Back at the house in Soho, Franny was frantically running around, pulling out cupboards and drawers, going into each and every wardrobe. She dragged out bags and shoes, pausing every few moments to rack her brain to see if she’d made a mistake; if in all the stress she’d absentmindedly brought in the suitcase of Bree’s belongings and the black bin liner full of her bloodstained clothing, rather than leaving them in the boot like she’d thought.
But the more she tried to think, the more she couldn’t. Every day, every memory seemed to merge into another. It didn’t make sense. She was certain that she’d left them in the car. She had to think … Think. When and where had she last seen them? But each time she came back to the same answer; she’d left them in the boot and now they were missing.
Trembling, she put her hands to her face, feeling the tears dripping through her fingers.
‘Franny. Franny.’
Terrified, she screamed and looked up, spinning around. She shook her head then scrambled over to her bedside cabinet, pulling out the gun from the drawer. She pointed the gun in the air. ‘You leave me alone, you hear me? You leave me alone?’ She whirled around, hearing the wind and the rain pick up outside.
‘Franny. Franny.’
As Franny backed against the wall, she burst into manic laughter, loud and frenzied. ‘I know it’s not you, Bree. It can’t be you … I know you’re not real.’ She continued to shake as she glanced around the room but as she spun round, Franny screamed, thinking that she’d seen someone behind her. She began to shoot; firing off bullets, shot after shot, emptying the cartridge on her automatic weapon, but then she froze. Her breathing staggered and hard, she stared in upset confusion, realising that she hadn’t been shooting at anyone at all, only her own reflection in the large mirror on the wall.
‘What’s going on?’ Alfie, holding his phone, walked into the bedroom, shocked at the sight of the place strewn with clothes and the mirror shot out. He looked at Franny in disbelief. ‘Franny, what the fuck has gone on here?’
Wide-eyed, Franny stared at Alfie. ‘Leave me alone. You hear me? Just leave me alone.’
She tried to run out of the room, but Alfie grabbed her, drawing her in to him. ‘You are going to tell me what is going on because I’m not leaving here until you do. You’ve been lying to me, haven’t you, Fran?’
Silently, and with her breathing still short and shallow, Franny nodded.
‘Are you going to tell me about it?’
Shaking, she stared at him, tears rolling down her face as she nodded again.
‘Is it bad?’
Again, Franny nodded, but this time she managed to whisper the words, ‘It’s really bad, Alf, it’s really bad and I don’t think you’ll ever forgive me. I can’t even forgive myself.’
Such concern filled Alfie’s eyes that Franny had to glance away. ‘Fran, how about I make a deal with you. If you tell me now, then we leave it here, within these walls. Whatever it is, I promise I won’t bring it up again. We don’t have to talk about it unless you want to. Even if it’s killing me inside. I give you my word, I’ll make sure it won’t break us.’
Franny sobbed. ‘Alf, once you know what it is, it can’t do anything but break us.’
‘You’re scaring me now, Franny. Is there someone else? Is that it? I know I said I could never forgive you if you cheated on me, but I could get over it. It might break my heart, it might bruise my ego, but to keep you, I would do anything.’
Franny took in Alfie’s handsome face. She took in his care and love, and briefly and gently she kissed him on his lips. ‘I wish it was that, but it’s much worse.’
Alfie gave her a sad smile. ‘Worse than that?’
Again, Franny nodded.
Alfie only half joking said, ‘Killing someone ain’t even worse than that.’
Franny gave a lopsided smile. ‘It all depends on who you kill.’
Alfie frowned. ‘Well have you? Have you killed someone? I mean that’s part of the game we’re in. Look, whatever it is, I reckon you’ll feel better when you tell me, because it’s clear that it’s eating you up inside.’
Full of sincerity, Franny nodded. ‘I think you’re right. I can’t go on like this, Alf. But before I tell you, you have to understand it all started off with good intentions, but it just got out of hand, and the more I tried to stop the snowball from rolling, the bigger it got. Does that make sense?’
Alfie, agreeing, said, ‘Of course. What’s that saying … The road to hell is paved with good intentions.’
A flicker of alarm crossed Franny’s face. ‘Don’t say that.’
‘I was only joking.’
‘Well don’t. Just don’t.’
Alfie nodded. His voice was warm and loving as he said, ‘Okay, I won’t … So go on then, tell me.’
Taking a deep breath, Franny began to talk. ‘It really all started when Br …’ She stopped and closed her eyes, then trying again, she said, ‘When Br …’
‘Sorry, darlin’, I’m so sorry but I have to take this.’ Alfie glanced at his phone, which was vibrating; a call coming in. ‘I wouldn’t take it if it wasn’t urgent, but it’s about sorting out some money for the auction.’ He paused and looked at Franny, his eyes pleading with her to let him take it.
‘Yes, of course, you have to take it.’
‘Sorry. Just hold on to what you were saying, okay? I want to hear it.’
Alfie answered the phone, keeping his eyes on Franny as he listened to the caller talk, but he mouthed the word, sorry, to her before he spoke into the phone.
‘So what time should I be there, mate? And are you sure it can get sorted … good … yeah … okay, I’ll see you then.’
Clicking off the phone, Alfie turned back to Franny. ‘I think I might be able to sort a bit of money for the auction. I need to go and see them in a little while, but I’ve still got time to listen to what you were saying.’
Franny blinked and stared at Alfie. What had she been thinking? What the hell had she just been about to do? Jesus. The idea she had been seconds away from telling Alfie about Bree, about his daughter, Mia, was unthinkable. This was exactly what her father had warned her about: emotions. She had let her emotions get the better of her. She had nearly ruined everything because she had allowed her emotions to dictate her sense. And telling Alfie about Mia would’ve been the biggest mistake of her life … or rather the end of it.
And although she acknowledged that she’d just had a lucky escape, now she had to make sure that there weren’t any more emotional outbursts like the one she’d just had.
Of course, if things were different she and Alfie would have a future because she did love him, there was no question about it, but she refused to let love be her weakness and make the wrong choices. And that’s exactly what she had to do: she had to choose, whether she liked it or not, and she chose Mia. And when she found Mia, and she would find her, then she and Mia would leave Soho, leave London, leave England and start a new life.
She smiled and simply said, ‘No, you need to go and sort this out, it’s more important.’
‘But what about you? I can’t just leave you like this.’
‘Just see it as a moment of weakness.’
‘But it’s obviously important. You said yourself you lied to me, you said …’
Franny placed her fingers on Alfie’s lips. ‘Sshhhh, baby. Stop, it’s okay, we can talk another time. Neither of us are going anywhere, are we? Right now, the only thing we should be thinking about is Taylor and Mia. And please don’t worry, Alf, I’ll be fine. Even this talk we’ve just had has given me clarity … Everything will work out the way it should … I love you, Alfie.’
Alfie, putting Franny at the back of his mind, made his way across to Chinatown, pushing past a group of tourists taking photographs on Shaftesbury Avenue. He walked down Wardour Street before crossing the road to turn into Lisle Street.
He strode along for a moment before pulling up the collar on his jacket to protect him from the chill of the air.
Halfway along the street, at a large Chinese restaurant, Alfie walked down the stone stairs into the basement and knocked on the door twice.
It was opened by a man, who nodded at Alfie and let him in. Alfie smiled at the same time as taking a deep breath. Taylor needed him, so if it meant borrowing money from the infamous Triad clan, a gang of people he would normally stay away from, a gang of people no one in their right mind would do business with, well that’s exactly what he would do.