Ruthless Girl: An absolutely gripping, gritty crime thriller

by Emma Tallon

  The quality of the footage wasn’t the problem, the equipment inside Freddie’s office was top-of-the-range. But the room was fairly dark and the only visible part of the shooter was half a forearm and the gun. It could have been a slender man or a woman, the only thing Sarah could safely rule out was someone who was on the heavier side. Whoever it was had dressed in black and the only other thing that Sarah could pick up on was a gold chain bracelet. This didn’t give much away, not even the sex of the person wearing it as the style could have been worn by either a man or a woman. There was something about it that was niggling at her though, and had been since she’d spotted it. She was sure she had seen it before somewhere. If only she could remember where.

  Frustrated, she stood up, shutting her laptop. Perhaps if she had another coffee she might remember. She opened the door to her office and walked through the main floor towards the kitchen, half listening to the hum of conversations around her as she went. As she passed one of the members of her team it suddenly hit her where she had seen the bracelet before and she stopped dead in the middle of the walkway.

  ‘Ma’am?’ Anita asked, tentatively.

  ‘That’s it,’ Sarah breathed, ignoring Anita entirely. She had figured it out.

  Turning on her heel she marched back towards her office, a determined gleam in her eye. She knew who it was, she was almost certain. She just needed to double-check to be sure, before she told Freddie. But as she reached her office she found someone about to knock on the door.

  ‘Ah, there you are,’ Mac said with a small smile. ‘I need to talk to you about the Samuel Winters case. Have you got a minute?’

  Sarah paused, her breath catching in her throat for a second before she composed herself and smiled back. ‘’Course. Come on in. What’s up?’

  She opened the door ahead of him and walked around the desk to sit down, waiting patiently until he had closed the door behind him and taken a seat opposite her.

  ‘I’ve just been going over the samples from the soil that was collected from under the body.’ He frowned and scratched his head. ‘Something isn’t right. There’s barely any blood.’

  Sarah shifted her weight as her mind raced through her options. ‘The shot was pretty clean, right? Bullet still inside? Maybe he wasn’t much of a bleeder.’

  Mac shook his head. ‘The scene still wouldn’t be that clean. I think it’s been set up. It was cleverly done, I’ll give them that,’ he admitted. ‘But I think we need to begin working on the assumption that this body has been moved.’

  Sarah felt her blood run cold and she shifted her weight again as she tried to control her panic. Lacing her fingers together on the desk in front of her, she forced a smile. ‘I see,’ she said. She swallowed hard and nodded, as if on board with the idea. ‘I see,’ she repeated.

  Mac frowned and his gaze sharpened as he looked at her. Sarah sniffed and sat up straight again, suddenly aware that she must be acting oddly. She sifted through all the options she had that might bury this issue right here and now and realised that there were none.

  ‘Who else knows about this?’ she asked. She had an idea and turned it over quickly in her mind. It was a bit close to the mark, but it should buy her some time at least.

  ‘Just us at the moment, I’ve come straight from the lab. Why?’

  Sarah nodded and leaned towards him, lowering her voice. ‘Listen,’ she said, looking past him out through the glass wall of her office into the main room beyond. ‘I need you to keep this between us, just for today.’

  ‘Why?’ Mac’s frown deepened.

  She took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. ‘Samuel Winters was linked to some very high-profile people and I’ve had suspicions for a while that those particular people have eyes and ears in this very station.’

  ‘What?’ Mac responded, his jaw dropping.

  ‘You know the kind of people I’m talking about, don’t you?’ She eyed him meaningfully. Mac had worked on several cases that involved the larger underground firms in the city. He should be able to connect the dots without her giving up too many details.

  ‘I gather you’re talking about one of the ones you and I have worked on trying to bring down over the years. Is this why we’ve failed so often?’ he asked, joining the dots. If any of the mob firms had moles in the force, that would explain why so many of them slipped through their fingers on technicalities and missing evidence.

  Sarah nodded sagely. ‘If what I suspect is true then we need to tread very carefully with this information. I’ll need to talk to Ben personally about how we approach this particular case before this becomes general knowledge. He isn’t available today,’ she lied, ‘but I can get into his office in the morning. Can you keep this between us until then?’

  Mac shook his head in disbelief. ‘Sure. Tomorrow it is.’ He glanced around into the main office, clearly wondering who Sarah suspected as a rat. ‘I’ll be off then, for now.’ He stood up and nodded goodbye, then left the small office and closed the door behind him.

  Sarah watched him go, dread settling into the pit of her stomach. As he walked out of sight she reached into her bag and pulled out her second phone. She switched it on and placed a call, waiting impatiently for it to connect.

  ‘We have a problem…’

  Fifty-Six

  Finally finished for the day, Mac cleaned down his workstation in the lab and tidied everything away. He was meticulous in his methods and liked to keep everything in its rightful place, so he never had to lose concentration in order to look for something.

  Brian, his lab partner, laughed as he inspected the glass inserts for his microscope. ‘If an atom farted, you’d find it,’ he joked.

  Mac grinned. ‘It’s always better to be overprepared than underprepared, Brian.’ He glanced at his workmate’s messy station, papers with scribbled notes strewn across used tools and sample pots. ‘I’m surprised you find anything in there,’ he added with a laugh.

  ‘Ah, there’s method in the madness, Mac. Method in the madness. Anyway, I’ll see you tomorrow.’

  ‘Yeah, OK. Have a good night.’

  Brian left and Mac took one more look around before walking away with a satisfied nod. He grabbed his brown jacket, hanging by the door, then locked up and walked to his car.

  It was takeaway night tonight and it had been his week to choose, so they were having Chinese. He couldn’t wait. His wife had put an order in with their favourite restaurant and he would pick it up on the way home, like always. Amber, their daughter, would be waiting excitedly at the table with her hands full of knives and forks – it was her job to set the table, being at the important age of six now. Mac started the car with a smile, imagining the look on her little face when he walked in and handed her the prawn crackers. Amber loved prawn crackers.

  He drove home with the radio on, singing tunelessly to Abba as it kicked off the golden classics hour on the local radio show, stopping only to grab the Chinese. Home was just a few minutes away from his lab, so he pulled up on the drive in no time. The Chinese bag rustled as he grabbed it from the passenger seat and closed the car door. As he began walking up the pathway between the drive and the front door there was a small sound in the alley running down the side of the garage. Mac paused and peered into the darkness. The sound came again, closer this time.

  ‘Hello?’ he called out. There was silence. A ripple of unease ran up his back and suddenly Mac felt cold, despite the warmth of the evening.

  Mac had never been someone who was easily spooked. It was why he was able to do the job he did and still sleep at night. But the conversation he’d had today with Sarah Riley had left him on edge. If there really was a mole within the force reporting back to one of the London mobs, then this undermined everything they stood for. It could jeopardise whole cases and put innocent people at risk. He had always felt safe doing what he did for a living. He wasn’t front and centre battling the bad guys like the Sarah Rileys of the force. He was in the background searching through the details, kee
ping his head down. He had helped bring many a murderer and thief to justice over the years from behind the scenes, then had come home safe in the knowledge that no one knew who he was. But what if now they did? What if whoever was spying on the force for those involved in the Samuel Winters murder had told them who he was and that he was the lead forensic on the case?

  Sarah had seemed more than a little on edge when he’d spoken to her about it. And he had never seen that woman’s feathers ruffled in all the years he’d served on the force. If she was scared, things must be pretty bad.

  Mac stood there, frozen to the spot by the worrying thoughts running through his mind, his gaze trained on the dark mouth of the alley between him and the front door. He had walked past that alley a million times without so much as glancing down it. So why was he so spooked by it now?

  Tutting to himself, Mac forced himself forward. The Chinese was getting cold in its bag. If he didn’t get it on the table soon, he’d have a very unhappy family on his hands and that wouldn’t do. As he reached the mouth of the alley, he forced himself to look forward but as he passed there was a loud clatter and he gasped and jumped back as something hurtled out of the darkness towards him.

  The cat hissed as it ran off into the night, irritated that he had spoiled its foray into the bins. Mac grasped his chest with his free hand and laughed.

  Light flooded the front garden as the door opened and his wife, Fiona, appeared. ‘Mac?’ she asked. ‘What are you doing? Did you pick up the food?’

  ‘Yes, yes, I’ve got it,’ Mac replied with a wry smile. He walked up to the front door and kissed her on the forehead. ‘Sorry, I was just thinking over some work stuff.’ He took his jacket off and handed her the bag, as she closed the front door. ‘You wouldn’t believe what happened today.’

  ‘Oh?’ Fiona asked, her smile open and interested.

  ‘Yes,’ he replied heavily. ‘I should probably wait until Amber is in bed before I tell you though. It’s a bit worrying.’

  ‘OK. You have a guest by the way, he’s been here about half an hour. I told him you wouldn’t be long.’ Fiona led the way through to the dining room at the back of the house.

  ‘Oh? Who?’ Mac asked, following her through and racking his brain with a frown. He didn’t think he was expecting anyone.

  ‘He says he’s an old friend from uni,’ Fiona replied, opening the door and stepping through ahead of him.

  ‘Uni…?’ Mac walked through into the dining room. His next words died on his tongue as he registered the sight that met him. The sight of Freddie Tyler sitting at his dining room table, listening to his six-year-old daughter tell him the names of all her favourite Barbie dolls.

  Fifty-Seven

  ‘Mac! So good to see you,’ Freddie said enthusiastically, putting on a charming smile. ‘I was just telling your lovely wife here that I can’t remember the last time I saw you in person.’ He cocked his head to one side and stared Mac out with a challenge in his eyes.

  Mac closed his gaping mouth and swallowed. ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘It’s certainly been a while.’ In truth, he could remember exactly when he had last seen Freddie Tyler, and it was not at university. It had been several years before, when he’d been investigating another murder. The Tylers had been in the frame at the time, but they had never been able to pin enough evidence on them to get an arrest. Mac knew enough about the man to know that he was ruthless and ruled the majority of the London underworld with an iron fist. The rumours and tales about him were endless – he was a dark, dangerous legend. But unlike most legends, Freddie Tyler was very much real. And here he was, lying in wait for him in his home. This was not good.

  ‘I’ll just pop this in the kitchen,’ Fiona said cheerily. ‘You’ll stay for dinner, won’t you, Freddie?’ she called over her shoulder as she disappeared.

  ‘Perhaps,’ he answered, not taking his eyes off Mac. ‘I just need to check something first, Fiona.’

  Mac swallowed and edged around the table towards Amber. He caught a glint of amusement in Freddie’s eye and his heart began beating hard against his chest, as he gently pulled his precious daughter away from the cold-blooded killer. ‘Why don’t you go and play upstairs, Amber?’ he suggested, trying to keep his tone neutral. For a moment he thought she was going to argue, but as she looked into his face she closed her mouth and nodded as if she somehow understood the severity of the situation. She couldn’t have done, of course. But Mac was just thankful that she had agreed. He forced a smile as she gathered her dolls and took them upstairs. She was out of immediate danger now at least, but he was under no illusion that this meant she was safe.

  They were now alone and Mac felt like throwing up. Freddie being here could only mean one thing. The eyes and ears Sarah had been talking about had given his personal details up to the Tylers. Which meant, in turn, that they must have been the ones who murdered Samuel Winters and were worried they were about to be uncovered. Freddie was here to make sure that never happened. He suddenly felt hot beneath the collar as the quandary this put him in hit home.

  ‘You know who I am,’ Freddie said, his voice low and deadly. It was a statement rather than a question, but Mac nodded just the same. ‘Good. Then you’ll know what I’m capable of.’

  Mac licked his lips. They suddenly felt very dry. ‘I do,’ he confirmed.

  Freddie nodded. He waited a few moments before continuing, allowing the other man’s discomfort to grow. He knew that his mere presence here was enough to scare the life out of a man like Mac. He was a good citizen, a hard worker and most of all a family man. Whilst he took pride in his work, he would never compromise his family’s safety for it. Which was exactly the reason Freddie was here.

  The Tylers had a strong code, one that involved never harming an enemy’s family. Enemies were fair game, but as far as their partners and children went, that was a no-go area. They may be killers but they were not savages. However, Mac didn’t know that. And so this was something Freddie could use to his advantage.

  He tilted his head to one side. ‘Your Amber’s a bright little thing, isn’t she?’ he mused, with a calculating smile. ‘Such a sweet girl.’

  ‘Don’t you talk about her,’ Mac hissed, his face turning red with worry. ‘She’s just a baby.’ As soon as the words escaped his mouth he cast his gaze down. He did not want to anger the dangerous man in front of him, yet he needed to try and protect his family.

  ‘Yes, she is just a baby…’ Freddie leaned forward when Mac didn’t answer, his face a mask of terrified misery. ‘Now listen here,’ he growled in as hard a tone as he could manage at low volume. ‘I know you’ve figured out something is off about where Sammy was found. How I know that isn’t your concern. Just know that I have access to everything you so much as set your eyes on and always will do. I know you found barely any blood in the ground, I know you thought something was off about his positioning and I know you shared that first bit with your DCI, who just so happens to be rummaging around her office looking for my moles. Not that she’ll find them. They’re always just that one step ahead.’

  Freddie made sure to keep up with Sarah’s story. It would do none of them any good for Mac to start questioning her loyalty to the force. ‘Now I’ll tell you this – we had nothing to do with Sammy’s death. And that’s the truth,’ he continued. ‘He was my best friend in the world.’ He looked away for a moment and gathered himself before continuing. ‘But for reasons that you don’t need to know, I need the situation dropped as soon as possible. So here’s what’s going to happen.’ He glanced towards the closed door that led to the kitchen. Fiona was still pottering around with plates and cutlery. ‘You’re going to forget your suspicions about the murder site. That’s where he was killed. There is no evidence you can find that will lead you anywhere worth going, and you need to publicly come to that conclusion quick-smart. The case needs to be closed and his body released as soon as humanly possible. I will be keeping tabs to check that you’ve made this happen.’ Freddie stood up. ‘You’l
l start by going to that bloodhound you call a DCI and telling her that you were wrong. And you’d better be convincing.’

  ‘And what if I don’t?’ Mac asked, growing angrier by the second. His fighting spirit kicked in. Who the hell did this guy think he was, turning up at his home, talking to his family and threatening him in his own dining room? Finding the evidence to put away guys like this was Mac’s job. He wasn’t about to help a criminal get away with the crimes he was paid to uncover. He’d sworn an oath.

  Freddie lunged in closer and Mac flinched, reminded that this was not someone to mess with. ‘There is no if you don’t, Mac,’ he whispered menacingly in his ear. ‘Because we both know you don’t want to find out what the consequences are if my wishes are not carried out. I have a lot of people under my command and a very, very long reach. There is nowhere you could go to escape me, no matter how hard you try.’ Stepping back, Freddie sniffed and looked around pointedly at the photos filled with happy memories on the walls. ‘Lovely family you’ve got here, Mac.’ He smiled coldly. ‘Truly lovely.’

  They stood opposite each other in the small dining room with locked gazes for a few long seconds, until Mac finally dropped his to the floor with a defeated slump of the shoulders. Freddie smiled. ‘I can’t stay for dinner, Fiona,’ he called out. ‘Something’s come up. But thank you so much for the offer.’

  ‘Ah, what a shame,’ she called back. ‘Another time, then.’

  ‘Another time, then,’ Freddie repeated to Mac quietly. He stepped around the other man and made his way to the door. ‘I’ll expect to hear back from my contacts that this has all gone away first thing tomorrow morning, Mac. Make it happen and you need never see my face again.’ Satisfied with the small nod Mac gave in response, Freddie walked out of the house and down the path towards his car, buttoning up his jacket as he walked.