by Emma Tallon
‘There you are!’ she sang, putting one of the coffees down in front of Anna.
‘You say it as if you didn’t already know,’ Anna replied. ‘Thank you – I needed this. I’ve been staring at the payroll so long it’s beginning to send me to sleep.’ She drank deeply from the takeaway cup, shooting her friend a grateful look. ‘So, where were you last night, missy?’ She began to laugh as Tanya dramatically melted in the chair.
‘Oh my God, I had the best night,’ she replied enthusiastically.
It had been Tanya’s shift last night, but Anna had received a last-minute text asking if she could cover instead. Of course she had obliged, not minding at all. But now she was curious as to what had been so important.
‘So?’ she prompted eagerly.
‘OK, so do you remember me telling you about that guy? The one from that restaurant that I got chatting to a couple of weeks ago?’
‘Umm…’ Anna racked her brain, trying to place exactly which man Tanya was talking about. She dated a lot and nearly always dropped them by the third date. She got bored quickly.
‘Oh, come on! You know who I mean – the one with all his friends. The one who caught my coat under his chair?’
‘Oh, I vaguely remember you mentioning it,’ Anna said, trying to recall the conversation.
‘Well, he asked for my number that night and so we got texting and stuff, right. Then a couple of days later we went for a drink, down at that little cocktail place in Archer Street—’
‘Ooh, I like it there. The flapper bar?’
‘Yeah, that’s the one. We should go there later, actually, if you fancy a drink.’
‘Mm, sounds good. But carry on about Mr Restaurant. What happened?’
‘Well, here’s the thing – I think I actually like the sod. We had a really nice time that night, talked about all sorts for hours, lots of flirting.’
Anna rolled her eyes. ‘Shocker.’
Tanya ignored her sarcasm.
‘So, then he’s messaging me constantly, right? Like, all smitten and chatty and full of like, I don’t know, beans or something. And he tells me we’re going out to dinner, which was last night. Gets all alpha male on me, saying he’s already booked the table, that we’re going to Hakkasan and to be ready to be picked up at eight. Didn’t even ask, just told me.’
‘Wow.’ Anna’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. No one got away with just ‘telling’ Tanya what to do, even if it was something fun. A few had tentatively tried in the past and she’d laughed in their faces. Tanya was not someone that anyone could control. She actively pushed against authority. This guy must have a real gift with delivering orders if Tanya Smith had actually taken one. ‘So you just… went?’ Anna questioned, an amused smile tugging up the corners of her mouth.
‘Well, I didn’t just jump to it. I’m not some pathetic, soppy twat that just does what she’s told,’ Tanya came back defensively, ‘but you know… I like Hakkasan. They do really good dim sum.’ They looked at each other and burst out laughing.
‘So, OK, you went. There’s nothing wrong with that – it’s nice sometimes to be wooed.’ Tanya sniffed and pursed her half-smiling lips. ‘And then what? Why are you so flustered?’ Anna asked, laughing.
‘I’m not flustered, I just… I actually like him. He’s funny and interesting and proper hot. He’s some wanker-banker in the city. Had me laughing the whole night. And then we got back to mine and turns out he’s just as impressive out of the suit too.’ Tanya’s eyes twinkled mischievously.
Anna threw back her head and laughed heartily. ‘Well, good for you. It’s nice to see you excited about someone. Have you told him about this place and everything?’
Tanya knew what Anna meant by everything. She was checking that there had been no mention of her link to Freddie. It was the same with any new person who came into their world. They had to be careful never to discuss Freddie or his business outside of their inner circles.
‘Yeah, I’ve told him about the club and that you’re my best friend as well as business partner. But that’s it – I’ve not told him anything else.’
Anna nodded and winked at her. ‘Great. Well, I look forward to meeting this new amazing man. What’s his name?’
‘Daniel Sharp. I was thinking if it’s still all kosher next week that I could maybe invite him to your birthday?’ It was just over a week until the big birthday bash Freddie had arranged at Mollie’s house for all of Anna’s friends and family. Anna had just wanted to do something quiet, but Freddie wasn’t one for letting a celebration go without taking full advantage.
‘My my – thinking ahead and everything, Miss Smith. This certainly is new ground, isn’t it?’ she teased. ‘Yes, of course. I’ll let Freddie know.’
‘Great, thanks.’
Anna was intrigued by the man who had managed to break through Tanya’s hard outer shell. Tanya always appeared to be on top of the world and happy with being single, but Anna knew that wasn’t the real reason she hadn’t found someone special. Deep down, Tanya wanted somebody to share things with, but she was so damaged she tended to push people away. It was a self-preservation mechanism, built up through a neglected childhood and over years of being used and abused by men while she sold her body. Life had been very different for Tanya over the last three years though. These days she had friends who loved her and a successful business to run. Tanya was proud of who she was and what she did for a living. But it still took a special type of determination for anyone to pole vault over the walls that she had so firmly erected.
‘Anyway, why don’t I take over and you head off?’ Tanya said. ‘You’ve been here for ages. Where are you up to?’ She stood up and walked around the desk to peer over Anna’s shoulder at the laptop screen.
‘Er, about here,’ Anna pointed to the screen.
‘OK, I’ll finish it. Go on – piss off. Go enjoy your life. And get some sun. I swear you’re so pale you’re starting to look like a vampire.’
‘Thanks,’ Anna replied flatly.
‘Any time!’ Tanya flashed her a brilliant smile, then took her place at the desk as Anna stood up.
‘I’ll be at home if you need me.’
‘I did say “sun”,’ Tanya mumbled at Anna’s retreating back. She rolled her eyes and settled herself in to finish up the payroll.
Anna let herself into the building with her fob and made her way up to their penthouse. Turning the key in the front door, she heard two deep voices in conversation. One was unmistakably Freddie and the other she thought sounded like Paul. She made her way to the kitchen and smiled warmly as her suspicions were confirmed.
‘Hey, Paul, how are you?’ She reached up to kiss his cheek briefly and smiled over to Freddie. He looked tense, she thought.
‘I’m pukka, thanks, Anna. Yourself?’
‘I’m great. Are you staying for dinner?’
‘No, I’ve got to get off actually. Have some things to do. I’ll catch you later.’ Paul shuffled towards the door.
‘Meet me back at Ruby Ten after hours tonight. Bring Sammy – fill him in.’
‘Got it.’ Paul closed the door behind him, and Anna turned her attention to Freddie. He sighed heavily, as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders. Walking over to the dining table, he turned one of the chairs and sat down, pinching the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes. Anna ran her critical eye over him and pulled a sad face. He looked stressed and drawn suddenly. He had been alright when she’d left him this morning. Something must have happened.
‘What’s wrong?’ she asked gently. ‘Are you OK?’
He gave her a tired smile. ‘Nothing you need to worry yourself about right now.’
Anna screwed her lips to one side as she studied him. She didn’t probe any further. If he could tell her, he would. If it was something he knew she wouldn’t want to know, he wouldn’t. That was how they did things.
Walking over to him she let him wrap his arms around her waist and pull her in. She stroked his head as he r
ested it against her and felt the overwhelming wave of love for him that she always did. Freddie was her rock, the love of her life. Often when couples had been together more than a couple of years, the burning passion that first united them would fizzle down to something calmer, but not with them. The intensity and fire between them had never dwindled and, if anything, had grown even stronger over the years. Anna knew without words that Freddie felt the same about her. They had a connection not many people experienced.
Leaning down she kissed the top of his head and breathed in the familiar, musky scent of him. Closing her eyes, she once again thanked the stars that they had been so lucky in finding each other.
6
It had been a week since the disappearance of Katherine Hargreaves and the pressure was on. It turned out that Katherine was the beloved daughter of Ben Hargreaves, the Secretary of State for Justice. She was literally the spawn of the man who ran the entire police force, and she had disappeared outside of Freddie Tyler’s club. It could not have been a worse situation.
The day they’d first heard about the girl’s disappearance, Freddie had cleaned out the club of anything at all that could link it to his other businesses. Not that there was much there to begin with, other than the imitation spirits. Freddie was sure that this wouldn’t be noticed, but he replaced them with legal bottles anyway.
He was immediately glad that he had because not long after a frantic and unexpected visit from DI Fraser the next morning, the specials had arrived in force.
They weren’t stupid – they knew exactly who he was, and their guesses at what he did weren’t too far off the mark. But they couldn’t touch him for any of it. For one thing it wasn’t their objective, and more importantly they had nothing solid on him. But it did mean that they were going to be as difficult as possible, in the hopes that they could pin something on him in the hunt for Katherine. It was obvious that they thought he had something to do with it, much to Freddie’s disgust. He was a lot of things, but a kidnapper of innocent girls was not on that list. That was the problem with straight policemen though. The world was black and white to them. You were either bad or you were good. They didn’t understand the shades of grey in between.
Freddie had been as accommodating as he possibly could, providing the CCTV footage and access for questioning to all of the staff who had been working that night. He had also done some investigating himself on the side, hoping to give the police a lead that would take them away from his club. Nothing had come of it so far, and he was at a loss as to what to try next. The footage from the front door showed the girl happy and drunk, stumbling out of the club. She hung around next to the smoking area, playing with her phone for a bit, then wandered out of view. There was nothing else. She wasn’t with anyone, at least not before she moved out of the camera’s reach. The bouncers were busy at the time, keeping a careful eye on a group of high-spirited men who were beginning to argue between themselves. No one had seen anything. No one even remembered her. Freddie wasn’t surprised. The bar staff had hundreds of people to deal with, a new face every minute or so and three other voices calling out to them at any one time. The bouncers focused on making sure the numbers didn’t get too high and that the peace was kept, despite the usual club-related mix of testosterone, hormones and alcohol.
Yet still the police kept eyeing him and re-questioning him as if they were sure it was something to do with him. It was tiring, and Freddie’s patience was starting to grow very thin. Wherever he was, whenever he tried to get on with the day-to-day running of his businesses, they turned up throwing more questions at him. At this point he wanted to find the damn girl more than they did. But there were no leads whatsoever. The girl had vanished without a trace.
As he walked down the old cobbled path to the Portakabin he kept on the docks, Freddie breathed in deeply. He felt stressed and frustrated. The air was filled with the sound of men loading and unloading crates on the boats moored there. None of the boats around him held any of his goods today. With the specials breathing down his neck and turning up uninvited wherever he went, he had rerouted the shipments to come in further east for the time being.
It was a warm day, the sun coming through a thin layer of cloud and sparkling off the murky water. He lifted his face to the warmth. As he passed each boat, respectful salutations were called out to him. He nodded politely back to each crew. Some of them worked for him on an ad-hoc basis; all of them knew who he was and that his word was law in the shipping lanes.
As he neared his Portakabin one of the dock supervisors hurried towards him. Alan was on Freddie’s payroll and kept an eye on everything here.
‘Freddie, you’ve got a visitor. She’s in there waiting for ya; said you’d be down here soon.’
Freddie sighed exasperatedly. ‘Fuck sake. How’d she know that?’
He raised his eyes to the sky as if looking for answers. Sarah Riley was the woman heading up the investigation. She clearly hated Freddie and had made it her personal mission to make his life hell until she found Katherine Hargreaves. DI Fraser had quietly informed Freddie that Riley hadn’t been the original DCI assigned to the job. She had replaced whoever that was supposed to be, on special orders from Ben Hargreaves himself. Apparently she was part of a team directly under Hargreaves. She had turned up wherever Freddie was working every day this week so far. Each irritating time had been at one of his clubs though, which Freddie could understand. They were registered businesses – with a small spark of intelligence and a good police tail she could predict which one to find him in easily. He had no idea how she could predict his arrival at a small Portakabin on the docks though, at least not before he even arrived. He figured he had a small head start at least.
A confused frown crept over Alan’s face. ‘Sorry, Freddie. I thought she was OK, being family and all.’
‘What?’ Now it was Freddie’s turn to be confused.
‘Thea – your sister. I thought it was OK. I’m sorry, Fred.’ Alan shifted his weight uncomfortably. He played with the worn flat cap in his hands and started to turn red, mortified that he had read things so wrong. Freddie suddenly laughed and Alan looked up at him, startled.
‘Thea. Right, of course. Sorry, mate,’ Freddie squeezed the older man’s shoulder and a look of pure relief flooded across his face. ‘Thea’s fine, ’course she is. I assumed you meant someone else. On that note actually’ – Freddie looked back up the path over his shoulder – ‘I have a tail on me. There will probably be another woman arriving soon. Keep an eye out for her and shoot me a heads-up.’
He walked off towards the Portakabin, checking his watch. ‘You’ll know her when you see her. Brunette, angry, dresses like a plod who’s trying not to look like one. Might growl at you. Bit like a bulldog after a bone. I’m the bone.’
Alan chuckled. ‘No worries. I’ll let you know when she arrives.’
Freddie walked in and found Thea spinning round and round on the office chair with her head laid back over the top, staring at the ceiling.
‘Do you know you have exactly forty-eight of these polystyrene ceiling tiles?’ she stated without looking up.
Freddie looked up at them and shrugged. ‘No, I didn’t. Thank you for that insight.’
‘Yeah, you really should stop hiding your books up there. It took me exactly three minutes to find them. And I wasn’t even looking.’
Freddie narrowed his eyes. ‘They were there temporarily, and besides, I have eyes on this place all the time. Anyway’ – he took a seat opposite her – ‘to what do I owe this pleasure?’
Thea stopped spinning and sat up, grinning. She leaned forward on the desk, eagerly. ‘Well, you know I’ve started this photography course?’
‘Yes.’
‘I’m loving it. I really am. I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited about anything,’ Thea enthused. ‘It’s like I’ve found my passion. And Edward, my teacher’ – Freddie made a mental note to vet Edward – ‘he says that I have a real gift, that I see things other people
don’t. He says that’s what makes a successful photographer.’
‘Well… that’s great, Thea,’ Freddie offered.
‘Thanks. I’ve done a few shoots on my own lately; just been wandering through the city taking pictures of the things I want to capture. I have a few prints here to show you.’ Thea reached down by her legs and pulled up a thin folder. She handed it to Freddie and he opened it up, spreading the contents over the desk. They were mainly in black and white with a few in colour.
‘I was hoping I might convince you to help me showcase my work, maybe put some up in your clubs? And I was thinking maybe you could see if Anna might put some up in hers? You know, only if she wants – she don’t have to feel obligated or nothing. I was just wondering, you know.’ Thea bit her lip anxiously as she waited to see what Freddie thought of her work. She had always looked up to her older brother. He had always helped and supported her in every way; his opinion mattered to her greatly.
Freddie looked over the prints slowly, one by one. He was impressed. He had always admired Thea’s photos when she’d shared her hobby before, but these weren’t just pretty pictures snapped on a fun day out – these were works of art. The pictures were moody and dark and truly captivated him. One of the prints looked down one of the older streets in the East End. Freddie guessed it to be early evening by the way the light fell on the brickwork. There were big grey clouds rolling in and a lone little boy playing in the road. Another was looking up through the ironwork of a bridge from the road underneath, with the blurry image of a train driving overhead. He went through each one, becoming more and more impressed. Eventually he put them down and nodded slowly, his face not giving anything away.
‘Well,’ Thea prompted, ‘what do you think?’
‘I’m not going to let you try and flog these in my clubs, Thea,’ he said finally, shaking his head. Her face dropped. He grinned. ‘I’m going to buy them from you and put them up as paid-for works of art. With all your details underneath, should anyone wish to follow in my good taste.’