by Jacqui Rose
63
‘What do you mean they didn’t find anything?’ That same evening Franny spoke on her phone in her cell to Alfie.
‘I just told you, they couldn’t find anything in the flat.’
Franny paced about as Jessie and Emma looked on. ‘Then what went fucking wrong?’
‘I don’t know. I spoke to my source and he said that they searched the place, every inch of the place and they went away with nothing.’
Franny kicked the wall, staring out of her cell window. ‘Then you must have hidden it too well … if you hid the stuff at all, that is.’
Fuming, Alfie growled down the phone, ‘I did exactly what you said. I tipped the police off that he had a gun and that there was stuff they’d be interested in.’
‘You mean Bree’s stuff.’
‘Yes, Fran, that’s exactly what I mean and you know it is. I put them in the bottom of the couch and apparently they looked there but like I say they found nothing. I don’t understand it, but then I also don’t understand how calling the coppers makes me any better than what Vaughn did to you.’
Trying to hold herself together, Franny snarled, ‘How can you even compare the two? It’s totally different. He had this coming or he would’ve done if you hadn’t fucked up.’
Standing in his kitchen, Alfie gazed out of his window. ‘How many times do I have to tell you I didn’t fuck up? Maybe Shannon found it.’
‘And why would Shannon be looking under a fucking couch? And besides, she’s been busy doing something for me.’
‘I told you to leave her alone. She’s just a kid. If I find out you’ve been making her part of your game, I’ll—’
Franny interrupted. ‘You’ll what? You’ll sacrifice your own life for her? You’ll be happy for Huang to kill you for Shannon? Because don’t forget I still need to pay him, and the way this is going, that ain’t going to happen – and if you threaten me, Alfie, it’s definitely not going to happen. So go on, is it what you want? Are you going to sacrifice yourself for her?’
Alfie walked through and stared at a sleeping Mia, and he knew it wasn’t an option. It pained him that he couldn’t tell Franny yes, and it hurt him more to know that Shannon didn’t have anybody in her life who would sacrifice anything for her.
Feeling emotional, Alfie whispered his reply. ‘No, I’m not.’
‘I thought as much … Look, I can hear someone coming. I’ll speak to you later.’
As Franny hid the phone in her shoe, Officer Brown sauntered into the cell. ‘Doyle.’
Franny looked up and stared at her in contempt. ‘What the fuck do you want?’
Officer Brown walked up to Franny and stared at her. ‘It’s lucky for you that you’re getting out today, otherwise you and me would have a problem.’
Franny blinked and a surge of emotion rushed through her. ‘I’m getting out?’
Officer Brown pulled a face. ‘Has this place made you deaf as well? I said you’re going. Apparently your solicitor got an emergency bail hearing this morning. You’ve certainly got friends in the right places.’
A smile spread across Franny’s face. Her solicitor must’ve got the photos of Balantyne and Shannon in front of the CPS quicker than she’d thought he would. More to the point it’d worked. And, smiling, she said, ‘I bet it really bothers you, doesn’t it? I bet it eats you up that I’m getting out.’
‘If I knew you wouldn’t be back, perhaps it would. But I’ll see you again, Doyle. People like you always come back.’
‘Not me.’
Officer Brown turned away and headed out. ‘That’s what they all say, Doyle. Now hurry up, we need to check you out.’
Franny turned to look at Jessie and Emma. Her excitement was palpable. ‘It worked. It bloody worked! I can’t believe the photos worked. It actually frigging worked.’
Jessie looked at Franny but there was sadness in her eyes. ‘I’m pleased for you, Fran, I really am.’
Franny went to give her a hug. ‘You’ll be all right and if you’re not, call me and let me know. Plus you’ve got Emma to look after you. You ain’t alone now … Make sure when you get out you look me up. You hear me?’
Jessie nodded. ‘Thank you, Fran, thank you for everything.’
Turning to Emma, Franny smiled. ‘And as for you, I’m sure it won’t be long till you get out of here. I’ve just got a feeling … Stay in touch, won’t you? Good friends are hard to find and when I find one, I know how lucky I am.’ She smiled again then gave Emma her hidden phone. ‘Here, you might want this. I’ll call you. Take care, babe, I’ll see you on the other side.’
She began to walk away but Emma called her back.
‘So what’s the first thing you’re going to do, Fran? You going to treat yourself?’
Franny turned and winked at Emma. ‘Oh yes I’m going to treat myself all right. I’m going to buy myself a big, sweet box of revenge.’
64
‘Why? Why did you do it?’ The next morning Shannon stood at the door of Charlie’s flat staring at him as he lay on his black leather couch eating a large packet of Maltesers.
He broke wind and stared at Shannon. ‘What are you talking about?’
She ran up to him and standing above him she said, ‘What am I talking about? Are you serious? Vaughn’s thrown me out; it’s over. The best thing that ever happened to me in my life is over. Do you hear that, Uncle Charlie?’
Charlie tutted. ‘Well it’s hard not to, seeing as you’re shouting. Go and get me a tea will you?’
Shannon kicked the coffee table, knocking it spinning across the wooden floor. ‘Get it your fucking self.’
Charlie’s eyes narrowed. ‘Oh that’s how it’s going to be is it?’ He stood up and Shannon slightly backed off as he stepped forward. ‘You’re lucky I don’t beat the shit out of you.’
‘Well it wouldn’t make any difference would it? I couldn’t hurt more than I do already.’
‘Stop the melodrama, Shan. You’re back home now, where you belong. I knew you’d come crawling back.’
Shannon shook her head. Her eyes were tired from crying. ‘This ain’t my home. Any place where you are ain’t home.’
Charlie leant into her face. ‘It’s the only home you’ve got, so I’d be grateful if I were you. Now go and make that fucking tea before I put my fist through your face … Oh, and seeing as you’ve been on a break for the past few months, I thought you could get straight back to work. I’ve arranged for some of your old punters to come and visit you tonight. It can be one big celebration, one happy family.’
Shannon began to shake. ‘I ain’t doing it.’
‘Oh, Shan, you are. You ain’t got any choice, darlin’.’
Screaming at him and backing towards the wall, Shannon pointed. ‘I’m sick of people saying I ain’t got a choice, because I wanted one. I wanted a choice. And my choice was to be happy. That’s all. I didn’t want money; I didn’t want clothes. I only wanted to be happy. Ain’t that supposed to be free? Cos it feels like I paid a price trying to get what other people have …Why couldn’t you let me be happy? Why didn’t you want to see me happy, Uncle Charlie?’
Charlie stared at her then slapped her hard across the face. ‘I told you already, stop the dramatics.’
Shannon rubbed her face. ‘Don’t do that! I ain’t your punching bag!’
Roaring with laughter, Charlie said, ‘You’re anything I want you to be.’
Choking back the pain and her words full of sadness, Shannon spoke quietly. ‘Not anymore. I ain’t doing this anymore. None of this had to happen, none of it … It never had to come to this … Now please, just let me go.’
He slammed her against the wall, putting his hand around her throat. ‘You’re not going anywhere. You’re mine, Shan, mine to do what I want with. When will you understand that?’
Continuing to shake, Shannon looked at him as her tears blurred her vision. ‘And when will you understand that’s not how it’s meant to be, Uncle Charlie? You’ve made your
choice that this is how you want it to be and how you want to live your life, well now I’m going to tell you my choice … My choice is: it’s over … It’s over, Uncle Charlie.’
And with those words Shannon slipped the scissors out of her pocket and stabbed her uncle in his back, over and over again.
65
‘Hello, Alfie.’
Alfie stood and gazed in shock at Franny standing at his front door.
‘How … when … how the fuck did you get out?’
Franny smiled. ‘Oh it’s a long story.’
He grabbed her arm. ‘A story I probably won’t like. What have you done, Fran?’
Franny stared at him coolly. For all she was and for all she protected herself from being hurt, she could feel the disappointment of Alfie not being pleased to see her. But as she always did, as she was brought up to do, she turned her hurt into a cold, hard front.
‘I want to see Mia.’
Alfie shook his head. ‘No.’
Franny looked at him. ‘Get out of the way, I want to see her.’
‘You’ve done enough damage and I decide who she sees. After all, she is my daughter.’
Even though Franny thought she was protected from words, they hit her and for a moment they took her breath away. Recovering slightly she said, ‘I … I’m pleased you finally feel like that. That’s good. Well, another time … I’ll see her another time. And, Alfie, you know all this – all I’ve been doing – it’s business, that’s all it is, but when it comes to you and me … well, what I said about still being in love with you, it’s true. I do. I still love you and I want to find a way back.’
Alfie stared at Franny, refusing to be drawn in. He knew her well enough to know she was hurting right now, and damn it, as much as he fought it and as much as she was more ruthless than he ever wanted her to be, he couldn’t stop loving her either. But, as much as he also knew how much she loved Mia, he wasn’t convinced Franny’s kind of love was what he wanted around his daughter – or him.
He had a lot to think about, though with Huang still hanging over his head, now wasn’t the best of times to work out what he wanted to do and what was right and what was wrong.
Sighing he said, ‘What do you want, Fran? How many pounds of flesh do you need from me now?’
‘This is the last thing I want.’
Alfie shrugged. ‘And that is?’
‘I’ll pay your debt, but before I do, I want you to bring Vaughn to me on a plate. And this time you’re not going to mess up.’
It was a couple of hours later and Franny had detoured along Kennington Road, near Elephant and Castle. She took a right turn and pulled up. Checking the time, she looked at her phone. She needed to be quick, but there was something she had to do.
Getting out of the car she hurried along the street, enjoying every moment of her freedom. Ducking into a shop, she picked up a packet of gum and walked to the counter. She smiled.
‘I’ll have that please … Oh yeah and I nearly forgot.’ Out of her pocket she pulled a gun and pointed it at the man. She drew back the trigger and she watched the man’s face pale as beads of sweat trickled down his face. As he put his hands up in the air, Franny saw that he had wet himself in fear.
She smiled again, getting the money out of her jeans to pay for the gum. ‘So here’s the thing: I came here to tell you, if you ever, ever touch, look at or speak to Jessie again, I will come back and blow your fucking head off.’
66
Shaking, Shannon stood opposite the police station in Agar Street in Covent Garden. It was a tall, cream building and she watched the police and pedestrians milling in and out. She didn’t know how long she’d been standing there, and she didn’t know how she’d got there in the first place. All she remembered was the blood on her hands – Charlie’s blood. And unlike last time, this time she knew he was really dead.
She’d showered and changed and then the rest was all a blank. Everything seemed to be a blank, no matter how hard she tried to remember. She couldn’t even recall walking out of the flat, but somehow she’d found herself standing here.
She blinked and then, trembling, Shannon began to cross the road towards the police station. She had to talk; she had to explain. Maybe if they understood why she’d done it they wouldn’t make her go to prison.
‘Shan? Shan, are you all right? Shannon, it’s raining, you’ll catch your death.’ Alfie, who was having to take a detour because of the amount of traffic in Holborn, called over from his car as he suddenly spotted Shannon.
‘Shannon! Hey, Shannon!’
Frowning, he watched her walk, looking like she was in a trance. Quickly he pulled up at the side of the road, unbuckling the seat belt of his Range Rover before running over to her.
‘Shan! Shan, didn’t you hear me?’
Shannon blinked and then looked at Alfie.
‘Shannon, what’s going on, didn’t you hear me calling you? What are you doing here? Why’re you going in there? Why are you going into a police station?’ Alfie bombarded her with questions but she still didn’t answer, and frustrated he grabbed her gently by the shoulders, bending down to look in her face. ‘Shan, have you taken something? Are you on that shit again? Tell me. I can’t help you if you don’t tell me … Is this about Franny? Or is it about Vaughn?’
‘I didn’t mean to hurt him. I just wanted him to stop.’
Puzzled and worried about her, Alfie asked, ‘Who, baby? Who did you hurt? Vaughn?’
She shook her head and Alfie, trying to put the pieces together, said, ‘Is that why you’re here? Because you hurt someone?’
Again Shannon didn’t answer and again Alfie tried to figure out what was going on. ‘Shan, please tell me, whatever it is, you can tell me.’
‘It’s Charlie.’
‘Charlie? You hurt Charlie?’
‘Yeah, and I need to tell someone.’ She moved forward towards the station but Alfie grabbed her, pulling her to the side near the black railings.
‘Listen, sweetheart, I don’t know what exactly has happened, but I do know whatever it is, going to tell the Old Bill what you’ve done maybe isn’t the best way to go.’
‘But I need to explain. Maybe they’ll understand.’
With his mind racing at all the possibilities of what she might have done, Alfie said, ‘You’re a good kid and a lot of bad things have happened to you, and I know the way you looked after Mia was loving and kind and I know that you’ve got a good heart. And I reckon that you’d only hurt someone if they hurt you, and I know that Charlie hurt you over and over again. I won’t let you ruin your life for Charlie. He’s done enough damage already. It should be him here, not you.’
Shannon suddenly burst into tears. ‘But he can’t, that’s the point. He can’t do anything anymore …’
And as Alfie was about to say something else, Shannon panicked and ran off into the rainy night.
67
Stumbling along and banging into all the passers-by, a scared and bewildered Shannon made her way through the familiar streets of Soho. The rain was getting heavier and she didn’t know how long she’d been walking around – nothing felt real anymore and it seemed like she had a constant screaming in her head. She didn’t know where to turn and she had nowhere to go.
She slowed down, then she found herself heading towards Gerrard Street – making her way, almost in a trance, down into the basement of Mr Huang’s Chinese restaurant. She supposed it was where she belonged; turning tricks and smoking crack. Why she’d thought that she deserved a better, happier life, she didn’t know. Why she’d thought that Vaughn could’ve loved her was a complete joke. Uncle Charlie had always told her she was nothing but a piece of trash, and at that moment Shannon Mulligan believed he’d been right.
It was late as Franny pulled up a few streets away from Balantyne’s house. As she made her way along the road she could see his car parked on the driveway and, quickly checking behind her, she headed for the pink, wooden side gate, looking for the tall p
otted plant where Emma had told her that she kept a spare key.
Finding it exactly where it was supposed to be, Franny grabbed it and made her way to the front door. Then, as carefully and as quietly as she could, she unlocked it, stepping around the shoes and straight into the hallway of Balantyne’s house.
Creeping along, Franny made her way up the stairs and as Emma had instructed her she took a right at the top of them and headed for the first door.
Opening it quietly, Franny tiptoed into the room with her gun at the ready. ‘Hello, Tony. Going somewhere?’
Balantyne jumped, turning around from the suitcase he’d been packing. His face twisted in shock and then into rage at the sight of Franny. ‘What the hell are you doing here?’
‘I’ve come for you, Tony. Surely you were expecting me? You must’ve heard that they let me out. How did that feel, Tone? How did it feel to hear that I was out? I mean all that effort you went to in trying to nail me, for it to come to nothing.’
Balantyne’s fury bubbled into his words. ‘Get out of my house! Get out!’
Franny laughed as she continued to point the gun at Balantyne. Then her voice dropped to a menacing tone. ‘Is that the best you can do? Is that the only thing you can say to me? I ain’t going anywhere, and neither are you, because we’re going to have a little chat. I don’t like people messing with my life and thinking they can get away with it.’
Not backing down from Franny, Balantyne stared at her. ‘So what are you going to do, kill me?’
‘I could, but what fun would that be? Cos once I put a bullet in your head, it’s over, and I wouldn’t be able to see you suffering. And that’s what I want. I want to see you squirm.’
Balantyne stared at her. He hadn’t known for certain that they were going to let her out – in fact they’d told him very little. But he knew that something was going on when he’d got an off-record call from a good friend, one of his colleagues at the station, giving him the heads up that they were going to bring him in for questioning.