by Emma Tallon
He might be one of the most dangerous men on the planet, but it would be a cold day in hell before she let a bully like Frank Gambino waltz in and take her club. He assumed she would just roll over and comply. Well, he was in for a sharp shock. Because Anna Davis didn’t roll over for anyone.
8
Freddie’s expression was thoughtful as he toyed absentmindedly with a pen at his desk in Club CoCo. It had been an interesting evening at the casino the night before. Frank was a good host and dinner had been spectacular. Anna had seemed a bit quiet, but then perhaps she was wary of this new alliance with the Mafia. She was sharply cautious when someone new came on the scene. It was a residual defence mechanism from her painful past. It took a lot for Anna to trust anyone new. But that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, in Freddie’s eyes.
Freddie turned his thoughts back to Frank. He felt a little frustrated, because no matter how much he’d tried last night, he hadn’t been able to manoeuvre the conversation towards the casino plans. Frank seemed strangely determined to keep away from the subject and when Freddie had tried to push, he had asked that they discuss it another time. The only business he’d been interested in discussing had been cocaine. Frank had just come from a stay in Mexico, where he’d been dealing with cartel business. The Mafia worked alongside the cartels importing drugs into America, but this wasn’t something Freddie was interested in. He already had suppliers.
Freddie took a deep breath and sighed, reminding himself to be patient. Frank had just arrived; perhaps he was jet-lagged and needed to wind down before he jumped into another business venture. The man was only human after all. Or perhaps he needed more time to suss Freddie out before he gave his approval. This was hopefully the start of a long, fruitful relationship with the Mafia. If Freddie had to take things slow to gain their trust and respect, then that was what he would do.
The door to the office flew open with a bang and despite himself, Freddie jumped. DI Fraser bent over double to catch his ragged breath. He had clearly run from wherever he had come from. Freddie frowned and stood up.
‘You alright, mate, running in here like your arse is on fire?’ he joked, concerned.
‘Not mine, Freddie,’ Fraser panted, ‘yours.’
‘What? What’s happened?’ Freddie’s half-smile disappeared and he quickly strode across the room to close the door behind John, who half fell into a seat.
‘Viktor Morina. His body’s been found.’
Freddie’s blood turned cold and he sat back against the desk. Viktor Morina was an Albanian sex-slave trader in South London. Or at least he had been until just over a year ago, when Freddie had killed Viktor for trying to take out his younger brother Michael. His men had disposed of the body, as they had disposed of bodies many times before. This was the first time one had ever come back to haunt them.
‘Where? How?’ he asked.
‘That’s the weird thing, Fred. It was out in the open, dumped on the side of the nearest road from where they buried him. He’d been dug up. There’s a big fuck-off hole left in the field.’
Freddie’s eyes widened in shock. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Who on earth would have dug up a decomposing corpse and left it on a public road for anyone to find? Who would have even known where the body was, other than himself and the men who had buried him? None of them would want this ever coming out, nor would any of them tell a soul, that much he was certain of.
Fraser waited and tried to calm his ragged breath as Freddie processed it all. The body had come in that morning. It hadn’t been a red flag at the time – these things happened in London from time to time. But when they had identified the body, Fraser knew he had to tell Freddie and fast. Freddie had never outright told him that he had disposed of Morina, but Fraser knew the trouble that the slave trader had caused Freddie. When Viktor went on the missing list, he had quietly put two and two together.
Fraser knew the unspoken laws of the underground just as well as he knew the laws of the justice system. And though he didn’t necessarily agree with murder, he wasn’t going to mourn the death of a man who had ruined countless young lives. And he wasn’t going to disagree with the fact that he deserved it either. If you play the game of the underworld, you accept the consequences when you make a wrong move.
Now, Fraser’s priority was helping Freddie cover this all back up. And he had a plan – or half a plan anyway. It was risky, but there was no time to play it any other way.
‘I think we can sort this out if we act quickly. The body’s undergone a basic post mortem which has identified who he is and the basic cause of death, but they need a forensic examination to get anything further. The forensics team are tied up with a bunch of fire victims. They’re busy trying to prove it was an insurance job. They won’t get to this body until the morning. If we can get in tonight and take him, it can’t go anywhere. Who have you got in your pocket at the mortuary?’
Freddie thought it over. It could work, if they executed the extraction properly. They didn’t really have the time to plan it well, but this might be the only opportunity to get himself or one of his men out of a murder charge. If they found any trace of DNA at all, or anything that led them back to the house where they’d killed him, any one of them could go down for it.
‘OK, I’ll gather a crew,’ he said eventually. ‘Cheers for the intel – you might just have saved my arse.’
‘Again,’ Fraser added with a wry grin.
‘Again,’ Freddie agreed, nodding. ‘Right…’ He breathed out heavily. ‘I’ve got Melrose on payroll. Can you find him and bring him back here at ten o’clock tonight? Ask him to swipe a visitor’s security card from the front desk today, unregistered but with full access. I’ll get Bill Hanlon in on this. He can clear their CCTV and help plan a route in and out. You’re right that it’s going to be risky, but it’s all we’ve got.’
‘On it. I’ll go find him now. See you at ten.’ Fraser stood up and left, already working out the quickest way to the mortuary.
Freddie picked up the phone to call Bill. He still couldn’t believe this was happening; it was crazy. His mouth formed a hard line. For now he just had to focus on getting himself and his men out of immediate danger. But when this was dealt with, there were some big questions he wanted the answers to – like, who the hell was going around digging up dead bodies? Who could have known the remote, secret location where they had buried Viktor’s body? And who wanted to see Freddie Tyler go away for murder so badly that they would risk a move like this?
Anna walked through the bar of Club Anya and froze as she caught sight of a group of men at one of the tables. Taking a deep breath, she casually sidled up to the hostess at the front.
‘Louise, how long have those men been at table eight?’ she asked.
‘Oh, not long,’ Louise replied, glancing over to them. ‘Only about half an hour or so. Why, is everything OK?’ She frowned slightly, aware of the tension in her boss’s stance.
Anna quickly smiled. ‘Yes, of course. Thank you.’
Louise smiled back and walked away to greet some new customers who had wandered in.
Taking a deep breath, Anna hid her irritation and approached the table. ‘Frank, what a surprise to see you again so soon.’
‘A pleasant one, I hope?’ he joked, with a glint in his eye.
‘Of course,’ Anna lied. ‘What brings you to my club?’ She raised one eyebrow challengingly as she put emphasis on the word that signalled her ownership.
‘Well, I heard that this was a great place to grab a jug of sangria.’ He indicated towards the jugs on the table in front of them. ‘And of course’ – he dropped the pretence and his steely gaze grew hard – ‘I like to get a feel for my new investments.’
Anna looked around the table at his men. Their expressions mirrored their boss’s. She drew herself up to her full height and met his gaze coolly. They were here to intimidate her and although they were beginning to succeed, she wasn’t about to let them know that.
&nb
sp; ‘Enjoy the sangria,’ she said with a tight smile that didn’t reach her eyes. ‘It’s on the house.’
Walking away Anna held her head high and tried to hide her shaking hands. With a deep breath she fiercely reminded herself that she had overcome worse things than this. Frank could take his threats and tactics and shove them up his arse for all she cared.
9
Bill Hanlon was one of Freddie’s oldest and most trusted friends. Due to his impressive technological skills, and more specifically his ability to hack into most surveillance systems, he was a freelancer throughout the underworld. He was sought after by all types of criminal firms pulling bank jobs, robberies and other tricky illegal ventures. He was a fairly neutral entity in the criminal world, though when push came to shove, as it sometimes had in the past, he placed his loyalty with Freddie above anyone else.
He took a last deep drag on his cigarette, then flicked it out of the van window. He was in the driver’s seat, parked up just down the street from the mortuary. Freddie sat in brooding silence next to him, staring at the ugly grey building.
‘Who was on the mop-up crew that night?’ Bill asked, his deep, gravelly voice bringing Freddie’s attention back inside the van.
‘Dean, Simon, Reggie and Michael. None of them would have talked,’ Freddie said.
‘No, they wouldn’t have,’ Bill replied thoughtfully. He frowned and chewed his lip. It didn’t make any sense. He was as flummoxed as Freddie was.
The light in the doorway flickered three times. That was the signal. Turning the key in the ignition, the old white van rumbled to life. Without turning the lights on, Bill crept forward down the road and through the gates. Someone ran out of the shadows and closed the gates again behind them, before jumping into the back of the vehicle.
‘Alright, Seamus?’ Freddie asked, without turning around.
‘Grand, Mr Tyler, just grand,’ Seamus replied, his voice charged with excitement. He had no idea why they were here, but he was thrilled that Freddie had called him in. He so desperately wanted to start showing his worth. Already he had run a few errands, but Freddie hadn’t trusted him on anything big up until now. And Seamus could tell that whatever they were doing, it was definitely something big.
Bill pulled around the side of the building, just outside a fire escape. As they all got out of the van, the door swung open and a man in a long white coat ushered them inside. Freddie stopped and turned to Seamus.
‘I want you to stand on the corner and keep an eye out. If you see anyone at all come through the gates, call me immediately. Have your phone out, ready.’
‘Yes, boss.’ Seamus pulled his phone out of his pocket and jogged over to the corner as he had been told.
Freddie and Bill followed Melrose in and through the labyrinth of corridors in silence. It was dark but the security lights from inside each of the rooms they passed lit the hallways enough to see where they were walking. Soon enough, they stopped at one of the doors and Melrose slipped the key card down though the scanner. The light turned green and the door clicked open, allowing them access. Melrose glanced worryingly at the CCTV camera facing them.
‘Don’t worry about that,’ Bill said. ‘I’ll wipe them. They’re closed circuit.’
‘OK,’ Melrose breathed. He held the door open for them to enter.
Freddie winced and wrinkled his nose. Despite the overpowering odour of chemicals that were clearly used to keep the place sterile, the unmistakable stench of death hung heavily in the air. It was a sickly, cloying smell that reminded Freddie of rotting meat. Which, he reasoned, was exactly what it was.
‘Over here.’ Melrose guided them to a wall full of body drawers. He pulled one of them open and the smell immediately intensified. Bill turned away, making a noise of complaint. Freddie pushed down the urge to vomit and looked at what was left of Viktor Morina.
The plastic sheeting they had buried Viktor in hadn’t protected him much. His clothes had been removed, presumably by the coroner. Patches of mottled, waxy skin had sunk in and wrapped around his bones and a few strands of hair were still stuck to the top of his skull, but aside from that there was little left but greying bones. Freddie was surprised at how quickly his body had decomposed. He had never actually seen a body again after it had been buried.
Melrose handed Bill a large, full plastic bag.
‘This contains everything else. The wrap he was in, his clothes, any loose parts, stuff like that,’ he said. Bill grimaced and took the bag without a word.
Melrose opened a cupboard and pulled out a fresh body bag. He handed it to Freddie. ‘We need to slide him into this, then we can carry him out. If you can get it over his head and shoulders, I should be able to tilt the tray and push him in.’
‘Right, OK.’ Freddie quickly pulled a pair of leather gloves out of his pocket and slipped them on. Aside from making sure there were no fingerprints left behind, he couldn’t bring himself to touch Viktor’s body with his bare hands.
Taking a deep breath, Freddie lifted the skull and slid the open neck of the bag underneath. Something cracked but he ignored it. Gently easing his fingers underneath the shoulders, he shifted the bag further, making sure that each side moved into it. He nodded at Melrose and Melrose lifted the metal base of the drawer. Freddie braced himself against the additional weight as the body slid into the bag. Melrose guided it down carefully until they finally pulled the bag over Viktor’s decaying feet. Nothing remained on the slab of metal now except a trail of slime that would be removed later, when Melrose cleaned up.
Freddie let the bag slump to the floor and zipped up the open end. He breathed out in a sigh of relief. That hadn’t been too bad.
Melrose closed the drawer and bent to pick up the end of the body bag. Freddie lifted the other end at the same time and they began their journey back out of the building.
Melrose’s breathing became more and more laboured as they walked, not used to carrying such a heavy weight. He tried to quieten it, as he realised that Freddie wasn’t struggling at all.
Bill opened the door ahead of them and dumped the bag by the van. Glancing sideways he checked Seamus was still in position. He was. Nodding at Freddie he disappeared back inside.
‘Where is he going?’ whispered Melrose.
‘To wipe the cameras. Listen—’ Freddie shifted the weight of the body bag onto one side so that he could open the back doors of the van. ‘When I’m gone you need to clean down that room. It will be investigated.’ Freddie dropped his end of the body into the van and helped Melrose push the rest of it in. ‘You’ve got an hour from when Bill gets back here until the cameras start recording again. You need to be out of here before they start up. Got it?’
‘Yeah, I got it,’ Melrose replied shakily. He had been on Freddie’s payroll for a while, slipping him information here and there. Tonight had been the first time he had needed to step up, and he was scared shitless.
‘And get yourself an alibi. Familiarise yourself with the details,’ Freddie said.
‘I will do,’ Melrose replied. He wanted nothing more now than to get back home, showered and in bed so that he could forget about all of this.
Bill came back out of the door and got straight into the van, starting up the engine.
‘Right, go on,’ Freddie instructed. He whistled to Seamus. ‘Seamus, let’s go.’
‘Yes, Mr Tyler.’ Seamus ran over and jumped up into the back of the van, next to the body. He paused as he registered what it was. Freddie waited, watching for his response. Seamus was still green, but Freddie had high hopes for the boy. Tonight was a test, to see how well he would cope with the less attractive side of ‘the life’.
After a moment Seamus looked up at him with a carefully neutral expression. ‘Ready when you are, boss,’ he said.
Freddie nodded, impressed that he had taken it so well. Many great men in their world had baulked the first time they had been faced with something like this.
Melrose disappeared and Freddie jumped into the p
assenger seat.
‘Where to now?’ Bill asked quietly as they drove away. Freddie was silent for a minute as he considered his options.
‘I have somewhere, but it will have to wait until tomorrow night. Can you keep him and the van hidden in the warehouse until then?’ he asked. Bill nodded.
‘OK. Drop Seamus and me off to my car then and I’ll sort it out in the morning,’ Freddie said. He took a deep breath. He wasn’t sure Tom was going to be ready for this, but he had no choice. He couldn’t afford Viktor making another appearance. This time, he had to stay buried for good.
10
He watched as the flames licked and curled around the pile of clothes they had dumped on the fire. The muddy material burned quickly, disposing of all the evidence that they had been the ones to dig up that body. Two pairs of clothes, two pairs of boots and the sheets that they’d laid down in the car to protect the seats. In just minutes there was nothing left, no sign that they had ever been there. The smoke rose up into the sky and drifted away over the rolling green fields surrounding them.
He turned as his accomplice came out of the house to stand with him. ‘Is that everything?’ he asked. ‘Everything you were wearing, or touched.’
‘Yes, of course,’ the other man replied.
‘And our new friend? He’s definitely on board?’ he asked, searching his companion’s face.
‘Oh yes, one hundred per cent. He almost bit my hand off for the opportunity.’
‘Good.’ He nodded, pleased with this result. It had been a gamble, but from his time studying the man in question, he’d been sure his offer would be met with excitement. And he’d been right.
‘He’ll meet with you tomorrow to discuss what’s required of him,’ the other man confirmed. He lifted his face to the sun, his olive skin soaking up its warmth.
