by Jacqui Rose
Keeping his eyes locked on Alfie, Vaughn said, ‘Ask him.’
Frankie turned to look at Alfie. ‘Then you better tell me, cos I can’t make any sense of it.’
Alfie looked as puzzled as Frankie. ‘I dunno Frank. I swear.’
‘You’re being straight up, aren’t you?’
Alfie snarled. ‘I’ve got a gun to me head and me hands stuck in the air, so ask yourself if you think now’s a good time for me not to be straight up.’
Frankie frowned. He’d known Alfie for a long time, he’d laughed with him and argued with him, been on the wrong end of one of Alfie’s scams, but something told him he was telling the truth.
‘Vaughn, I hate to say it, but I reckon he ain’t mugging us.’
‘Don’t let him fool you, he ain’t changed. I heard what she said. She was worried because apparently some bloke called Johnny knows all about the diamonds.’
Alfie looked blankly. ‘What? Who’s Johnny? Who the fuck is Johnny?’
‘That’s what I want to know.’
Angry, Alfie knocked away the gun. He raised his voice, hissing the words through his teeth. ‘I told you, I don’t know anything, but what I will say is I can’t get me head around why Bree …’
Vaughn urged Alfie to continue, his temper subsiding slightly. ‘Why Bree did what? And more to the point, why does some bird who you’ve just hooked up with know about the rocks?’
‘Look, I ain’t got the answers.’
Vaughn lunged at Alfie, blind rage pushing him on. He grabbed his jacket, swinging the gun against his head, smashing it hard into Alfie’s temple. ‘Then you need to find them!’
Alfie, not one to back down, struggled with Vaughn in the confines of the car, forcing him back to the rear seat, crushing Frank, who thrashed about, caught underneath.
Alfie brought his fist down into Vaughn’s face, blood splattering over the Range Rover’s cream seats. With blood bubbling out of his mouth, Vaughn screamed at Alfie as Frankie managed to free himself.
‘But you still told Bree, Alf! You betrayed us and now we’re fucked because of you, it’s always because of you!’
Panting but managing to prise the men apart, Frankie pushed Alfie back into the front seat, his forearm on his throat. He glared at them both as he took control. ‘Listen Vaughnie, we don’t know if it’s fucked up. All it is is a phone call. Maybe this bird just felt bad that she’s told some geezer. That’s all it might be. And Alf, fuck me son, what did you think you were doing? What possessed you to tell her?’
‘I don’t know, I just needed to talk.’
‘If you’d needed to talk, why didn’t you talk about something else? Why didn’t you talk to us even? And when did you ever have to talk about some job that you were about to pull off? I don’t get it, Alf.’
Vaughn pointed angrily. ‘If you’ve messed this up, I’m going to kill you.’
Embarrassed, angry, confused, Alfie went to spring forward again, but Frankie held him in place.
‘Don’t make threats Vaughn, you hear me? Don’t make threats that you ain’t going to follow through on.’
‘I’ll follow through on them alright!’
Frankie yelled at the top of his voice. ‘Shut up! You hear me? Just shut up! This is how it’s going to go. We’re going to calm down and then Alf, you’re going to call this bird, Bree. See what she has to say.’
Vaughn piped in. ‘Oh, he don’t have to call Bree, because according to her, she’s on her way. She’ll be here any minute now.’
65
Johnny Dwyer sat in the car with his foot down on the accelerator heading towards Mersea Island. He wanted to get to the island early, make sure there were no mistakes, make sure everything went as it should. Because this would be a turning point for him.
Although he’d made his name around Essex, dealing and trafficking in coke as well as hiring himself and his men out for jacking jobs and to the Mr Bigs when they needed some extra heavies, he still wasn’t a main player, but this kind of money could turn it all around.
The other reason he wanted to make sure nothing went wrong was to be certain that Alfie Jennings got what was coming to him, and Christ, he was going to enjoy every second of it. Because all he could see when he closed his eyes was Alfie and Bree. Alfie enjoying himself with his missus, and he was going to make him pay.
He sniffed, feeling the cocaine burning at the back of his nostrils, burning the back of his throat. Looking in the driver’s mirror, Johnny said, ‘Hey, Eddie, wake up. This ain’t a day out you know, so if you’re expecting a tray of fucking cockles, forget it. I want you to be on the ball. You hear me? Big Billy Baldwin and the crew are coming down and they’re going to be on it, so I don’t want any broken links in the chain. You understand me?’
Eddie, sitting in the back seat, looked at Johnny as he stared back at him in the mirror. He really wanted to tell him that this was his deal, that they were his diamonds, and he should fuck right off, but as much as he wanted to, he also knew that it wouldn’t be wise, not right now anyway. He would wait until the right time and then, oh God, would he tell him. ‘Yeah, I understand you, Johnny. No problem.’
Turning his head away Eddie looked out of the window, watching the A120 whizz by as Johnny continued to talk.
‘So, you know exactly what to do? Me and the rest of the boys will round them up, give them the fight of their life. We’ll do all the heavy stuff. Have all the fun, so all you’ll need to do is make sure you get them diamonds off the island. Like we already discussed, Billy and a couple of his men are going to drive back with me, so you take Billy’s car. The minute you get them rocks in your hand, you get away. A couple of the men will be waiting for you on the other side, so no funny business, there’s only one way off the island, so don’t get any ideas Eddie, and don’t forget all our cars have got tracking, so if you decide to do a moonlight flit, Johnny will know exactly where you are!’
Johnny screeched with laughter as Eddie gave a nervous laugh, slumping back down in the back seat.
Having given it a few minutes, Eddie took a quick side glance at Johnny who was in the process of reaching over to the passenger seat to dip his finger in the small snuff tin filled with cocaine to rub on his gums as he drove, wired, watching the road with drug-fuelled intensity.
Certain that Johnny wasn’t watching, Eddie slid out his phone and scrolled through his contacts. Discreetly he texted a message to Jason Robinson.
ETA half an hour. Drop-off tonight as planned. Make sure you keep down, there’ll be eyes everywhere.
He pressed send, then waited for it to deliver before quickly deleting it. He smiled, checking the time. It was still early, but he could wait. Because before the end of the day, he, Eddie Styler, would be a millionaire with Jason and Johnny nowhere to be seen.
66
Alfie Jennings hadn’t wanted to kill anybody as much as he wanted to kill Bree. He paced about on the small country lane hidden away off Colchester Road, not feeling the cold, only feeling the anger, the betrayal, the hurt. He was going to make Bree pay.
He should’ve followed his gut, his doubts, but instead, like a fool, he’d followed his heart, sharing and fucking caring, but not anymore. Not anymore. Whatever she had to say, whatever her excuses, she still betrayed him, she still opened her mouth and told someone else. Whoever this Johnny was, Bree was clearly worried, clearly anxious she’d fucked it up and done something wrong. And of course, that was what all the phone calls were about. That was what she’d wanted to say.
‘Alf, let her say her piece, it might be innocent mate. Give her a chance.’
Alfie spun round to look at Frankie, a small puddle splashing his shoes. The hatred clenching and straining his jaw. ‘Have a word with yourself, Frank. I ain’t going to give her anything than what she deserves. So, if I was you I’d get back in the car and leave it to me.’
‘No, not until you tell me you won’t do anything stupid.’
‘That’s right, I won’t. Because what
I’ll do, is kill her.’
‘Alfie, listen to yourself. You don’t know if she’s done anything wrong.’
Alfie stepped in close to Frankie. ‘I know she has. She’s opened her mouth, hasn’t she?’
Frankie stared at Alfie, worried. ‘I know you’re hurt—’
Jumping in, Alfie pushed Frankie hard against his chest. ‘Hurt? Are you having a laugh? I ain’t hurt, Frank, I’m angry.’
Frankie shook his head. ‘No, Alf. I know you. You may be angry with yourself for being stupid enough to talk, for trusting someone you didn’t know, but I know that you’re more hurt than anything else. I can see it.’
‘Then you should’ve gone to fucking Specsavers, cos the only thing you should be seeing here is that bitch turning us over.’
‘You don’t know that. I get it feels like a betrayal. Especially on top of Franny. But you can’t do anything that you’ll regret just because of the way you’re feeling.’
Alfie grabbed hold of Frankie, his powerful, six-foot-plus body rigid with rage. He shook him hard.
‘Get it into your fucking head that I ain’t hurt. What is it with you and Vaughn and fucking feeling? Cos this is real life, Frank. Right here, right now. Feelings don’t come into this game, you know that as well as I do. She wanted to play the big boys’ game and know what was going on, and now she does, but instead of keeping her mouth shut, she decided to talk, and that comes with consequences. We both know what happens to grasses in this business.’
Frankie pushed Alfie away. ‘But she ain’t in this business, is she? So, turn it in until you know exactly what’s gone down because I ain’t having any blood on my hands. Let’s listen to what she has to say.’
Before Alfie had time to say anything, a black car drove down the country lane, pulling up by the men in the entrance to the abandoned farm. It was Bree.
Frankie nodded to Alfie. ‘I’ll be in the car. But remember what I said.’
As Frankie walked away, Alfie, unable to contain himself, charged up to Bree’s 4x4, flinging open the driver’s door.
‘Get out! Get out! Now!’
He stood watching, trembling, furious as Bree fell out of the car, stumbling, trying to stand up. She looked at him with hazy eyes, her voice slurred. ‘Alfie, I’m sorry … I’m really sorry.’
He grabbed her, pulling her up, pressing her hard against the car. He shook her, a disgusted look on his face. ‘I didn’t think it could get any worse, but look at you, you’re wasted. You’re out of it. Oh my God, how didn’t I see it. How didn’t I see that you were a stoner. Fuck me, you pulled a good ’un there.’
‘Alfie, you … got it … wrong.’
Alfie’s voice soared up into the air. He screamed in her face. ‘I ain’t though! I ain’t got it wrong, have I?’
Trying to get her thoughts straight through the morphine, Bree spoke slowly, concentrating on her every word. ‘I ain’t on the gear anymore …’
Throwing his hands in the air, Alfie stared at her in amazement. ‘Oh my God! Fuck me, you’re a smackhead now?’
‘No, no, I just took some by mistake.’
Alfie’s laughter was full of contempt. ‘Turn it in, what bag-bitch just takes gear by accident? What happened? You found a bag of brown on the street and you just took it by mistake, did you?’
Bree shook her head but quickly turned away as nausea overwhelmed her. She began to vomit, watery liquid splattering over Alfie’s shoes.
Alfie’s face screwed up in scorn. ‘Oh, fucking hell, and there’s me thinking you’re a classy bird …’ He paused for a moment then frowned. He shook his head in disbelief as realisation began to hit. ‘Hold on, I remember now, it’s all making sense. One of the times I saw you, you were puking all over the place. This is why, innit? Cos you were on the gear.’
Wiping her mouth, Bree stared at Alfie. ‘No, I swear, it was down to nerves.’
‘Nerves?’
‘Because of what I knew was going to happen.’
‘What? Are you fucking joking?’
The roar that came from Alfie had Vaughn and Frankie – who were sitting in the car – turning to look. Frankie spoke, his tone full of concern. ‘Maybe I should go and see if they’re okay. I know what Alfie can be like when he loses it.’
Vaughn shook his head as he rested his eyes on Bree. ‘No, leave it. Leave him to sort it out.’
Alfie stood in the cold, his hands on his hips, his mind racing, not able to connect the dots.
‘Alfie, please, I need to explain.’
‘Don’t! Don’t give me “please”! It’s too late for “please”.’
Not giving up, Bree said, ‘Look, Johnny asked me—’
Alfie interrupted angrily. ‘Hold up. Who the hell is this Johnny?’
‘Johnny’s my husband, not Mick.’
‘What?’
‘Johnny Dwyer is my husband.’
There was a long pause before Alfie suddenly ran back to his car, opening the passenger door to pull out a gun from the side pocket. He ignored the looks he got from Frankie and Vaughn as he turned to run back to Bree.
Alfie was panting angrily and wiping his mouth, gritting his teeth, sweat was pouring from his brow, his hands were shaking, pointing the gun at Bree, pulling the gun away from Bree, pointing it back to Bree.
‘How could you do this! How! Johnny Dwyer? Are you having a fucking laugh?’
‘Alfie, please, you don’t understand.’
‘I told you, don’t give me “please”! I understand alright, fucking hell, you proper played me. Well done, Bree. Well done.’
Alfie paced about, not sure what to do with himself.
Frankie came running up to him and held out his hand. ‘Give me the gun, Alf. Give me the fucking gun. This is insane.’
Alfie’s eyes were wild as he waved the gun towards Bree. ‘She’s married. But here’s the thing, you wanna know who she’s married to? Who my little Bree is married to? Johnny Dwyer. Yeah, that’s right. That bitch is married to Johnny fuckin’ Dwyer.’
Frankie and Vaughn stared open-mouthed at Bree, who shook, crying through her words as she tried to push her dizziness aside. ‘I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. He made me do it, but I couldn’t go through with it. I couldn’t, I care too much about you, Alfie.’
Alfie clenched his fist, charging at Bree, but he stopped in front of her, staring and glaring into her eyes. He raised his fist, smashing it down into Bree’s car window. Once. Twice. Over and over again.
Alfie’s hand poured with blood, and he stared at Bree who collapsed on the floor. Holding her head in her hands.
‘Why Bree, why?’
He crouched down, pushing her hands away, grabbing her chin, forcing her to look at him as his blood smeared across her face.
‘I loved you, Bree. You were my family and when you left all them years ago, I looked for you, making sure you were alright. My heart was ripped out. But when I saw you again in that car park, you have no idea how that felt. Me feet never touched the ground. It was like everything was going to be alright because Bree’s back in me life. My Bree. Little Bree who’d grown up to be this beautiful, warm, kind woman, but all along you were just a fucking conniving bitch.’
‘Don’t say that!’
‘Why not? It’s true. We even slept together, and I thought that meant something, but it was all just so I would trust you and open up. You’re no better than a fucking whore!’
‘You’re wrong, it did mean something. I slept with you because I wanted to, no other reason. That’s why I didn’t sleep with you before you told me about the diamonds. Think about it Alfie, I had all the information I needed by then, so I didn’t have to go to bed with you, but I did, because I wanted to be with you.’
‘Nice try, Bree. I hate you! You understand that. I hate you!’
Tears streamed down Bree’s cheeks as she screamed at Alfie. ‘I understand that, but do you understand, do you? Because I loved you too, Alfie. I loved you. You and Sandra. But it was me who was ripped
away, not you. Me! You still had your life and I had nothin’! Nothin’! Children’s home after children’s home, until one day I thought, just for a moment, me life was going to be alright. But it wasn’t Alf, it wasn’t. You talk about having your heart ripped out? You have no idea. Not about this. Not about my life. You think I wanted to do this? You think if I really wanted to hurt you I’d be here right now? You don’t know what I put on the line to do this. But I chose you above everything else. Above the man I thought I was going to be with for the rest of me life, above me own safety, above the fear of Johnny, I came here to warn you. So don’t talk to me about things you don’t know, because I chose you, Alfie. I chose you because I love you, and I always have.’
67
Alfie Jennings sat in the rain on the floor next to Bree. His injured hand was wrapped up in a towel as he listened to her story. He hung his head, unable to look her straight in the eye. Unable to know quite what to say. So, instead he listened, and he hurt for her, for Ryan, for her lost years.
Sighing, she touched his hand. ‘I told Eddie and Johnny everything. They are planning to hijack the exchange. I am so sorry.’
Alfie shook his head. ‘I should be the one saying sorry. Not you.’
Vaughn, who’d been standing nearby listening, said, ‘Are you joking? All of a sudden she gives you the eyes, your cock tingles and it’s sweet as. No, mate. No. There’s no way I’m trusting her.’
Alfie glared at Vaughn. ‘Wind yer neck in. You think what she’s just said is a Jackanory?’
‘Yeah, frankly I do. Some sob story and you fall for it.’
‘Shut up, Vaughn.’
Bree smiled at Alfie. ‘Don’t be mad at him, he’s only watching out for you all. I don’t blame him for not trusting me.’
Vaughn turned on Bree. ‘I don’t need you to fucking smooth things out for me. I should’ve let Alfie put you in the ground.’
