The silence between them felt like an enormous weight to Franny as she stood looking at Alfie. Her discomfort was only met by her phone ringing. She glanced towards where it was lying on the side, wanting desperately to take the call but unable to. It was from Ma.

‘Aren’t you going to answer it? It could be about Mia.’

Hoping it was just her paranoia that Alfie was looking at her oddly, Franny waved away the suggestion. ‘No, I recognise the number. It’s just one of the girls who worked at the club, no doubt wanting to know if she’ll still be getting paid. Cheeky cow, doesn’t she realise, no work, no money … Anyway, I’m starving – what do you say to going to get a Chinese for us?’

‘Yeah, of course. I’ll get the usual, shall I?’

‘Great … And, Alf, thank you.’

Grabbing his wallet from the side, Alfie smiled. ‘No problem … and I love you, Fran, I really do.’

Franny gave a small nod. Sounding strangled, she said, ‘I love you too, Alf.’

Pulling up his jacket collar, Alfie shivered as he headed towards Chinatown, which was only ten minutes’ walk from their house. His phone beeped, and he looked at the screen, thinking it was probably Franny changing her mind about crispy duck, though it simply read:

Ask Franny what she did.

26

The minute Alfie had safely left the house, Franny picked up the black bin liner to take to the car and grabbed her phone, dialling Ma straight back as she pushed down her anxiety.

‘So, here’s what I’m thinking, Franny … I’d like twenty thousand to start with as a down payment, and then I’ll see how it goes.’

Franny spat her words down the phone but she was overcome with panic. ‘You can’t be serious. Are you kidding me?’

‘Don’t ask stupid questions. What do you think? Oh, and if you ain’t here in an hour with the money, the deal’s off.’

With her heart racing, Franny stared up at the clock. It was ten-thirty; the traffic would be bad at least till midnight and trying to get to Essex from where she was, well that would take her at least two hours if not more.

Her voice was high-pitched and strained. ‘That’s crazy, Ma, I can’t get it to you that quickly, and I don’t even know if I’ve got that kind of money in the safe.’

On the other end of the phone, Ma Dwyer shovelled a piece of Victoria sponge into her mouth. ‘Well that’s your problem, it ain’t mine. You have to ask yourself how much you want her. How much do you want Mia back?’

‘You know I want her back, so don’t start saying that. You just have to give me a little more time.’