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

by Emma Tallon

  ‘Thank you,’ Izobel replied softly. She turned back to the sink and continued washing up the pans.

  ‘Leave that,’ Tanya called out to her. ‘We can wash up after we’ve eaten. It’s the least we can do, after you’ve done all the cooking.’

  Anna shot her a suspicious look. Although she was glad Tanya had chosen to ignore Izobel’s involvement in her abduction for the sake of peace, she hadn’t actually expected her to be friendly. She was up to something.

  ‘Oh, well… thank you.’ Izobel reluctantly put the pan down. She would rather have done the washing up herself; it kept her busy. But she didn’t want to offend Tanya when she had reached out with such a kind offer.

  ‘No problem at all,’ Tanya replied, a determined glint in her eye. Anna caught the look and pursed her lips. No doubt she would find out what Tanya was up to soon enough.

  They ate the rest of their lunch in silence and then Tanya and Anna cleared away the dirty crockery. Anna filled the sink up with hot water and soap and began cleaning. Tanya picked up the towel and dried each item as Anna passed it to her, before finding the correct place to put things away.

  Izobel hovered awkwardly for a few minutes before excusing herself to the toilet. ‘But just to remind you,’ she added hesitantly, ‘the door is locked, OK? I won’t be long.’ She disappeared, after shooting them one last worried look.

  ‘What’s all this about?’ Anna whispered, holding up the plate she’d been cleaning. ‘Not that I mind, but I know you. This isn’t just a ploy to be nice.’

  Tanya checked behind her, to make sure Izobel was gone. Seeing that they were alone, she reached into her bra and pulled out a fork. She showed Anna and then stowed it back safely out of sight.

  ‘We need this to jimmy the lock in the bedroom. I didn’t want her to notice it was gone. I’ve got a plan,’ Tanya said excitedly. ‘First thing in the morning, we get the bedroom door open and come down here. He can’t be watching all the time – we have to hope he’s still asleep or getting ready for the day. If he catches us, then… well, the plan failed. But it’s worth trying and there’s no point waiting.’

  ‘But what then?’ Anna asked.

  ‘Then we come down here, jimmy the kitchen door the same way we did the bedroom and get outside. You see that big barn over there.’ Tanya pointed out the kitchen window. ‘I’d bet my last Rolo that there’s a vehicle of some kind in there. There are track marks worn into the ground – look – right up to it.’

  ‘But what about the bombs? Tanya, I’ve seen what they’ve done to soldiers, they’re seriously bad news,’ Anna whispered seriously.

  Worry and fear flashed across Tanya’s face. ‘I know, but what else can we do?’

  ‘We can’t risk it, we have to stay put,’ Anna replied, glancing at the door. Izobel could return at any second. ‘Freddie will find us.’

  ‘Anna.’ Tanya gripped her arm. ‘We can’t stay here. Freddie isn’t going to find us here – we’re in the middle of nowhere. He has all his men and every pig on his payroll working on this and they haven’t even established that you’re out of London.’ She stared out of the window. ‘We’re not safe in here with him, Anna. Of the two evils, I’d rather take the risk. He’s buried the bombs to deter us from leaving, I get that. But they won’t be completely hidden. If we get out there and we’re careful we can see where the ground has been disturbed and steer clear.’ Looking back at Anna, determination coloured her face. ‘We can do this, Anna. We can get out of here. We have to try. For the baby, as well as ourselves.’

  Anna felt her heart quicken with hope. Could they do it? Could they pull this off and get out of here alive?

  ‘You really think we can do this?’ she whispered.

  ‘Yes. We’re getting out of here, Anna,’ Tanya said firmly. ‘We are not giving in and losing ourselves to something like this. Not us. Not ever.’

  46

  James waited in the kitchen with two glasses of wine in hand as Paul came through the door.

  ‘Hello, love. Good day so far?’ He handed the wine to Paul and chinked the glasses together.

  Paul laughed. ‘Yeah, not bad. What’s the occasion?’ He motioned towards the wine before sipping it appreciatively. ‘Mm, this is nice.’

  ‘I have a surprise for you.’ With a wicked grin, James picked up a brown A4 envelope and handed it to Paul.

  With a smile and a slight frown, Paul opened it and pulled out the crisp, freshly printed pictures. As he registered what he was looking at, he nearly spat out his wine. Spluttering, he put the glass down and flicked through the pile, his eyes wide.

  ‘What the…’ He stared at James. ‘What are these? I don’t understand.’

  James squeezed his arm and winked. ‘I heard the things they said to you… I heard them treat you as though you were shit on their shoe, just because you’re not like them, and it made me so angry that I decided to get my own back. No one treats my boyfriend like that and gets away with it. Homophobic arseholes,’ he added. ‘So I called some old friends.’ James pushed his dark hair back off his forehead.

  ‘I can see that.’ Paul guffawed. ‘Nathan looks as though he’s having a lot of fun here. Did he, er…?’ Paul lifted an eyebrow in question.

  ‘Oh, God, no.’ James shook his head. ‘No, this is all posed. Nothing actually happened. But of course’ – he giggled – ‘they don’t know that.’

  Paul threw his head back and laughed long and hard. ‘Oh, James. You jammy dodger, this is pure evil,’ he said, tears of amusement running from his eyes. ‘You never cease to surprise me.’ He shook his head and smiled at the other man fondly. ‘Christ… I may just have to bring you into the family business yet. Your skills are wasted in your job.’

  ‘Well, now that’s an interesting thought and one we should definitely discuss. But for now, here’s what I think you should do…’

  * * *

  Later that night, Paul marched through club Roar. He signalled to the bouncer to make way for him as he approached the VIP area, and the rope was swiftly pulled back. He stepped up and greeted the two old faces with a wide grin.

  ‘Hello, Ron, Jimmy. Having a good night?’ He could see they were, with two young blondes sat beside them holding glasses of champagne.

  The two men looked furious as he interrupted their evening.

  ‘What the fuck do you think you’re doing here?’ Ron shouted, with a hateful expression. ‘I told you once, boy, your kind ain’t—’

  ‘Welcome,’ Paul finished, ‘yeah, I heard that. Except, then I was given these, you see.’ He held up the brown envelope with the pictures in. ‘So, I figured that from now on, you’ll be treating me with a damn sight more respect than you have been lately.’

  ‘What are you chatting about?’ Jimmy asked. ‘Gimme that.’ He grabbed at the envelope and Paul handed it over. He folded his hands in front of him and waited.

  Jimmy pulled the pictures out without caution and the girl next to him caught sight of the first one. She squealed and stood up. The other blonde looked over and gasped. She joined her friend and the two of them ran off back into the crowded club, away from their generous hosts.

  Jimmy’s face paled and his jaw bobbed up and down as he tried to find the words to say. Ron slid over to look and his eyes bulged so wide that Paul thought they might pop out of his head.

  ‘Wh-what the fuck is this?’ Ron cried. He grabbed the photos from Jimmy and they went through the pile. Jimmy gasped as he reached the one that looked as though he was going at it full throttle with the young man. His hands began to shake.

  ‘No, no we didn’t. That didn’t happen.’ He turned to Ron, his expression scared. ‘These are fakes, aren’t they?’

  Ron was silent for a moment, staring at one of the photos where Nathan was wearing the Russian hat. He pointed at it. ‘Remember Alexa? She was Russian, weren’t she? I… I don’t remember much, we’d been on the vodka…’

  Jimmy wailed and held his head as he realised he couldn’t remember the ni
ght either. ‘Oh God,’ he cried. ‘No, fuck no. I didn’t do that.’ He shook his head from side to side as if trying to shake the image out.

  ‘Well, it seems that you did. Both of you,’ Paul replied, enjoying their reactions.

  They looked at each other and then up to Paul fearfully. Ron swallowed hard. ‘Who knows about these?’

  ‘Oh, no one else at the moment. I mean, they were sent anonymously, so obviously whoever took the photos knows too. But I haven’t shown anyone – yet.’ He let the last word hang as a threat.

  Ron wiped the beads of sweat that were forming off his brow. ‘No one can know about these. These need to be destroyed. Are there more copies?’

  ‘Yes, another set in my safe. I think I’ll keep hold of them, just in case I ever need them,’ Paul replied with a smug smile.

  Jimmy groaned and closed his eyes. Ron looked down. They knew when they’d been beaten.

  ‘What do you want?’ Ron asked flatly.

  ‘To be shown the level of respect I should be,’ Paul answered. ‘Who I choose to be with is nothing to do with you, nor does it affect my ability to do business. Which you already know. So, I don’t ever expect to have to deal with being spoken to the way I have been lately again. Got it?’

  ‘Of course,’ Ron replied grudgingly. ‘And we appreciate in return that this goes no further then, yeah?’ he asked, his face anxious.

  ‘Of course,’ Paul said. ‘That’s what friends do for each other, right?’

  ‘Right,’ muttered the two men. Jimmy was still staring at one of the pictures in shock. Paul was pretty sure he was about to cry.

  ‘Perfect. Well, you guys have a good night. I’d best be off. The business won’t run itself.’ Paul strode back out the way he came with a spring in his step and a smile of triumph on his face. That had felt good. It was true what they said: karma always caught up with you. Even if there had been a certain young man lending it a hand this time.

  47

  The weak dawn light made its way through the window and onto the sleeping women. Tanya was curled up against Anna’s back and both were fully dressed under the covers. The night before, Tanya had changed into a pair of Anna’s leggings and a loose top, as they were more practical than her skirt and shirt. They wore thick socks but neither of them had access to shoes. The socks would have to do.

  As she woke, Anna pulled herself into a ball, holding her stomach. Tanya awoke too, sensing the movement next to her. She looked at Anna’s face and saw that it was scrunched up in pain.

  ‘Hey, are you OK?’ she whispered. ‘What’s up?’

  ‘I’m not sure. It feels… achey down there. I think something’s wrong.’ She sat up and gave Tanya a worried look.

  Tanya breathed out heavily. ‘OK. Well, I’m sure it’s nothing but let’s just focus on getting out of here and then the first thing we’ll do is head for a hospital, get you checked out.’ If we make it, she added silently.

  ‘Yeah, OK.’ Anna nodded. She glanced up at the camera and then back to Tanya. They wouldn’t know if he was watching or not. It was a risk, but as Tanya had said the day before, there was no point waiting. It was now or never.

  Slipping the fork out from under the pillow where she’d stashed it the night before, Tanya made her way to the door. She pulled out the one bobby pin that had remained in her hair when she’d woken up in this place and set about using both implements to unlock the door.

  Anna hovered behind her, not sure what to do. She kept glancing fearfully at the camera and strained her ears for any noises coming down the hall. There hadn’t been any movement yet, so that was a good sign. She ran her hands through her thick hair and it gave her a sudden idea. She grabbed the hairbrush off the dressing table and weighed it up in her hand. It wasn’t much of a weapon but it was better than having nothing.

  There was a click and Tanya pulled her makeshift tools back out. She tried the handle and sure enough, the door swung open.

  ‘Come on,’ she whispered. ‘We don’t have much time.’

  They crept through the hallway and down the stairs, trying to stay as silent as possible. The floorboards creaked loudly in some places and Anna cringed, but still no one came rushing out. She figured that if they did hear the noises, they probably all assumed that it was each other in the hallway. They had no reason to suspect it was the two women they were keeping locked away.

  They made it to the kitchen and Tanya looked around. ‘Wait, I need something too, just in case.’ She walked over to the hearth and was about to pick up a large, cast-iron pan, when Izobel walked into the room from the pantry. She was carrying a box of eggs and some milk. She stopped dead as her eyes moved from one to the other in shock.

  Anna put her finger to her mouth. ‘Izobel, please,’ she whispered, ‘don’t say anything.’

  ‘You know I can’t do that.’ She placed the eggs and milk on the table and turned to walk into the hallway. ‘I’m sorry, but—’

  Izobel’s words were cut off as Tanya swung the cast-iron pan and smacked her around the head with it as hard as she could. There was a dull clang as the metal connected with her skull, then a thud as Izobel hit the floor.

  Anna gasped and ran over to Izobel. She knelt down and checked her pulse. She gave a sigh of relief when she found it. A large lump was already forming on the side of her head where Tanya had hit her. Tanya winced and drew air in through her teeth as she saw it.

  ‘Ouch, that’s going to hurt when she wakes up.’

  Anna gave her a look of disapproval and went to collect one of the cushions from the chair by the fireplace.

  ‘What?’ Tanya asked, frowning. ‘It was her or us, and I wasn’t about to let it be us. She’ll be fine and she’ll have a genuine excuse when he finds us gone. OK?’ She glanced fearfully back towards the dark hallway. Her nerves were beginning to spike. They needed to move.

  ‘I know; you’re right,’ Anna conceded. She gingerly picked up Izobel’s head and laid the cushion under it, so that she’d be more comfortable.

  Biting her lip to stop herself hurrying Anna up, Tanya’s gaze landed on something interesting. ‘On the plus side’ – Tanya bent down and picked up the ring of keys that had fallen out of Izobel’s cardigan pocket – ‘we don’t have to waste time picking the next lock. Come on, let’s go.’

  Tanya unlocked the door and they stepped outside. She paused to lock it behind her. It wouldn’t stop them, but it would slow down anyone who was trying to chase them. They both paused and began scanning the ground near them. With a deep breath, Anna took the first step forward. Her heart was pounding. This could be it. At any point all they had to do was take one wrong step, just one lapse in judgement and that was it. They would be dead.

  They moved as quickly as they dared, one step at a time. The ground was hard earth, packed down by years of weather and the day-to-day grind of farm life.

  Tanya frowned. Wherever she looked there didn’t appear to be any recent disturbances. There was no way he could have planted something like that in the ground without digging some of it up, but none of this had been touched.

  ‘It was just a threat,’ she whispered to Anna. ‘Look, there’s nothing here. It was just a ploy to scare us.’

  Anna frowned and scanned the ground again, still not sure. This wasn’t something they could afford to get wrong. Unable to find anything either, she took a deep breath and nodded. ‘OK, but still be careful just in case.’

  Holding hands, they began to hurry faster towards the old barn, clearing the wide open space in which they were so exposed. The sharp pebbles on the hard ground hurt their feet, the thick socks proving to be little protection, but they didn’t stop. Anna glanced back over her shoulder to see if anyone had seen them, but it didn’t appear so. The big old farmhouse stood still and silent in the early morning light.

  The space they covered was only around fifty or so metres, but it felt like miles as their hearts hammered in their chests. Any second they could be seen – all it would take was for one
of the men to catch a glimpse out of a window, or Izobel to come round and raise the alarm.

  Reaching the barn they came to a stop at the side door. There was no point opening the large front until they had the means to escape. Tanya tried the door and swore as she was met with resistance. Fumbling with the keys in her hand she tried one in the lock. It wasn’t the right one.

  Anna stared back at the house, panic beginning to set in. They were so exposed out here. ‘Come on, Tanya,’ she urged.

  ‘I’m trying,’ Tanya replied. The third key turned in the lock. ‘Yes,’ she hissed under her breath. She opened the door and the pair bundled through, closing it quickly behind them.

  Immediately a rotten stench hit them and Anna held her nose.

  ‘Jesus, what is that?’ she wondered aloud.

  ‘They probably kept manure in here or something.’ Tanya wrinkled her own nose and coughed. ‘Eugh, or maybe an animal died. It’s not like he would think about the running of the farm,’ she added. ‘God, it’s really bad.’

  ‘Tanya, look.’ As their eyes adjusted to the dark, Anna saw that there was indeed a car, underneath a dust cover. ‘Quick, grab the other side,’ she said, her tone excited.

  Tanya ran round and grabbed the heavy sheet and between them they yanked it off. Underneath was an old Corvette. It was so old that it would probably pass as antique, but neither of them cared. All that mattered was whether it would start.

  Anna tried the door but it was locked. ‘Keys,’ she called out to Tanya. ‘Look for keys.’

  Tanya turned and began raiding the wall of tools that was behind her. There was a shelf with jars of nails and nuts and bolts, all carefully labelled. She rifled through each of them and in the drawers beneath.

  Anna swivelled round and looked for anywhere someone might keep a set of keys. There was a pile of boxes behind the car, which she couldn’t see beyond. She went to investigate. Perhaps there was a cabinet or something beyond it. There was, of course, the strong possibility that there were none in here at all, that they were kept in the house, but it was worth checking before they had to break in and hotwire it. She silently hoped Tanya would know how to do that. It wasn’t exactly on her list of skills.