When Alfie had gone home and made her leave the club, she’d had nowhere to go – not that she’d told Alfie that, but she wasn’t ready to go back to Charlie’s yet, though neither did she want to sleep rough in a park, being hassled by strangers. She knew what that was like. So, she’d walked around and when she’d seen Vaughn’s gold Range Rover parked off Soho Square with him nowhere to be seen, but with the doors unlocked and the engine still warm, she’d taken the opportunity to get in, thinking that she would hide in the back for a couple of hours before shooting off. That had been the plan but within minutes, Vaughn had come back and she’d found herself being thrown about in the boot as he sped along.

Hearing Vaughn get in the car now, Shannon listened with interest to the call he was making.

‘Alfie! Alfie! For fuck’s sake, pick up the phone! I need to talk to you! Call me back as soon as you get this. If you don’t hear otherwise, I’ll meet you at the club. Make sure you call me back!’

16

Looking in her rear-view mirror, Franny caught sight of Vaughn, his car engine blowing out black smoke. She sped up, hoping to lose him altogether as she hit the accelerator at sixty, wanting to go faster but knowing that it was stupid to risk getting pulled over by a bored officer roaming the streets in the early hours of the morning.

Turning left, she drove through the tunnel, all the time keeping an eye out for Vaughn. It looked like she might’ve lost him. She slowed down as she came to Bush Lane, turning a sharp left and jumping the lights.

She glanced over at Mia in her car seat. She’d woken up and now was screaming. She tried to comfort her as well as driving, but found it impossible to do both. The sound of Mia’s cries filled the car as the vision of Bree came into her head.

‘No, no, no, no, no!’ She spoke out loud as she attempted to push all thoughts away. She needed to focus. Just focus. Focus, and get the fuck out.

Coming towards Shaftesbury Avenue, with Mia finally having fallen into a grizzly sleep, Franny turned into Dean Street then turned right into Carlisle Street. She drove clockwise around Soho Square before taking a left down Sutton Row, stopping directly in front of the club.

Checking Vaughn was nowhere to be seen, Franny jumped out of her car, running down the stairs of the club.

A few streets away, Vaughn raced along. He’d kept well back and once he’d seen Franny turn towards Temple Church, he’d decided to hold completely back, following his gut, believing she was heading for the club.