At 5 o'clock, Alfie walked into his house to find Alice pacing. He watched her as she walked, wringing her hands and glancing at the clock above the fire.
"How long have you been doing that?" Alfie asked and she jumped.
"Doing what?" She responded, genuinely bewildered.
Alfie sighed, "Sit." He said as he nodded to the sofa.
Alice obeyed, sitting on the sofa with her hands on her knees. Alfie could see her jaw clench as she sat, her mouth and eyebrows tense. She sat only for 10 seconds before she began to fidget; rubbing her forehead, bouncing her knee, and adjusting her legs.
"Alice." Alfie said as he looked at her as if she were exhausting him. "You're making ME nervous. Just take a fucking breath."
"I just want to board that damn boat." She said as she looked at the clock again.
"You, uh, know treacle. I've killed men before." He said, wanting to get to his point.
Alice looked at him and gasped, putting a hand over her mouth before she relaxed her face into a look of annoyance at his painfully obvious statement.
"My point is…. I'm not trying to leave the country." He pointed out as he looked down at her and raised his eyebrows.
"Did you shoot Tommy Shelby's aunt?" She asked rhetorically.
"I almost killed his brother." Alfie responded. "and again, I'm not trying to leave the country."
"I'm not like you." She said before she sighed.
"No. You're not. You were a victim. Your husband would have killed you if you hadn't protected yourself." Alfie leaned toward her and put his hand on hers on her knee. "You did what you had to do. And as for Polly Shelby, she knows there's a risk in what she does. Probably won't be the last time she'll get shot."
Alice shook her head in frustration, "And you think they'll just go on like nothing happened, letting me work there?"
Before Alfie could respond, there was a knock was at the door.
Alfie's maid opened the door and Ollie walked in.
"Alfie, Tommy Shelby is waiting for you in your office?" He said
Alice's eyes went wide as she looked at Alfie, who looked back at her.
"Is… is he here for me? Did you tell him?"
"Now, just calm down." Alfie tried to coax.
"You.. You lied to me!" She shouted as she stood.
"I never said I wouldn't tell him. Right? Now just calm the fuck down."
"I'm not going down there." She said, shaking her head.
Alfie's lips tightened in a line. "Right. Well, let's bring him up."
Alfie stood and walked to the door, stopping to tell Ollie to watch Alice and not let her leave. He walked into his bakery and into his office where he found Tommy standing behind his desk, looking at papers.
"Find anything interesting?" Alfie asked and Tommy's eyes glanced up.
Tommy gave a slight shake of his head and clicked his tongue, "No."
"Mm. That's because I keep the important things hidden, where your gypo fucking hands can't touch them. Which is what you should have done with your girl, mate."
Tommy looked at him and clenched his jaw before Alfie added, "She does have the softest skin."
The look on Tommy's face was all the satisfaction Alfie needed. "She's upstairs. I tried to talk to her but, nothing came of it."
"What did she tell you?"
"Husband was a monster. She killed him then burnt down the house. Then she pointed a gun at your aunt, your aunt grabbed it and she pulled the trigger. Now you're going to kill her."
Tommy shook his head and mumbled under his breath. "Fuck."
"Well, let's get this over with then, yeah? Then she can run back to your fucking bed."
Tommy looked at him and Alfie could see the disdain in his eyes.
"Fucking hell, mate. It was just sex. It's not like it fucking meant anything as I am sure it did between the two of your tortured souls. She wanted a distraction and well, who am I if not available to for the soothing comfort of a distraught Jewish woman?"
They walked up to Alfie's door and found it open, Ollie laying unconscious on the floor with a large gold candlestick between him and the door.
"Fucking hell." Alfie said in exasperation before he kicked Ollie's foot to wake him up.
"Wha-" Ollie said as he regained consciousness and looked up at his boss's annoyed face. Ollie rushed to his feet, putting his hand on his bleeding brow. "Where did she go?" he asked.
"That is the question isn't it?" Alfie responded.
"I turned my back to her for a second and then when I turned to face her, everything went black."
Alfie sighed loudly and turned to Tommy. "The boat."
The two of them exited the building and began to walk down Bonnie Street as a light rain began to drizzle. They turned the corner and saw a small group of people looking up at the rooftop of a 60-foot high factory building.
The pair of them looked up and instantly froze.
"Fuck!" Alfie said and their mobility came back.
They ran to the factory door and pulled but it was locked. They split up, each taking a side to find an open door. They made it all the way to the back without finding a door that was unlocked.
"How the fuck did she get in there?" Alfie blurted as they examined the building.
Finally, Tommy spotted a small open window beside the fire escape. "There." He said and he pointed.
"Neither one of us is fitting through that window." Alfie pointed out as he scanned the street. "Hey! Kid! Come here."
A 10-year-old boy slowly walked toward them.
"See that window?" Alfie asked the boy as he pointed, and the boy nodded. "You're going to climb through it and unlock this door."
The boy looked at him hesitantly. Tommy reached in his pocket and pulled out some coins, showing them to the boy. His face lit up and he looked up and nodded. Alfie lifted the boy onto the fire escape and he proceeded to climb onto the ledge of the small window, fitting through it with ease. Tommy and Alfie stood by the doors listening for the boy. It wasn't long until they heard him attempting to unlock the door.
"Come on, kid." Alfie whispered under his breath.
The door opened and the boy looked pleased with himself and held out his hand. Tommy gave the coins to the boy as Alfie began to walk into the building. Together, they ran up the stairs as fast as they could. They burst through the roof access door and stopped.
Alice heard the door slam open and turned quickly.
"How-how did you get up here?" She demanded.
"We're not going to hurt you." Tommy said gently as he held out a hand. "Just come away from the edge."
"No!" She yelled.
Tommy took a step to her, his hand still outstretched. Alice looked back over the edge.
"Alright! Alright." Tommy said as he backed away. "Let's just talk, eh?"
"Talk?" She repeated incredulously. "About what Tommy? I know why you're here!"
Tommy shook his head. "I came here to talk. That's all."
"You always say that!"
Tommy stared at her and she ran her fingers through her hair as the drizzling rain became a light sprinkle.
"You always act so nice until I'm close enough then-"
"I'm not your husband, Alice." Tommy said.
"No? You hurt people! And then nothing happens to you! You get away with it after you do cruel things to people. I lied to you and you said that's the one thing you couldn't forgive. And then I shot your aunt. And then I had sex with Alfie… a lot! I've humiliated you more than once and you're telling me that you just want to talk?" She yelled, her foot teasing the edge of the roof.
"Polly's alright. She's going to be fine, her arm is fine." Tommy said, watching her heel get closer to the edge. "Just- fuck. Just come away from the edge, please."
"I killed him! I looked him in the eye and then I shot him." She said as a tear fell down her cheek.
"I know. He hurt you." Tommy said as he attempted again to take a step toward her.
"Don't!" She yelled and Tommy paused.
"He didn't deserve you."
Tears streamed down her face as she scratched her forehead.
"You don't have to feel guilty."
"I-I shouldn't have gone to Birmingham." Alice cried.
"I'm glad you did." Tommy said, stepping closer to her.
"I don't want to go to prison." She said thickly as desperation overwhelmed her face.
"You're not going to prison." He coaxed
"Where's Alfie?" She asked as she scanned the rooftop. Tommy looked around; Alfie was nowhere to be seen.
"I don't know. It doesn't matter."
She shook her head. "I promised myself I would never let a man hurt me like he did."
Her face straightened into a look of absolution.
"I'm not going to hurt you, Alice. I have no reason to. I don't care that you lied to me. I don't care that you slept with Alfie… The only thing I care about, is that you come away from the ledge." He said and he held out his hand to her.
Alice stared at it, then looked back at Tommy.
"I'm not mad." She insisted.
"I know you're not. You're just scared." He responded. "And you don't have to be."
She began to take a step toward him.
"I've talked to the police. They-"
"You what?" She asked, her eyes going wide.
"They've-"
"You're giving me up to them?"
"No I-"
Alice took a step back as she began to breathe harder.
"Alice, don't. Come away from-"
It was too late, Alice's foot slipped on the wet ledge. Tommy lunged for her as her hand reached for him, her apologetic face the last thing he saw of her before she fell out of his sight toward the pavement.