Boss Girl: A gripping crime thriller of danger, determination and one unstoppable woman

by Emma Tallon

  ‘What the fuck,’ Tom wailed, in between final dry heaves. ‘What the fuck is that, Freddie? Jesus Christ.’ He put his head in his hands and crouched down. Strangled sounds came out through his hands. He couldn’t breathe; true panic was beginning to set in.

  Paul blinked and looked stunned. ‘Is he fucking crying?’ he asked Freddie in disbelief. ‘Are you joking, mate? Seamus here is barely eighteen and he’s not bawling like a baby!’

  In truth Seamus was looking a tad green, but he was holding his own and styling it out as any hard man would be expected to. Freddie’s respect for the boy rose up another notch.

  ‘No, I’m not fucking crying!’ Tom shouted, standing back up. ‘I’m just trying to understand what the fuck is going on! What – I mean…’ He looked at what remained of Viktor as he tried to find the words. ‘What even is that? How long have you had… him? Her? Oh, Jesus…’ He pulled his hair between his fingers and began to pace up and down.

  ‘We shouldn’t have brought him along, Fred,’ Bill spoke up, his voice calm.

  Freddie nodded. ‘Tom, you wanted into this life. Well, this is it. This is the gritty, shitty work that goes on behind the scenes. Not every day, of course. This is rare, to be fair. But it does happen. And I need to know that the men on my payroll can just get on with whatever is thrown at them, no matter how bad. The cars and the money and the kudos on the street? That’s just a small part of a very dark life. Now’ – Freddie picked up Tom’s shovel from the ground and handed it back to him – ‘get moving. This cement ain’t going to mix itself. What I said earlier still stands. Tonight never happened and you never saw a thing. You’ve been paid for a job, that’s all. There won’t be another one, so you don’t need to worry about anything. Now let’s get this done. Come on.’

  Wiping the vomit from his chin with his sleeve, Tom tried to spit out the sour taste of bile that coated his mouth. He took the shovel from Freddie and carried on mixing. What else could he do? He turned away from Paul with his look of disdain and the teenage boy who was regarding him as though he was a complete weirdo.

  They could have given him a proper chance, put him on anything other than burying rotten skeletons. But they hadn’t. He’d been set up for a fall from the beginning. Well, that wouldn’t be something he’d be forgetting in a hurry.

  The small team worked together in silence. Tom turned away as Bill and Paul dropped Viktor’s body into the thin layer of cement at the bottom of the pit. They carried on, him and Freddie, until all the cement needed to fill the section up had been mixed, poured and evenly spread. As Paul pulled the levelling stick away from the surface for the final time, Freddie turned to Tom and clapped him on the back.

  ‘Thank you,’ he said simply. ‘You must be exhausted. Get off home; I’ll see you in the week. If anyone asks about this tomorrow, tell them you had a night crew in, as we moved the schedule up.’

  ‘Got it,’ Tom said tightly. The atmosphere had calmed down and everyone nodded at him as he passed to leave. ‘Catch you later,’ he said, leaving the site hurriedly.

  Freddie turned to Paul and Bill and blew out a long breath. ‘Well. I’d like to see Viktor get out of this one,’ he joked, trying to lighten the mood. Bill smirked tiredly, and Paul rolled his eyes. Seamus didn’t respond this time, barely able to keep his eyes open.

  ‘Come on, kid, let’s get you home. Don’t worry about training. You can have a morning off; I’ll text Robbie,’ Freddie said.

  ‘Thanks, boss,’ Seamus replied, too tired to argue.

  They got in the car and Freddie drove out through the gates. Seamus was asleep before they even hit the road.

  Freddie took a deep breath and exhaled wearily, worry lying heavily on his chest. Viktor’s body was dealt with. But what about Tom? Was he going to take the casual dismissal OK? He had seemed to accept it, but Freddie had caught the resentment in his eyes.

  And what were they going to do about finding the person who’d dug Viktor up? Whoever did it had known exactly where he was. What else did they know? And how long would it be before they found out he was gone again?

  13

  The key sounded in the door and Anna jumped. She closed her eyes and cursed at her overanxious response to the small noise. She felt as though she was on tenterhooks all the time now at home, since the break-in, and she hated it. She closed the door to the fridge and turned to greet Freddie as he came into view.

  ‘You’re home early,’ she said, frowning at how stressed he looked.

  ‘Yeah, I’m knackered. Need some downtime before tonight.’ They wandered through to the lounge and Freddie flopped heavily onto the sofa. He held his arm out and Anna joined him.

  ‘Everything OK?’ she asked. She waited as he paused before answering.

  ‘No, it’s not really. Something came up that I wasn’t expecting.’ Freddie shifted slightly so that he could look at her.

  They were much more open about Freddie’s less legitimate work these days. They had nearly broken up a year before because of secrets he had been forced to keep from her, and when they made it through unscathed Freddie had been careful never to let himself get into a position like that again. These days he told Anna everything, even things she would be better off not knowing.

  ‘Viktor Morina was the slave trader who tried to take Michael out last year, when we were all still looking for Katherine,’ he said.

  ‘Right,’ Anna replied. She remembered him telling her about him after it had come out that Michael was the one who had kidnapped Katherine in the first place.

  ‘He was dealt with and disposed of accordingly,’ Freddie said.

  Anna nodded but didn’t say anything. She knew what Freddie meant by that and accepted it without question. She didn’t exactly agree with murder, but she was well aware of the rules in Freddie’s world. If you tried to kill one of the Tylers, they were within their rights to respond in turn.

  ‘He was found a couple of days ago on the side of a road, near where he had been buried. He’d been dug up.’

  ‘What?’ Anna’s face was aghast. ‘Dug up? What the hell?’

  ‘It’s OK,’ Freddie quickly reassured her. ‘It’s been dealt with. I’ve made sure he’s now somewhere he can never be found and the police have nothing. It’s done with. But what’s worrying me is how he got there.’ Freddie rubbed the bridge of his nose. ‘Only a few people knew where he was, and none of them would have wanted that coming back to bite them. They hadn’t told a soul – I checked. I can’t work out who could have known Viktor was there and even then, why on earth they would want to dig him up and have him found. It doesn’t make any sense.’

  ‘Jesus.’ Anna didn’t know what else to say.

  ‘On top of that, I don’t know what else this person knows. If they were hoping to have me arrested it hasn’t worked, so I’d guess they’ll probably try again. Just wish I knew what to expect.’

  ‘What are you doing about it?’ Anna asked.

  ‘I’ve got Bill and Sammy looking into it. There’s not exactly a lot to go on though.’ Freddie leaned his head back into the sofa and closed his eyes.

  ‘You’re tired. Get some rest now, worry about this later,’ Anna said. She stroked his head, concern marring her face.

  She bit her lip. Who would do something like this? It was extremely odd, even in their world. It was the last thing Freddie needed right now, especially as he was looking to expand the business. He would have to put that on the back burner until this had all been dealt with. Frank Gambino had been delaying their meeting anyway; Anna knew that. He was waiting for her to agree to his terms before he would help Freddie. Not that that would be happening any time soon.

  Surely Gambino wouldn’t go to such lengths to pressure her into agreeing to hand her club over, would he? Her heart skipped a beat. He wouldn’t have got to his position by being nice, that was for sure.

  Anna’s lips formed a thin line as she reached for her phone. She needed to deal with this. She glanced at Freddie, who had already
fallen asleep. She texted the number that Gambino had given her.

  We need to talk. When can you meet? Anna

  The reply came back almost instantly.

  I can be at Club Anya in an hour

  Anna bit her lip as she considered what she was doing.

  See you there. Anna

  She let out a long breath and slipped her arm away from Freddie’s sleeping form. Tiptoeing through to the bedroom, she went to change and put some make-up on. For what she was about to do, she needed to be dressed to kill.

  * * *

  An hour later, Anna sat tensely behind the desk in her small office. Wearing a sleek pencil dress and with her war-face on, she felt ready to face Frank Gambino.

  Carl knocked on the door and then opened it, announcing her visitor. Anna stood up to greet him. Frank walked in, his expression appreciative as he saw Anna. He smiled and his eye glinted as the door closed behind him.

  ‘So nice to hear from you, Miss Davis. You have come to your decision?’ Frank asked cordially.

  Anna felt hot anger course through her veins at his smug expression. He thought she was here to bow down to him, give into his demands in return for an easy life. The good little woman, doing her bit for her man, scared by his tactics. Well, he was in for a surprise.

  ‘I have indeed,’ Anna replied curtly. She softened her tone with a tight smile. ‘Won’t you sit down?’

  Frank took the offered seat and waited, still seemingly confident that he was about to get what he had come for.

  ‘I might not be in your line of business, Frank,’ Anna started, ‘I may not have your sway or the fear and respect that you have gained over the years. But that doesn’t mean that I’ll cower when backed into a corner by a bully.’

  ‘Excuse me?’ Frank asked, frowning.

  ‘Let’s be open with each other, shall we? It saves dancing around the basic truth. You’ve surely figured out by now that I’m never going to hand the club over willingly. That’s why you thought it necessary to threaten Freddie by having that body dug up and exposed. I imagine you knew he would have the network available to get out of it – just. But you thought it would scare me enough that I would agree to your terms.’ Anna stared at Frank levelly from across the desk.

  Frank’s frown grew deeper. ‘What are you talking about? What body?’

  ‘Oh come on; please don’t treat me like an idiot. We both know it was you. Freddie has no real enemies right now, no one threatening him, nothing. Life has been peaceful for us for over a year. You come along asking for my club and when I don’t agree, this happens.’ Anna raised her arms to the sides and shrugged. ‘I know who you are, Frank. I know the Mafia don’t mess around and I know that when it comes to the gambling scene, you are the royal family. But this isn’t New York. This is London, and this is our world. And in our world people don’t dig up other people’s bodies to get other people arrested. You need to stop this now. There must be no more of this.’ Anna held his gaze, hoping that her beating heart wasn’t so loud that he could hear. As confident as she knew she sounded and looked, she was shaking like a leaf inside. In all her years, she had never thought she would have to confront someone in the Mafia. She wondered for a second if she was totally insane. He could kill her and get rid of her in an instant if he chose to.

  Frank didn’t respond straight away and the pair faced each other silently for a few moments.

  ‘You think I’m trying to scare you into selling to me?’ he said eventually with a slow smile. He sat back and shrugged nonchalantly. ‘Sorry, I have no idea what you’re talking about. After all, your personal life is none of my concern. What is my concern is this club. So I will ask you again, will you consider my offer? If you agree, I will make sure Freddie gets what he needs from me and you won’t ever have to worry about money again.’

  Anna seethed. She didn’t believe him for a second. It had definitely been him – there was no other person who would need to do this sort of thing. They had achieved peace with the other firms and had formed valuable alliances. And if it was a young try-hard attempting to jump the ranks, Freddie would have been able to find that out already through the grapevine. Taking a deep breath, she broke eye contact and sat back in her chair. She folded her hands in front of her.

  ‘Even if I did want to agree to your terms, I can’t. The club isn’t mine anymore. It hasn’t been for a while.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Frank asked, his tone taking a hard edge.

  ‘I mean that I’m not the owner of Club Anya. I’m not even part owner. The club belongs solely to Tanya. I just work here.’ Anna pushed a file across the desk to Frank, who opened it and pulled out the contents. ‘This is a photocopy of the legal document drawn up a year ago, transferring my half of the business into Tanya’s name. It’s all legal and binding. So, as you can see, even if I did want to sell this business, it’s not mine to sell.’

  Frank’s jaw dropped as he scanned the pages. It was as Anna had said – she no longer had any legal right to the club.

  It was genuine, the information she had given Frank about the club. Just over a year ago they had been in a situation where she and Freddie might have had to flee the country and start again under new identities. If that had happened, she would never have been able to come back and her assets would have been seized. To ensure Tanya and the club were both protected, Anna had hastily had the papers drawn up and transferred ownership to Tanya. No one had known about it, not even Tanya. She had forged Tanya’s signature on the documents knowing that this would be fine with her friend, should it ever come up.

  When they were in the clear and no longer needed to consider running, Anna had shelved the document away in her personal files. She wasn’t sure what had made her keep it. It was the only copy; if she had destroyed it the club would still be hers. But something in the back of her mind had told her to keep hold of it, in case she ever needed it again. And now she was glad she had.

  ‘But… why?’ he asked, confused.

  ‘That is none of your concern. I do have a counter-offer though.’ Anna tried to sound friendly, despite the hatred she felt burning inside. She needed to keep relations civil between them. Frank could still destroy all of them in an instant if the mood took him. ‘I still get half of the profits from the club each month. I’m willing to give you ten per cent of that for the next five years, as a gesture of goodwill and friendship between us, in exchange for your support towards Freddie’s casino.’

  Frank barked an incredulous laugh.

  ‘Please,’ Anna continued. ‘I know you’re disappointed and that you haven’t got what you came for. But that is all I’m able to offer you. You can see that. I don’t wish for bad blood; I’m hoping that we can all move forward benefitting from this.’

  Frank stood up, a look of amused shock on his face. He stared at her and nodded slowly. ‘Well, you certainly are full of surprises, aren’t you, Miss Davis?’ He leaned forward over her and Anna had to force herself not to shrink back under his intimidating stance. His words were cold. ‘I don’t care what legal games you and your business partner are playing, nor the reasons why. I want this club. Now, let’s negotiate, shall we?’ His hand shot forward and he seized Anna’s face in a vice-like grip. She gasped in shock. ‘It appears my offer wasn’t quite juicy enough for you. But everyone has a price. So, what’s yours, Anna?’

  Anna swallowed hard and tilted her chin up at him in defiance, her eyes burning. ‘There is no price on this club,’ she said through gritted teeth. ‘No amount of money in the world would force us to give it up. Especially to someone who thinks they can walk in here and force our hand like this. I’ve known bullies before, Mr Gambino.’ Anna leaned forward despite his grasp, forcing him backward. ‘I lived with a bully like you for years, making the same mistake over and over – and that mistake was letting him push me around. I won’t make that same mistake again, not with anyone.’ She tried to shove his hand away but he held fast, with venom in his eyes. ‘You made me an offer and I
have refused. I’ve made you a counter-offer, one that benefits everyone. If you choose not to accept, that’s your choice.’ Anna’s hard gaze didn’t break as Frank squeezed her face in anger.

  ‘Do you know what they do with women who act out of turn in Mexico?’ he hissed. ‘They cut out their tongues.’

  ‘Well, you’re a long way from Mexico and I don’t think anyone would take kindly to any harm you inflict on me, Mr Gambino.’

  Frank pulled his hand from her face and pushed her away from him. He stood back and straightened his suit. ‘I don’t accept your offer. I don’t take kindly to being told what I can and cannot have by some little woman,’ he spat. ‘You play at hostess in this club, running around like you own the place, but at the end of the day it’s your man whose life you’re messing with. It’s your man who will pay the price for your stupidity.’

  ‘Firstly’ – Anna’s eyes flashed – ‘the only reason Freddie could suffer from one of my business decisions is if you put him in that situation. That’s on you, not me. Our businesses are and always have been completely separate. And secondly, your sexist bullshit is not welcome here. If you ever touch me again I will ensure you regret it. The door is that way, Mr Gambino.’ Anna pointed. ‘This meeting is finished.’

  Frank nodded with a cold smile. ‘I’ll let you tell Freddie why he won’t be opening his casino and why his ambitions of forming an alliance with the Mafia are now hopeless. You can watch his face crumple as you tell him what you’ve done to him here today. And I’ll be sure to leave him a little message of my own before I go. I’ll see you again soon, Miss Davis.’

  Frank walked out and as the door shut Anna sank back into her chair. She reached up and rubbed her sore chin and cheeks. Her heart was pounding and her hands were shaking. What had she done?

  She reached into the bottom desk drawer and pulled out Tanya’s stash of cherry vodka. Taking the top off she poured some into an empty glass on the desk and downed it in one. She grimaced as the sharp bite hit the back of her throat.