Not in the mood to have to deal with Vaughn, Franny stepped closer, smelling the whiskey on his breath. ‘I’ll ask you again, who’s that on my couch?’

‘A friend.’

Franny’s voice was hostile. ‘I don’t know what the hell’s been going on, but I don’t want some stray in here. This is a business, Vaughn, and I’m not going to get it shut down because of some underage kid you’ve picked up.’

Seething, Vaughn knocked back another whiskey. ‘For fuck’s sake, Franny, I haven’t picked her up. Like I say, she’s a friend.’

‘Whatever, Vaughn. Just get her out of my club, understand?’

‘But it’s not just your club is it? From what I remember, we’re all partners here, with Alfie and I having the lion’s share, so I’ll have who the hell I want here.’

Having been awake for the past few minutes, Shannon had heard the conversation and with her head still spinning, she sat up blurry-eyed.

She stared at Franny, recognising her as the woman from outside the flats in Woolwich. She hadn’t liked the look of her then, and although she was very beautiful, she certainly didn’t like her now. Stuck-up cow. Who did she think she was, talking about her like that?

With a sneer on her face, Shannon, full of confrontation, glowered at Franny. ‘You were that woman out …’

She stopped as she saw Vaughn shake his head. She didn’t know why, but she did know that he wanted her to keep her mouth shut, and she was more than happy to do it for him, partly because she’d taken an instant dislike to Franny, and partly because Vaughn had called her his friend, and in her entire life she’d never heard anybody call her that.

Franny stared. ‘I was what woman?’

Biting her nails, Shannon shrugged. ‘Can’t remember what I was going to say now.’

Tutting, Franny impatiently turned back to Vaughn. ‘Tell Alfie to call me when he wakes up, and when I come back, I want her gone. Understand?’

As Franny slammed the door, Vaughn looked at Shannon. ‘I’m sorry about her.’

‘Nasty cow, I don’t know how you put up with her.’

‘Me neither, and you know something, Shannon, I ain’t going to put up with her any longer.’

Whereupon, Vaughn followed Franny out of the room.

Shannon felt edgy. Agitated. Itchy. That was the problem with crack. The high never lasted any time at all and the low felt so bad all she wanted to do was get high again. Sometimes, sleeping directly after the buzz helped, but on this occasion it hadn’t, and Shannon didn’t know if she could cope with the way she was feeling for very much longer.