by Emma Tallon
‘Perfect. Not long now,’ the first man said, glancing at him sideways. ‘Then you can go and enjoy some real sun.’
‘The sooner the better,’ came the reply.
‘Patience, my friend. All in good time.’ He smiled coldly at the dying fire. ‘There’s still much to be done. We must tread carefully, one thing at a time. Then, the world is ours.’
Tanya’s heels cracked out a rhythm on the hard floor as she walked through to the bar of Club Anya with purpose. Head held high, she smiled broadly at Carl and Anna as she reached them.
Anna was sitting at the bar drinking coffee, and she and Carl had been in deep conversation but this ceased as they turned towards Tanya.
‘Wow, you look amazing. What’s the occasion?’ Anna asked.
Tanya had gone all out today with a black bodycon dress that did every curve on her body justice. Finished with high leopard-print Louboutins and matching belt, she was dressed to kill. Not a single perfect curl was out of place and she sported what Anna knew to be her favourite fire-engine-red lipstick. Anna suddenly wondered if she had forgotten something important today.
‘No occasion, I just needed to feel alive,’ Tanya replied dramatically. She shot them a dazzling smile and Anna returned it warmly. 'I’ve had an idea. We need an adventure.’
She sat down next to Anna and pulled out an iPad from her handbag. ‘I’m thinking we should go to Monaco for a week. Look at this,’ she squeaked. Opening up a website she handed the device to Anna. ‘Carl can watch over the clubs and we can go live it up in the land of crazy, rich people. What do you think?’
Anna laughed. ‘Tan, we can’t leave right now, we’ve only just opened at The Last Laugh – it needs us. And what about Tom anyway? Freddie might be able to move things around but Tom’s just started on site – he can’t leave the build right now.’
‘I don’t mean them,’ Tanya tutted. ‘I just mean us! A girls’ trip, crazy adventuring, out in the wild.’ Tanya swept her hand out, as though painting a picture for her friend.
‘Crazy adventuring in the wild?’ Anna asked with a laugh. ‘Monaco isn’t the wild, Tanya. If you want a crazy wild adventure we should go climb a mountain somewhere, or hike through a jungle.’
There was a pause as they exchanged expressions. ‘No,’ they laughed in unison, shaking their heads.
‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ Tanya continued. ‘I don’t own the footwear for shit like that. I don’t want to own the footwear for it either, actually.’
‘Tanya, you don’t own a passport,’ Anna reminded her, amused. ‘So jungle versus Monaco aside, you aren’t going anywhere, babe.’
‘Oh yeah,’ Tanya screwed her lips to the side. ‘Should probably get one of those. Oh, forget it,’ she grumped. ‘It was just an idea. I’m bored. I need some fun.’
Anna squeezed her arm. ‘I know. Get a passport, then maybe we can look at booking something when everything’s settled down with the new club.’
She knew Tanya had been itching for something different lately. She’d seen the signs. Tanya was a free spirit, who never liked to live the same day twice. It was one of the reasons she had been so excited to open up The Last Laugh. The comedy club hadn’t been quite what Tanya was expecting so far though, and Anna could sense her disappointment and thirst for something else to light a fire in her soul.
‘Coffee?’ Carl offered, holding up the jug.
‘Probably shouldn’t, already had three,’ Tanya replied.
‘Clearly,’ Anna said, hiding a grin.
‘I just don’t like sitting still, you know? I get this feeling sometimes like the world is moving so fast and I have to keep moving too or I’ll get left behind and be that person who never changes and never evolves. Do you know what I mean?’
Anna laughed. ‘Christ, Tanya, you’ve evolved faster than anyone else I’ve ever known! I mean, look around you.’ Anna gestured around the club. ‘Look at this place. Look at what we’ve achieved. Four years ago I was on the run with no job and you were a stripper. We lived in a tiny shithole and drank wine out of a box.’
‘Hey, I liked that shithole,’ Tanya said, pointing her finger at Anna in mock indignation. They both laughed and Carl shook his head with an amused grin.
‘But seriously, Tanya, look at what we’ve built here.’ Anna looked around at the club herself, fondly. She loved Club Anya. She knew Tanya did too. They had created it together from nothing. They had scrubbed and painted on their hands and knees, built a team of people around them, worked around the clock every hour God sent to make this the place they had both dreamed of. Every detail in the décor, every twist in their fresh new shows, every new face that joined the team of staff, all of it was down to them.
Tanya nodded. ‘I know that, mate; this place is everything to me too. I just need a bit of fun. Maybe I need a hobby.’
‘Maybe you do. I could just see you finishing a nice cross-stitch cushion cover,’ Anna joked.
‘Or painting perhaps. I’ll model for ya, what do you reckon?’ Carl pulled a pose, placing one hand behind his head and pouting for good measure.
‘Well, how could I possibly refuse that?’ Tanya winked at him from across the bar.
‘Anyway, while you’re here,’ Anna said, changing the subject, ‘I was looking at the line-up for next week. I was thinking about—’
‘I’ll buy a car,’ Tanya cut Anna off as the idea hit her. ‘Yeah, that’s what I’ll do. A Porsche or something really sexy. We can go on drives to the country and weekends away. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that before.’
Her energy renewed by this idea, Tanya stood up and grabbed her handbag.
‘Tanya, you can’t drive,’ Anna said flatly, as Tanya made her way back out again.
‘Yeah, I know that,’ she replied, rolling her eyes. ‘I’ll book myself some lessons for it too, won’t I? Catch ya later!’ She flew out the door, leaving Anna and Carl staring after her.
‘She defies all logic,’ Anna said, turning back to Carl.
‘Yep. Hurricane Tanya,’ he replied.
‘She does worry me sometimes,’ Anna admitted.
‘Ah, she’ll be alright. She might be a bit crazy but that’s not a bad thing. And she’s got you. She might be a hurricane but you’re the eye of the storm; the calm in the middle, keeping it all together. You make a good team, you two.’
‘Thanks, Carl,’ Anna said, warmth in her tone. Carl had been with them from the start and had been a good friend to them over the years. He was right – they were a good team. As long as they always stuck together, Anna knew they’d do well in this world.
Her smile faded as she thought back to the threat hanging over her head. There was no way she would ever hand this club over to Frank Gambino. A chill flashed through her body and she shivered. There were still battles ahead yet.
11
Tom waved as he opened the door to his Portakabin. He had seen Freddie pull up out of the window as he was getting ready to finish up for the day. He was just waiting for the last few men to clock out before he headed home.
He had been counting down the minutes for the last hour or so. Tanya was off work tonight and had given him some very unsubtle clues as to what she had in mind for the evening. So far, he knew that it involved a lot of champagne and not a lot of clothes, both of which he was very much looking forward to. It seemed he would be delayed now, but that was OK. The anticipation would just make it all the more rewarding later.
Freddie’s shoes crunched on the gravel as he approached and Tom stood back to let him in.
‘Alright, mate, how ya been?’ Freddie asked with a smile.
‘I’m great, thanks. What about yourself?’ Tom answered.
‘Yeah, all fine…’ Freddie walked past him and leaned back on one of the smaller filing cabinets to the side of Tom’s desk. Tom frowned slightly. Freddie sounded tense and his movements appeared agitated.
‘That’s good.’ Tom walked back to his desk and sat down in his chair. Whatever Freddi
e wanted to talk about, he would get to in his own time. He reached into the mini fridge underneath the desk and pulled out two cold bottles of beer. ‘I keep these for finish time on Fridays usually, but you look like you could do with one.’ There was a short fizzing sound as he popped each bottle cap off. He handed one to Freddie, who took it with a grateful look.
‘I do, mate,’ Freddie said heavily.
They sat in silence for a moment, each savouring the taste of the cold beer.
Freddie rubbed his eyes tiredly. ‘You’ve been laying the foundation cement today, haven’t you?’ he asked.
‘Yeah, got the north side down this afternoon. Nearly at the central stairwell, so stopped there until the morning. That area runs deeper, obviously, so best done in one shot,’ Tom replied. He was happy with how things were going so far. Everything was running to schedule, no major screw-ups anywhere.
Freddie reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a bulky brown envelope. He threw it onto the desk, in front of Tom. Tom gave him a quizzical look, then opened it and pulled out the contents. Two thick, bound wedges of twenty-pound notes fell out onto the table. He blinked and sized them up; there was a few thousand pounds in front of him. He looked up at Freddie and raised his eyebrows in question.
‘I need you to be here with me tonight at midnight. You and I are going to fill the foundations for the stairwell.’ Freddie looked him in the eye steadily. ‘Some of my men will assist and anything you see tonight, you didn’t actually see. It never happened.’
‘Oh. Right.’ Tom’s head whirled and his heart began to beat faster with excitement. Finally Freddie was giving him an ‘in’ on something. He wondered what it was. What could they be burying under the foundations – money? No, not likely. It would be something he didn’t need access to for a while at least. Incriminating files? That could be it. Tom’s mind ran away with the possibilities. He knew he’d been right about the paperwork for the build. It had been a test and clearly he’d proven to Freddie that he was a cool customer to have on board.
He’d been worried that Freddie wasn’t taking him seriously, that he would never be given the position of authority that he so craved. He couldn’t bear to live in Tanya’s shadow all his life. He needed to be a man of his own standing. Now he could start showing Freddie what he was made of. He couldn’t wait for the evening to start.
Freddie watched the emotions play out across Tom’s face as he digested the request. Tom’s poker face was atrocious, which was another reason he hadn’t been eager to get him involved in the business. But that was before Viktor’s body had turned up again out of the blue. The foundations were the only good place he could think of, where he could guarantee Viktor could not be accessed again. Once the concrete had set and the stairs had been bolted down, there was no going back.
Tom swallowed and put the money back into the envelope, trying to act casual, as if it was no big deal. He placed it in the top drawer of his desk.
‘Midnight, did you say?’ he asked, clearing his throat.
‘Yes, midnight. Get the concrete churning, make sure there’s enough of everything we need and I’ll be here just after. OK?’ Freddie said, his eyes searching Tom’s for any sign of doubt.
‘OK.’ Tom nodded with a grin. ‘I’ll be here.’
Freddie stood up. He wondered how Tom would react when he saw the reason for this midnight meeting. He tried to remember what it had felt like to be a civilian faced with the demands of their world for the first time. He had never really been a civilian, at least not in his adult life. He tried to remember how the world had looked when he was a ten-year-old boy, right before this darker, harder life began to take over. It was so far in the past that he couldn’t quite grasp the memory. Would he have felt fear? Would he have frozen?
‘I’ll see ya later then,’ Freddie said.
‘Yeah. See you then.’ Tom grinned and Freddie walked out. He went back to the car, leaving the fuzzy memory of his ten-year-old self behind. That boy had no place in this world.
12
Freddie pulled up beside Bill’s old van just after midnight and cut the engine. Seamus sat silently in the passenger seat. They stepped out of the car and waited for Paul and Bill to join them.
‘Everything alright?’ Freddie directed his question to Bill.
‘Yeah, all’s good,’ he replied.
‘Except for the fucking stink,’ Paul added, looking far from amused.
‘Yeah, well, he hasn’t worn deodorant for a year, has he?’ Freddie said. Seamus snorted. Freddie managed to share a grimace with his brother.
Freddie was pleased that Seamus was proving to be such a good gamble. One lesson that Freddie had learned from Vince, his mentor, was that if you take the right person under your wing whilst they’re young, you can count on their loyalty for life. It was how Freddie himself had come into ‘the life’. Vince had given him a chance when he was just a boy. Now he was underworld royalty and the time had come where he needed to bring others up the ranks. Others whose loyalty he could guarantee. Seamus was his first serious protégé.
Freddie patted Seamus on the back and the four of them began walking towards the light that was shining from somewhere in the middle of the site. As they passed the vehicle that was blocking their view, Freddie saw Tom already working away, churning the first big vat of cement.
‘Oh, hey,’ Tom called out in a cheery greeting. ‘This first lot is ready to go when you are.’
‘OK, great.’ Freddie took off his sweatshirt and threw it to one side. He wore a simple tracksuit underneath. Joining Tom, he picked up the ballast and began measuring it out into the next empty vat. Tom glanced at him and blinked, surprise on his face.
‘I worked on building sites when I was young,’ Freddie explained. ‘Helped out me mum, extra money and all that.’ He shrugged and continued to mix up the cement.
Tom nodded and carried on mixing. He had only ever seen Freddie in nice suits and flashy cars. It was strange to see him working alongside him here. It was a side of Freddie that Tom found he liked. He could respect a man who didn’t mind getting his hands dirty even when he was rich enough to not have to. It also bolstered his belief that if someone like Freddie had gone from labouring on a building site to where he was today, Tom could get there too. Whatever he had to do to get there.
Paul and Bill had disappeared to collect Viktor’s body. Freddie had asked them earlier on in the day to make sure it was covered up, so that Tom didn’t have to catch sight of the year-old corpse. Though maybe he should let Tom see Viktor, he mused. Perhaps it would show the other man how bad things could get in this life. Perhaps it would scare him back to settling for his comfortable day job and get him off Freddie’s back.
‘What do you want me to do, Mr Tyler?’ Seamus asked.
‘Pour that first lot in and make sure it’s spread evenly on the bottom. Then wait,’ Freddie replied, not looking up.
Seamus did as he was bid and then watched as Bill and Paul made their awkward way through the building site with Viktor. He was wrapped up in old sheets, but it didn’t take a genius to work out that it was a body by the shape and size.
Tom paused and his eyes widened in shock as he clocked them coming through. He had assumed it was a gun, or a laptop or something. Some evidence they needed to get rid of. He hadn’t for a second considered the possibility that it would be something as serious as this. His heart rate quickened and his palms began to sweat.
‘Tom,’ Freddie’s stern voice cut through his racing thoughts. He turned. Freddie’s gaze was steely. ‘Focus. One part cement, five parts ballast. Come on.’
‘Yes,’ he heard himself say faintly.
Paul chuckled and exchanged amused looks with Bill as they saw Tom’s face drain of colour. ‘What’s the matter, Tom? I thought you wanted to play with us big boys, no? This a bit much for your delicate disposition.’
‘That’s enough,’ Freddie chided, though he grinned at his brother’s words. He’d told Paul how desperate
Tom was to get in with them and had found that Paul’s opinions on the subject mirrored his own. Tom wasn’t cut out for all of this. He wanted the pretty lifestyle that Joe Public saw them living every day, but he wasn’t strong enough for the hard, dark work behind the scenes.
Not able to find an answer, Tom turned his back on Paul and Bill and tried to focus, like Freddie said. He lifted the cement bag. His hands were shaking but he ignored them. Taking a deep breath to try and calm himself down, he poured the dusty powder in.
What had he been thinking? He hadn’t been prepared for this. Freddie knew that. Tom glanced over at his friend and saw the mocking smile that played on his lips. Anger coursed through his veins. Freddie was mocking him – they all were. He had come to them and offered to join them, to work for them and keep their secrets. That was what people like Freddie needed, men who weren’t afraid to turn a blind eye or bend the rules to help him run things smoothly. He should have been glad of Tom’s offer, grateful for it even. Tom would have happily helped out with the running of things, seen to it that money went where it should, or clients were looked after. That was what it was all about, right? Freddie had ‘heavies’ for the more gruesome stuff like this, surely? Why on earth would he bring this to Tom’s door? He could have at least pre-warned him.
As Paul and Bill walked towards them with Viktor, Paul suddenly tripped over a loose brick and stumbled forward. His grip loosened and he lost contact with his end of Viktor’s body. Bill grasped the body bag tighter, trying to contain the situation and get a better hold, but he was caught off-guard. As he yanked the bag, the body slid out the other end, hitting the floor with a sickening crunch.
There was a shocked silence for a moment as everyone registered what had just happened and stared down at the mess of remains on the floor. Paul glanced over towards Freddie, his face frozen in surprise. Tom leaned over and violently threw up the contents of his stomach.