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

by Emma Tallon

She tried to open her mouth and then her eyes, but nothing happened. Everything felt so heavy. She tried once more half-heartedly, helpless against the weight of her own body, before she drifted silently into unconsciousness.

  23

  Freddie sat at the desk in his office at Club CoCo, listening to the dull boom of the music from the dance floor below. His gaze wandered over the plans in front of him once more. It was the latest design for the layout of the retail level of his new complex. He wasn’t sure it was quite there yet. He put down the large whisky he had been holding and picked up a pen. He jotted down some notes on the plan, circling a couple of the shops he wasn’t happy with.

  His phone rang and he looked down at the screen. The caller ID showed that the call was coming from Club Anya. Finally, he thought. He picked up.

  ‘There you are! What happened to your phone? I’ve been trying to get hold of you all afternoon,’ Freddie said.

  ‘It’s me, not Anna,’ Tanya replied. ‘I was just ringing you to try and get hold of her, but it sounds like you’re having the same problem.’ Tanya’s tone held a hint of annoyance. ‘She was supposed to be here an hour ago. It’s Carl’s day off. I wouldn’t usually mind, but I had plans tonight.’

  ‘Oh.’ Freddie frowned. ‘No, she ain’t with me. In fact I haven’t seen her all day. She was going to meet me for a late lunch after her shopping trip with Izobel, but I haven’t heard a dicky bird.’

  ‘What?’ Tanya asked sharply. ‘That don’t sound right.’

  ‘No, it doesn’t.’

  The line went silent for a moment. Freddie felt a trickle of worry make its way down his spine. It wasn’t like Anna to not be reachable. Even if she’d lost her phone she would have called him from another one by now, knowing he would be trying to get hold of her.

  ‘Do you have Izobel’s number?’ Freddie asked.

  ‘No,’ Tanya replied. ‘She wasn’t exactly chomping at the bit to be my bestie – she was just all about Anna.’

  Freddie cursed under his breath.

  ‘Can you go check your place? She might be there, but I can’t leave the club,’ Tanya said.

  ‘Yeah, I’ll call ya.’ Freddie ended the conversation and grabbed his jacket, his whisky and the floor plans forgotten.

  Anna came round slowly and groaned. She put her hands up to her head. Why does it hurt so much? How long have I been asleep? She looked around and frowned. The room around her looked strangely similar to her bedroom at home, except that it wasn’t. The bedspread was the same, and the curtains. There was a dressing table that even had the same brand of face cream she always used. And… is that my hairbrush?

  Trying to shake off the thick fuzz still swirling in her brain, she stood up, staggering as she did so. She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment as the throbbing intensified, but shook it off. She needed to focus. She tried to remember how she got here. She had been in the cab on her way to the shops… Izobel was there. She had given her a drink… She froze. The drink! It must have been drugged. Why would Izobel drug me?

  Anna’s eyes darted around the room and widened as they settled on a camera in the top corner of one wall. A little red light flashed every couple of seconds. She was being watched. Her heart thudded against her chest and her breathing heightened. What the hell is this?

  She tried the door, but it didn’t budge. It was locked. Her heart began to hammer against her chest as she realised how bad the situation was. She ran to the window and tried to open it, but gasped and stood back as she caught sight of the view. There was nothing to see but miles and miles of fields and trees. Where the hell am I? This isn’t London.

  Anna moved away from the window and swallowed. She shook her head, trying to make sense of it all. Clearly she’d been drugged and kidnapped. And it had been so easy for them to do it too. How had it been so easy?

  Izobel… She closed her eyes as she realised that her new ‘friend’ was no friend at all. Why the hell would she kidnap her? What had Anna ever done to her? Was this some sort of sick, twisted game? Who was she? Anna realised with a sinking feeling that she had let her guard down far too quickly with the girl. She’d felt sorry for her, had seen a bit of her old self in there. And now it appeared she was paying a heavy price for that lapse in judgement.

  She jumped as a voice sounded from the camera that was watching her.

  ‘Oh there’s no way out; I wouldn’t waste your time. You won’t be going anywhere.’

  ‘Shit,’ she uttered as her breathing spiked. Stepping backward she moved towards the bed and sat on it, pulling her legs up and wrapping her arms around them.

  Anna shook her head, trying to rid herself of the fuzz from the drugs. Her thoughts shot to the unborn child, sitting in her belly. What had the drugs done to him or her? Would they cause the baby damage? Her breaths were coming in short, sharp gasps now and she closed her eyes, trying to calm herself down. It wouldn’t do her any good to let herself fall into a full-on panic attack. She needed her wits about her.

  Anna shuddered as she looked around the strange room. She tried to think logically. There was a reason she was here and she needed to find out what it was. She just hoped that whatever the situation was, she would be able to either talk or pay her way out of it. She couldn’t allow herself to think about the alternative. She didn’t dare.

  Freddie strode straight through Club Anya to the office at the back. His stance was rigid and his face held a thunderous expression. People swiftly moved out of his way. He walked in without knocking to find Paul and Bill already present with a worried-looking Tanya. Sammy walked in directly behind him. He had called them en route and told them to meet him there.

  ‘What’s going on?’ Bill cut to the point.

  ‘I don’t know exactly. Anna didn’t turn up to meet me earlier. I figured something must have come up, that she’d lost her phone or something. It’s been ringing out all day. She didn’t come to work tonight and she ain’t at the flat either. I tried her mum and The Last Laugh – no one’s seen her.’

  ‘And there’s no other reason at all that she might have gone off?’ Paul questioned.

  Freddie rounded on him. ‘And what the fuck’s that supposed to mean?’

  Tanya stood up. ‘Calm down, Freddie, he don’t mean nothing. It’s a reasonable question. No’ – she turned her head and answered Paul – ‘there’s no other reason.’

  ‘You got a tracker on her phone?’ Sammy asked.

  ‘No,’ Freddie replied, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He was getting seriously worried now.

  ‘I rang the hospitals, just in case,’ Tanya interjected. ‘There’s no sign of her. Which I guess is a good thing.’

  There was a knock on the door and Freddie opened it. Seamus walked in. He was sweating and breathing heavily and was dressed in a tracksuit.

  ‘Sorry,’ he panted between breaths, ‘ran as fast as I could. I was in the ring.’ He had been getting in some additional training in the evenings lately.

  Freddie had to admit, he greatly respected the boy’s determination. ‘Sit down,’ he said. Seamus did as he was told.

  ‘Anna wouldn’t just disappear and ignore her phone. She’s not the type, not even if she had reason’ – he shot a glare at Paul – ‘to want to get away.’

  Paul sighed quietly and ignored it. He hadn’t meant his comment in the way that Freddie was taking it, but then he was sure Freddie knew that deep down. He was just looking for an excuse to take his frustration out on someone. And Paul could take that.

  ‘Something’s seriously wrong. I can’t say for certain, but someone must have taken her. There’s no other viable theory. So, we need to find out who, when and why. I think we can all safely assume it’s linked to me. And when we do find whoever it is that’s taken her I’m going to rain hell on the fucker until he wishes he had never been born, until he begs me for death.’ Freddie clenched his fists and a dark, icy look flashed through his eyes.

  Tanya saw it and shivered. She averted her gaze. Freddie was her fr
iend and pretty much family, but he was the last person on earth she would ever dare to push too far. He was one dangerous creature to those who crossed him.

  ‘Where do you want us to start?’ Bill asked. This whole situation reminded him of a time four years before, when Anna had been kidnapped by a psychotic ex. They had worked together then to get her back. The difference this time, though, was that they had no clue where she was or who had taken her.

  ‘Get word out to everyone we know, get all our men out searching and asking questions,’ Freddie ordered.

  Bill nodded and stood up. ‘On it. I’ll go now.’

  ‘Sammy, go with him – you’ll get round quicker. Seamus’ – he turned to the boy as the others left the room – ‘take the Tube down to Morden, then a taxi to the St Helier Tavern. Inside ask to speak to Ray Renshaw. Say I sent you. Tell him what’s happened and that if he could look into things south of the river, I’ll owe him.’

  ‘Got it.’ Seamus stood up.

  ‘Oh,’ Freddie added, ‘keep your head up and your wits about you while you’re there. It’s a rough place and it’s not our territory.’

  ‘No problem. I can look after meself.’ Seamus nodded and left without another word.

  ‘Why don’t we check over the flat again,’ Paul suggested. ‘See if there’s anything there that could give us a clue. We can call Fraser on the way, see what he can do about looking into it.’

  ‘Yeah, let’s go. Tanya, keep trying her phone and stay by this one in case she tries to call you. I’ll let you know if anything happens.’

  ‘Yeah, of course.’ Tanya’s face was pale with worry, her usual smile missing.

  Freddie marched back out with Paul in tow. As they walked, Paul glanced over at his brother. He had never seen Freddie so angry and shaken.

  ‘Don’t worry, we’ll find her,’ he said.

  ‘Damn right we will,’ Freddie responded. ‘And then I can promise you’ – he gritted his teeth – ‘I’ll murder whoever’s done this.’

  24

  Seamus stepped out of the taxi and looked up at the building in front of him. He closed the door and before it had even clicked properly shut, the driver screeched off like his life depended on it. Seamus shrugged. Perhaps it did. Freddie did say the pub was rough.

  Dusting himself off, Seamus wished he’d had time to change into his normal clothes. He hated making bad first impressions and here he was standing in his sweaty gym gear. It would have to do. He tutted in annoyance and walked inside the pub.

  Holding his head high, he scanned the room, looking for the people who seemed like they were in charge. As the door swung shut behind him, all conversations halted and even the barman stopped serving to stare as the new stranger walked into their midst.

  Seamus grinned brightly at three men standing at the bar. ‘Alright, lads? It’s a fine day, is it not?’ He moved to the bar and signalled to the stony-faced bartender. ‘I’ll have a Jack Daniels and Coke, when you have a second, fella,’ he said, his Irish accent cheery in the silence. He leaned forward and waited casually.

  The three men he had aimed his greeting at walked over and surrounded him.

  ‘Don’t you mean Guinness?’ the largest one asked, his tone menacing. ‘That’s what your lot like, innit? You potato-loving pikeys.’

  ‘Oh, no, I don’t much like the stuff, meself,’ Seamus replied casually. ‘Prefer a drop of whisky. And actually I’m not a gypsy either. Although some of me cousins are,’ he added.

  ‘Oh, I dunno, what d’ya reckon, George?’ the big bloke addressed the barman. ‘I think he definitely needs a Guinness. The drink of his homeland. Maybe’ – he grinned nastily as George handed him a pint of Guinness he happened to have already been pouring – ‘if he don’t want to drink the stuff, we should give him a little bath. He does look a bit dirty, don’t he, boys?’ He lifted the pint up and grabbed Seamus by the front of his T-shirt.

  ‘I’d really rather you didn’t,’ Seamus replied. He didn’t try to manoeuvre himself out of the other man’s grasp, knowing that the move would just trigger an all-out brawl. ‘It’s just that I need to talk to Mr Renshaw and I don’t really want to meet him looking any worse than I already do.’ He pulled a face and held his hands out in a plea.

  The big man quickly dropped him at the sound of Renshaw’s name and placed the pint back down on the bar. He scowled.

  ‘And what do you want to talk to Mr Renshaw about then, you little shit?’ he growled.

  ‘Well, that’s for me to discuss with him, isn’t it? I’m here on behalf of Freddie Tyler. D’ya think you could point me in the right direction?’ Seamus straightened his T-shirt and tucked it back into his jogging bottoms.

  A deep, craggy voice sounded from the back of the room, where a few tables were elevated away from the rest.

  ‘He’s over here, son.’

  Seamus looked for the source of the voice and found a hard-looking middle-aged man staring back at him.

  ‘So, what’s my old pal Freddie doing sending you down here then?’

  Seamus quickly walked away from the bar and over to Ray Renshaw. The noise in the pub began to bubble again as people resumed their conversations. As he approached the older man he tipped his head to show his respect.

  ‘You are Mr Renshaw?’ he double-checked, not wanting to waste any more time talking to the wrong person.

  ‘In the flesh,’ he replied.

  ‘Great. May I sit down?’

  ‘Knock yourself out,’ Renshaw replied.

  ‘Thank you.’ Seamus perched on a stool and quickly told Ray Renshaw about Anna and repeated Freddie’s request for help. Ray frowned and nodded, his expression serious.

  ‘That’s fucked up,’ he said finally. ‘Tell Freddie I’ll get my boys asking questions and that if we hear anything I’ll get word to him straight away through Club CoCo. And also’ – he took a long drag on the cigarette he was smoking – ‘when he does find her, if he needs manpower, he just needs to let me know.’ He shook his head. ‘It’s not on. It’s bad times indeed when someone crosses the line and takes a civilian. It can’t be allowed.’

  Seamus nodded in agreement. It was one of the most absolute rules of the underworld. If you had reason to, you could go after an enemy in whatever manner you wanted. You could gun them down, take their businesses, torture them until they begged for death – but never, under any circumstances, did you touch their family. Family – or ‘civilians’ as they were often referred to – were one hundred per cent off the table. No matter what. This was a law that no one in their world would accept being broken. Because if it became acceptable for one person, it could easily be their own family next. Freddie knew this, and that was why he knew he could count on Ray to step in and help him.

  ‘Thank you, Mr Renshaw. I know Freddie will appreciate that.’ He stood up. ‘I’d best get back.’

  ‘Yeah, you get off, lad.’

  Seamus left the building as Ray Renshaw called his men over to start the search.

  Anna sat in silence on the bed staring at the camera, a dark look on her face. After calming herself down the night before, she had methodically searched the room from top to bottom. It hadn’t taken her long to realise that whoever had abducted her was also the person who had broken into their flat. A tub of her face cream, an old hairbrush she didn’t always use and some of her jewellery were all spaced out neatly on the dressing table. When she saw her grandmother’s ring she immediately put it on, a small spark of relief from been reunited with it briefly spearing through the worry and fear of the overall situation.

  In the set of drawers there was an odd assortment of her clothes that she hadn’t realised were missing. Among these had been a pair of yoga trousers and a thin, baggy summer jumper. She had changed into these, knowing that when she finally came across an opportunity to escape, she would get much further in these than in the dress she had arrived in. To her frustration there had not been any shoes, so she had settled for a pair of thick socks instead. She hope
d they would protect her feet enough if she needed to run. Anna refused to allow her mind to wander to the possibility that she wouldn’t escape.

  She had tried to stay awake, but the mixture of exhaustion from her pregnancy and the drugs still in her system had finally got the better of her and she had fallen asleep at some point during the night. When she awoke there had been a tray laid just inside the door with some toast, cereal and orange juice on. The toast had been cold, but after a wary inspection Anna had eaten as much as she could whilst fighting her morning sickness. She needed to keep her strength up. Clearly, she had deduced, they planned to keep her decently nourished. So at some point someone would have to come back to take the tray and swap it for some lunch. There was no clock in the room so she had no idea what time it was, but she could tell it had been several hours. They should be coming soon. And when they did, she would be ready.

  A fresh wave of nausea washed over her and she ran through to the small en suite she had discovered the night before. She hurled into the toilet, the contents of her stomach resurfacing violently. As she wiped the vomit from her mouth with tissue she heard a small noise. Her head whipped round as she focused in on it. Someone had opened the door. She scrambled up from her position on the floor and burst back into the bedroom.

  Izobel’s expression was startled; she clearly hadn’t been expecting Anna to come out so quickly. She let go of the tray she had been setting down and turned to flee, but Anna was too fast. She ran across the small space and tackled Izobel to the ground before she could reach the door. The pair grappled as Anna tried to throw her to the side and get to the door but Izobel held on fast, stopping her. Anna grabbed Izobel’s hair in her fist and screamed at her in frustration.

  ‘Why are you doing this to me? What is this? What the hell is going on?’

  Izobel tried to pull her hair back with one hand, whilst locking her arm around Anna’s neck with her free arm. She screamed as Anna pulled harder.