Shannon rushed over to it. No doubt Vaughn was weighed down with takeaway food, having never been very good at making a choice between the various dishes on offer. She took a deep breath and smoothed down her clothes before taking a quick look in the mirror.
And with a huge grin, she threw open the big, cream front door. ‘I don’t know why you get so much. We chucked most of it away last time, and anyway—’ Shannon’s words and smile froze. Standing opposite her on a pair of crutches was Uncle Charlie. ‘What the fuck are you doing here?’
Charlie roared with laughter as he leant his weight on one of his crutches to enable him to wipe his nose on his hand. ‘I take it you ain’t exactly pleased to see me. You could hurt a fella’s feelings with talk like that. Look, I just thought our conversation didn’t end very well, and you seemed upset.’
Shannon glanced nervously down the marbled corridor. She hissed at her uncle, ‘You need to get out of here. If Vaughn finds you …’
She trailed off as Charlie’s obese body heaved with laughter. ‘He’ll what? I didn’t know there were any rules about me visiting me niece … I know I said this already but you’re looking good by the way – Vaughnie is certainly looking after you well.’ He stared at her large breasts, licking his lips.
With her voice full of worry, and a sense of weight pressing down on her chest, Shannon pleaded with her uncle. ‘I’m begging you, he’ll go mad if he finds you here. You’ll ruin it. You’ll ruin everything … He doesn’t want me speaking to you.’
Charlie feigned hurt. ‘Well that’s not a way to treat family, is it? I tell you what, why don’t you invite me in and let me take the weight off me feet, well, foot.’ He chuckled unkindly and stopped to look down at his legs, one of which was clearly a prosthetic limb from the knee down. A consequence from the ‘run-in’ he’d had with Alfie.
Desperate, Shannon’s face was drawn. ‘Uncle Charlie, he’ll chuck me out if he thinks I’m having anything to do with you …’
Shannon recoiled as Charlie leant forward. ‘And we can’t have that can we, not now you’ve got the hots for him.’
Wide-eyed, Shannon said, ‘Why are you doing this? Why do you want to spoil this for me? I ain’t ever done anything to you. Please, please, this is the best thing that has happened to me and …’
‘Shan, is that you? Come and help me with this. I’ve got me arms full.’
From down at the bottom of the corridor, Shannon heard Vaughn calling from the stairwell. She felt sick and began to tremble. The only way out was the same way as Vaughn was coming up, and there was no way that he could see Charlie.
Charlie winked at Shannon as he stood opposite her. He could see the sweat beginning to form on her forehead. ‘It’ll be nice to reacquaint myself with him. Long time and all that. I can tell him what a good job I think he’s doing with my niece and see if his intentions are pure.’
‘Shan. Get off that phone and come on. There’s a tikka masala with your name on it and I’m about to become worse off with a poppadum.’
Shannon leapt forward grabbing hold of her uncle’s top. ‘He can’t see you here, he just can’t. He can’t!’ She paused, her eyes darting around wildly, then pulling her uncle into the flat, she nodded. ‘Second door on the left. Go on … go on … That’s my room. Wait in there for me … But whatever you do, don’t make a sound.’
And just as Charlie went into her bedroom, Vaughn appeared at the end of the plush corridor, laden down with Waitrose bags and several takeaway bags. ‘Christ almighty, girl, didn’t you hear me calling? What were you doing anyway, smuggling your boyfriend in?’ Vaughn laughed as he struggled down the corridor.
In response, Shannon shouted angrily, her eyes filled with tears. ‘Of course not! What do you fucking take me for? I ain’t that sort of girl! Just because I sold myself don’t mean I’m easy. I had no choice and you know that. You know I never wanted to do that. I never wanted some old fella sweating and spunking all over me.’
‘Whoa, whoa, whoa! It was a joke, darlin’.’
‘Why does everyone think it’s okay to tell shit jokes at my expense?’
Vaughn placed the bags on the floor, then bent down to Shannon’s eye level. ‘Hey, hey, hey. I never meant anything by it.’
Wiping away her tears and shaking, Shannon’s voice trembled. ‘But why would you say stuff like that, anyway? I wouldn’t do that to you. I wouldn’t have a boyfriend.’
Vaughn spoke gently and warmly. ‘You know you’re allowed boyfriends or, I dunno, girlfriends. Whatever, just as long as they’re not some waster … Shan, it’s okay, it’s what teenagers do. They go on dates, they enjoy themselves.’
Coldly, she stared at him. The idea that Vaughn wouldn’t mind if she had a boyfriend cut through her
, and the hurt of it made her fill with anger. ‘Well it’s not what I do, and anyway, it’s hardly like I’ve got fucking time for all that, is it, when I’m looking after Mia. Some chance of getting a frigging boyfriend.’
Vaughn looked at her hard. ‘Sorry, Shan, I didn’t mean any harm … Listen, let’s go inside and munch on this – fuck knows I think I got a bit carried away again. Next time I’m sending you, but for now, how about we have that nice evening, hey?’
Shannon nodded but didn’t say anything. As she followed Vaughn down the long hallway, she glanced at her bedroom door, trying to stop the sense of nausea, knowing that Uncle Charlie was a matter of only a few feet away.
17
It was the early hours of the morning and Alfie still hadn’t been able to sleep. Partly due to the fact that his face felt on fire, and partly due to the fact that he was ruminating about what Vaughn had said, and the thought that he’d grassed on Franny – no matter what they thought of her – was winding him up. He still didn’t know what he was going to do about it, and if he found out that Vaughn had even so much as looked at the Old Bill again, he would be a dead man. The third reason why he couldn’t sleep was that he’d snorted over three grams of coke and he was wired to the hills.
Sighing, he sat up in bed and, dressed in only his joggers, Alfie dragged on his grey marl T-shirt, carefully pulling it over his bruised torso. He winced and ground his teeth, a side effect from the copious amounts of cocaine he’d taken.
Not that it had made him feel any better. After the first hit he’d been chasing the high and then after that he’d spun into a spiral of agitation and anger, thoughts of Franny and Vaughn rushing through his mind.
From the corner of his eye he saw his phone screen light up: two missed calls. Frowning, he pressed voicemail, putting it on loudspeaker as he stood up and grabbed the bottle of vodka from the side.
‘Mr Jennings, it’s Ed Romano, Ms Doyle’s solicitor. She’s requested that I get in contact with you. She’s hoping that you might pay her a visit, so perhaps you can contact me. There’s a—’
Not wanting to hear any more of the message, Alfie rushed back across to the phone and clicked it off. The pain from the sudden movement shot through him and just for a moment he closed his eyes, picturing Franny. Then with a loud roar of anger he threw the phone across the bedroom.
Breathing heavily, with his whole body aching, Alfie took a large swig of vodka. If that bitch thought for just one second he was going to go and see her, then she had another thing coming. Hell would freeze over first.
He always knew that women could be dangerous and calculating, but Franny was something else. She had surpassed everything he thought she was capable of, with a ruthlessness and a coldness that would surprise some of the hardest men he knew.
She had lied. Pretended. Befriended, before she went on to kill Bree. He didn’t understand what had happened. What had Bree done so wrong for Franny to have murdered her in cold blood?
No one had answers for him; when he’d asked Vaughn all he’d said was that he’d been trailing Franny because he suspected she was stealing from them again and he’d wanted to know exactly what she was up to.
So, with Shannon in tow, Vaughn had tracked her down and apparently seen Franny and Bree together having a huge row. He’d then followed them into Bree’s flat, and he’d watched Franny – too late to do anything about it – deliberately push Bree down the stairs. When Franny had seen Vaughn and Shannon, she’d run off into the night … That had been Vaughn’s version of events.
But something just didn’t feel right, or add up about it. Alfie felt like there were too many unanswered questions. Or perhaps it was just he didn’t want to believe that Franny had done that … Yes, yes, he knew she was ruthless and tough – after all she’d been brought up by one of the hardest, toughest faces around – but to kill Bree who she’d genuinely come to like? It seemed inconceivable.
To kill someone like Bree, who was to all intents and purposes harmless … well, it just didn’t sound like Franny. But then, Franny had fooled him before; lied to him and betrayed him by keeping the fact that he had a daughter from him.
Even when Mia had gone missing and when they’d thought Barry had taken her, Franny hadn’t actually told him who Mia was. She’d told him Mia belonged to a friend of hers. And because he’d been too fucked up at the time, too high on coke, he’d believed her. And God, didn’t he feel a mug.
Maybe all along Franny hadn’t even cared in the first place about Bree. Maybe it had just been an act, and perhaps it came down to the fact that Franny wasn’t capable of loving or caring … and that thought cut deep, because as much as he’d never say it to Vaughn or anyone, the idea that Franny might not have cared about him either, bothered him more than he wanted to admit. Shit.
God, she must’ve been laughing at him. So when he actually put it all together, maybe it wasn’t so much of a stretch to believe Franny had killed Bree in cold blood. And now the bitch wanted him to go and see her. Well, he had news for her: she could rot in hell.
Suddenly a noise coming from the hallway disturbed his thoughts. He turned quickly to look, and instinctively reached for the gun he kept hidden under the bed.
Quietly he moved, creeping around the room, reaching for and switching off the light.
In the darkness Alfie edged forward, listening out all the time for noise. But he couldn’t hear anything now – only his heart racing as he gripped the gun, feeling the sweat beginning to run down his back.
Trying to steady himself, he breathed out. It wasn’t helping he was still high and he wasn’t sure if it was paranoia kicking in, but he was certain there was someone in the corridor on the other side of his newly fitted front door.
Carefully and as silently as he could, Alfie crouched down, staring at the bottom of the door, trying to see if he could spot a shadow moving underneath it. But after a few moments, he stood back up, unable to see or hear anything else.
Still being cautious, Alfie stepped over to the door, leaning in to look through the door’s peephole. There was no one there. Or no one he could see. So, taking another deep breath, he reached for the handle, opening the door slowly at the same time as flicking the safety off the gun.
His heart pounded as he pointed his gun left and right into the hallway, but seeing the corridor was empty, he began to relax. He put the safety catch back on the gun and sighed. He was tired and clearly paranoid and needed some sleep.
Annoyed with himself for being so jumpy, Alfie went to go back inside his flat, but he stopped and frowned. On the floor there was what looked like a small present, gift-wrapped in baby pink and silver paper.
Picking it up, Alfie took it into the flat. He walked through to the kitchen and placed the gun on the side alongside the parcel. No doubt it was for Mia. Probably left earlier by Vaughn on his way out; this thought pissed him off no end.
He shook his head. It was clearly Vaughn’s fucked-up way of trying to encourage him to take an interest in Mia. Well, the next time he saw him, he’d give him a piece of his mind. In fact, why wait for the next time when he could do it right now.
Stomping through to get his phone from the bedroom, he grabbed it off the floor from where he’d thrown it at the wall earlier. Then marching back through to the kitchen he pressed dial. It went to voicemail, but undeterred and full of anger, Alfie decided to leave a message as he started to unwrap the present.
‘Vaughn, it’s me, Alf. I don’t know what the fuck you were thinking, but if you reckon leaving presents for Mia is going to make me want to look after her, then you can think again, mate, cos—’ He suddenly stopped talking and in shock he threw the package down on the counter. Inside the paper was a jewellery box and inside the jewellery box was a severed ear.
Breathing hard, he stared at it in horror. It was a freshly cut human ear sitting in a pool of blood.
Suddenly realising that he was still on the call to Vaughn, Alfie muttered into the phone.
�
��Listen … forget about it … I’ll speak to you later … okay …’ He clicked it off and as he did so he saw a card in the box.
Not wanting to touch the ear, he shook the contents out onto his kitchen counter. The card was covered in blood but Alfie was just about able to make out the words. It read.
Mr Jennings, this is what happened to the last person who didn’t listen. I thought this might be useful to you because it seems to me like you’re a bit hard of hearing when it comes to giving me my money back. So think on, Mr Jennings, neither of us would want anything to happen to your daughter, would we?
Alfie bellowed an incoherent noise and with trembling hands he screwed up the card and threw it into the sink. Huang was enjoying playing games with him and he couldn’t see any way out of this. One way or another he needed to come up with the money as soon as possible. And as much as he hated the thought of it, perhaps he’d need to pay Franny a visit after all …
18
Shannon woke up and stared at the ceiling. Last night had been ruined. She’d thought she was going to spend a fun evening with Vaughn watching a movie. Instead she’d spent most of the evening thinking about Uncle Charlie waiting in her bedroom. Then to make matters worse, Vaughn had taken an important phone call and the night they’d originally planned together had turned into a disaster.
Wiping away the tears that rolled from the corners of her eyes, Shannon continued to stare at the ceiling. Mia would be waking up in a minute and as much as she enjoyed caring for her she wasn’t certain that she could concentrate enough to do a good job today.
She sighed heavily and felt more tears begin to run down her face.
‘Good morning, sweetheart, I hope you slept as well as me.’ Her uncle Charlie lay in the bed next to her. He snuggled up and she shuddered as his obese body rubbed up against hers.