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

by Emma Tallon

  ‘What happened?’ Anna asked.

  ‘You really want to know?’ Freddie gave her a questioning look. Anna paused before answering.

  ‘Yes, go on.’

  ‘One of my men was murdered today. Or last night, I think. I’m not sure.’

  Anna gasped. ‘Christ. Why? Who?’

  ‘Dale Matthews. I don’t know why yet. I’ve got Bill looking into it.’

  ‘Will you be pulled in?’ Anna asked.

  ‘Nah, there’s no connection. Not one they’ll find anyway.’

  ‘OK.’ Anna nodded, her face serious.

  ‘Come on, have a drink with me. I need one.’

  ‘I’m OK actually, still a bit delicate from last night.’

  ‘Ah, come on,’ Freddie tried to sway her. ‘You can’t make a man drink alone with his problems, now that’s just cruel,’ he joked.

  ‘I said no, Freddie. I don’t want a drink,’ she snapped. There was an awkward silence and Anna instantly regretted her shortness. It wasn’t Freddie’s fault she was so stressed out. She forced a tight smile. ‘Sorry. I’ve just got a lot on right now and I want to keep a clear head.’

  Freddie nodded and shrugged. ‘Well, why don’t you tell me what’s going on with you then? It’ll take my mind off my own issues,’ he offered.

  ‘It’s nothing, just normal stuff,’ she replied quickly.

  ‘You just said you had a lot on.’ Freddie frowned and looked at her. ‘So, which is it?’

  Anna sighed in frustration. ‘It’s nothing, Freddie. I don’t want to talk about it right now.’ She looked away and clamped her jaw shut.

  Anna knew she should tell him, but she couldn’t. Not yet, anyway. He had enough on his plate: if he knew everything that was going on with Gambino, he would hit the roof. It was the last thing he needed. She was protecting him from information that he couldn’t do anything about even if he did know.

  Plus, there was the small knot of worry in her stomach still that he might blame her. Even though he would agree with her decision, and she was pretty certain he would, the fact that she had been the one to close the door on his next big goal would be hard to swallow. She couldn’t bear to see the disappointment in his eyes just yet.

  Freddie watched her expression close up and suddenly felt cold. What is she hiding? Anna wasn’t good at hiding things, not from him anyway. There was something bothering her greatly. Why won’t she just tell me? he wondered. Anna never usually kept anything from him. Because of how complex their lives were, they made sure to be completely open with one another. The one time he had kept something big from her, it had nearly broken them. Now, more than ever, they told each other everything. And when there was nothing they couldn’t share – not even dead bodies and drug runs – what could be so bad that Anna felt the need to hide it from him?

  Anna turned back to him, a look of pure guilt marring her beautiful face. This alone sent Freddie’s heart crashing into his stomach. Why the guilt? He stopped his brain from making any connections, too afraid of where they might lead.

  ‘Listen.’ Anna’s voice was softer now as she regained control of her emotions. ‘I think we both need a little fun, to let our hair down a bit. Why don’t we have a day off tomorrow, get everyone together and just go have a load of drinks, get blind drunk and forget all our troubles? What do you say?’ She was grinning now.

  Freddie bit his lip and studied her. He couldn’t make sense of her yo-yoing emotions. ‘OK,’ he replied finally. ‘I can do that. I’ll see who’s around.’

  Anna squeezed his arm and put her forehead to his. ‘Great. I’ll see if the girls are free.’

  ‘I’ll still have things to do in the evening, so let’s call it an afternoon thing, yeah?’ Freddie said. ‘Tell them to come to Ruby Ten, that’s open from lunchtime. We can take over the VIP area.’ He stood up. ‘I’m going for a shower.’

  ‘OK.’ Anna nodded.

  ‘Anna.’ Freddie paused by the door and looked back at her. ‘You’d talk to me, if there was anything serious going on, yeah?’

  Anna swallowed and forced a smile. ‘Of course,’ she said. ‘I’m just really tired at the moment and there’s both clubs to run. Really, it’s fine,’ she lied.

  ‘OK.’ Freddie walked through the hallway towards the bedroom, his mouth forming a frown. Anna had just lied to him. The question now though was why?

  18

  The rhythmic bassline of the chilled house music underlined the relaxed, fun atmosphere around the full VIP table the following afternoon. Tanya sat chatting animatedly with James and Amy, Bill’s wife, keeping their champagne glasses topped up. Carl was taking full advantage of his day off and inclusion in the afternoon fun, and was plying Sophie with shots of something neon blue. Bill and Paul were swapping inappropriate jokes over glasses of whisky and Thea swayed along to the music, talking to Seamus about his love for boxing. Sammy hadn’t been able to come to the club. Work never ceased and there were certain things he couldn’t push to the evening.

  Anna sat to the side of Tanya with Tom, listening quietly but not quite joining in. This wasn’t exactly out of the ordinary; she was known to be the quieter of the two friends and business partners. But Freddie knew that this wasn’t all it was today. Her expression was tight and wary underneath the fake smile. Occasionally she and Tanya exchanged glances and Freddie realised from their unspoken communication that Tanya knew exactly what she was hiding from him. He filed this realisation away for a later date. He wasn’t sure how he would use it yet. Tanya’s loyalty would always be to Anna, but he would figure it out somehow.

  Taking a deep breath, he caught the waitress’s eye and signalled for her to come over. ‘Rachel, I’ll have two rounds of Patrón for everyone.’

  There was a cheer from James and Tanya, and Freddie grinned. The grin didn’t quite meet his eyes though. He hadn’t planned on getting drunk today, not really. He still had work to do tonight. But for once he decided to cut himself some slack. There was a lot on his shoulders and none of it was going anywhere tonight. Whatever Anna was hiding was eating away at him and he just needed to let it all go and relax for a bit.

  An hour later Anna saw Bill go to the bar and she glanced over towards Freddie. He was busy laughing with Thea. She took the opportunity to quietly join Bill at the bar.

  ‘Hey, how’s it going?’ she asked, checking that no one was heading over to join them. They weren’t.

  ‘Good, thanks. What about yourself?’ he replied with an easy smile.

  ‘Things are OK, I guess.’ She bit her lip, still not sure if she was making the right gamble. She went for it anyway. ‘Bill, I need to talk to you about something, but it needs to stay between us,’ Anna said.

  Bill frowned and shifted his weight, waiting for her to continue.

  ‘I know your loyalty is to Freddie. I’m not asking you to go against that, but this isn’t something he needs on his plate right now.’

  ‘OK. What’s up?’ Bill asked carefully.

  Anna took a deep breath and began telling him all about her dealings with Frank Gambino.

  ‘… so I thought that it was dealt with. Mostly at least. But then the dealer was killed. And I know that neither you nor the police have found anything so far, which means it was definitely someone who knew what they were doing. It wasn’t just an accident or an argument gone wrong. It was calculated and deliberate.’

  Bill shook his head. ‘I don’t think it’s Gambino. I think you’re barking up the wrong tree. It don’t make any sense for him to cause such extra trouble for Freddie.’

  ‘But it has to be him, Bill. He’s doing it to pressure me into the sale. Who else could it possibly be? He’s the only wild card in play right now. No one here would do all this, would try to get Freddie caught and locked up. It just isn’t done.’

  ‘I hear what you’re saying, but I still don’t think it’s him. He’s a clever bloke, Anna. And one who has a strong sense of rules – rules that are very similar to ours. If he was out to ruin F
reddie for any reason, this wouldn’t be how he’d play. He’s already told you what he’s going to do – Freddie won’t be able to open his casino. Frank has no need to do anything else.’

  ‘Well, someone is out to ruin him, Bill. Don’t you think? There are an awful lot of strange coincidences happening at the moment.’

  They stood in silence as each mulled over the other’s opinions. Anna forced a smile and waved as Freddie began to make his way over to them.

  ‘Listen, I’ll look into it, OK?’ Bill said. ‘I’ll see what I can find out, see if there are any connections between anything. Try not to worry about it. If it is someone trying to fuck with him, it won’t be because of you. I’ll let you know if I get anything.’

  ‘OK. Thanks.’

  ‘No worries.’

  Freddie walked over and immediately stumbled into a bar stool. He laughed at himself and Anna smiled in amusement as she realised how drunk he was.

  ‘Having a good time?’ she asked.

  ‘Yeah, more than you seem to be. You don’t seem anywhere near as under the influence as I am,’ Freddie said.

  ‘I’ve had a couple. I’m just not feeling well, to be honest. I don’t think the bubbles are agreeing with me again,’ Anna replied.

  Freddie bit back the drunken accusation on his lips. He was tempted to demand she tell him what she was hiding right there and then. It was bothering him even more than he’d realised. But this wasn’t the time or the place. Charging in and demanding something from Anna wasn’t going to do him any favours. She didn’t respond well to tactics like that. Instead he reached into his pocket and pulled out his cigarettes. Lighting one up, he turned and leaned back against the bar.

  Bill frowned. Freddie didn’t usually smoke in his clubs. He smoked in the back office and was known to smoke in one or two of the pubs frequented by people in their line of work, but never in the bar of his clubs. He didn’t want to set a bad example or put people off. It just wasn’t that sort of place.

  Sure enough, a man on a nearby table stood up and walked over.

  ‘Er, mate, you’re supposed to go outside. You can’t smoke in here,’ he said, his tone irate. He turned up his nose and tried to wave the smoke away.

  ‘I can do what I fucking like,’ Freddie spat, standing upright. ‘This is my fucking club, mate. I own the place.’ He began approaching the man but Bill strategically stepped in his way without looking like he was trying to stop him.

  ‘Come on, Fred, leave this no-mark to it,’ he said, gently turning his boss back towards the VIP area.

  ‘No-mark? Who do you think—’ the man began to speak but Bill shot him a dangerous look. The man retreated, suddenly aware that he wasn’t sure what he’d stumbled into.

  ‘Fuck off,’ Bill ordered. The man did as he was told, walking back to his table, muttering under his breath about psychos and law-breakers.

  ‘Whatever, get off me, Bill, I’m fine.’ Freddie shook Bill off him and tersely straightened his jacket, aware he wasn’t acting like himself. He dropped the cigarette into an abandoned half-empty pint glass at the end of the bar and turned back to the barmaid. ‘Another round of shots. Make it something decent.’ He returned to the VIP area with Bill close behind him.

  Anna watched him go and shook her head. Freddie was always so cool and collected, even when he was pissed off. He must be really feeling the pressure with this latest murder to act out in his own club. He wasn’t sleeping well either; they were both still stressed about the break-in. Fraser hadn’t got anywhere and they still didn’t have a solid list of possible suspects. This thought just cemented Anna’s conviction. There was no way she could tell him about Frank right now. It was the last thing he needed.

  The worry bubbled up in her stomach and she took another sip of her drink to try to quell it. This didn’t work and only served to make the bubbling worse. The sudden realisation that she was going to actually throw up spurred Anna into action and she launched herself towards the toilets.

  As she reached the nearest cubicle she didn’t have time to lock it behind her before the first wave of vomit spewed from her mouth. She steadied herself against the back wall with one hand and grabbed at her hair with the other, trying to keep it out of the way as she heaved again and again.

  The door banged open behind her and suddenly there was a pair of cool hands on her neck, scooping up the hair that was slipping from her grasp.

  ‘Jesus, I didn’t realise you’d had that much,’ Tanya said with concern as she stood with her friend. She’d watched Anna’s mad dash into the ladies’ and had followed to find out what was wrong.

  ‘I haven’t,’ Anna managed between heaves. ‘Just… two.’

  Tanya didn’t say any more until the heaving stopped and Anna stood up straight again. She wobbled and Tanya righted her. Ripping off some tissue, she handed it to Anna, who wiped her mouth.

  ‘Thanks,’ she said heavily. ‘I was ill yesterday too. I put it down to the takeaway the night before, but actually I think the stress of everything’s just getting to me now.’

  ‘Really?’ Tanya frowned. ‘That’s not like you. I mean, it’s not like you haven’t faced screwed-up shit like this before. I don’t remember any of that making you sick.’

  ‘Well…’ Anna trailed off. Tanya had a point. ‘Things change, I guess.’

  ‘Are you sure it’s not something else?’ Tanya stared at her and Anna’s brain began to tick. She looked down at the mess and shook her head slowly. No, she wasn’t sure. She wasn’t sure of anything anymore.

  19

  Anna stepped behind the bar in Club Anya and stared at the spirit bottles wistfully. Twisting her mouth to one side as she considered her options, she eventually yanked a carton of orange juice from the mixers fridge and poured herself a glass. It was early evening and the place was too quiet for her liking. Not that they didn’t have customers in, there was a good general buzz around, but usually Carl or Tanya would be around doing something, or Sophie would be getting ready for her acts on the rings. But none of her friends were here tonight. Of course they were all likely to still be in bed – or perhaps had made it no further than their sofas, still suffering the wrath of stinking hangovers from all the fun the day before.

  The door opened and Anna glanced over expectantly.

  ‘Oh, what are you doing here? I thought tonight was going to be a complete write-off when I saw the state of you this morning,’ she said in surprise. Freddie looked awful. In fact she didn’t think she had ever seen him look so ill and dishevelled. His skin was almost green and she couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. She laughed as he gave her a pained look, before collapsing on a bar stool in front of her.

  ‘I’m dying. I don’t think I’ve ever had so much to drink.’ He pulled a face at the Martini one of her barmen was pouring a customer next to them.

  ‘Yes, well. That was kind of your own fault. You geared everyone up into a crazy party frenzy,’ Anna replied.

  ‘Yeah, I got a bit carried away. But you know what, it’s not like we do that very often. Doesn’t hurt to let loose once in a while.’

  Anna smiled and reached across the bar, touching his face affectionately.

  ‘Want some orange juice?’ she asked, sliding her full glass over to him. He took it and gulped it down gratefully. Anna poured herself a fresh one.

  ‘Thanks.’

  ‘Listen, I wanted to talk to you about something. It’s about the flat,’ Anna said. She worded what she wanted to say carefully, trying not to offend Freddie. ‘I know you keep us safe and that you’ve done everything you can with regards to security after what happened. I have every faith in that. But ever since the break-in, home just hasn’t felt the same. I feel like I can’t relax and I just can’t shake that horrible feeling that came from someone coming into our private space and going through our things…’ She trailed off and shuddered. ‘I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel happy and secure there anymore. It feels tainted somehow.’ She sighed. ‘I know this
was our first place together and we’ve put a lot into it. And it will always be special because of that. But how would you feel about maybe selling up and buying somewhere else?’

  Freddie nodded, his expression serious. He had been expecting this conversation to come up. Anna’s nightmares weren’t diminishing and she had lost her ability to relax in their home. He’d had a CCTV system put in and a thick safety door installed. At nights when he knew she was home and he was working, he had one of his men posted outside and made sure she knew who was there. But it was no use. Someone invading her privacy like that had crossed a sacred line.

  Freddie felt useless. There was nothing else he could do and Fraser still hadn’t come up with anything either. He’d had forensics in to sweep the place but whoever it was had been a professional. There was not one cell of DNA left behind and there were no cameras anywhere near the front of their building. It was something Freddie had always valued up until now. If the police ever needed to prove he wasn’t at home they wouldn’t be able to. But his measures had worked against him in this instance.

  Freddie didn’t want to leave the flat. He liked it there and was proud of it. They had spent a lot of time and money getting it just right. But Anna’s happiness and security was more important. He’d do anything she needed to get back to how she should feel in her home.

  ‘If that’s what you want to do, that’s OK with me,’ he said.

  Anna visibly relaxed. She had been holding her breath, waiting to see what he would say. She had been dreading his answer, expecting him to ask her to give it more time. She was so glad he hadn’t.

  ‘Are you sure?’ she checked.

  ‘Yeah. Why don’t you start having a look around at what’s on the market tonight, see if there are any you like the look of and we can go over them tomorrow,’ Freddie suggested.

  ‘OK, I’ll have a look. Are you out this evening then?’

  ‘Yeah, I’ve got to go sort out a problem with a shipment. No rest for the wicked. Feel like death warmed up, but…’ He laid his head in his hands for a moment and sighed.