by Emma Tallon
‘It’s beautiful, Michael. I love it,’ she said sincerely. Smiling, she stood up and moved to the mirror on the wall by the door. She placed it around her neck and tied it at the side. It suited her. What a lovely gift, she thought. Michael really was growing up into a very thoughtful young man.
‘And I was right,’ Michael said, smiling. ‘It looks great on you.’
Anna pulled the scarf off and wrapped it back in the tissue paper.
‘Thank you. It will go with loads of my outfits,’ Anna said warmly. ‘A really thoughtful gift for a sister-in-law.’
‘Not yet,’ he replied.
‘Hmm?’
‘Well, you’re not married to Freddie. So we aren’t in-laws yet,’ he said.
Anna shuffled some papers about awkwardly as she tried to think up a response. Marriage was not a subject she relished discussing at any time, especially now that her relationship with Freddie was so strained.
‘Well, anyway,’ she blundered on, flustered, ‘Shall we go through to the bar and get that drink? I’m done in here for now.’
Anna opened the door and held it for Michael, her smile bright. He grinned.
Walking through the bar, Anna thought about how much Michael had grown and changed since he had arrived home three years ago. He was only twenty, but he already seemed so much older, so much more confident than his tender years. She guessed that was down to his role in the Tyler empire. It was a harsh world Freddie and his family lived in. There was no room for the weak. ‘So, what would you like to drink?’ she asked, squeezing his arm warmly.
‘I’ll go for rum and Coke.’
‘Great. One rum and Coke and a Pinot Grigio for me, Carl.’ Anna sat down on one of the bar stools and Michael sat next to her. ‘So, you’re still definitely free for an hour or two, aren’t you?’
‘Yeah, nothing on until tonight. Unless Freddie calls me for something.’
‘Great, well, in that case…’ Anna looked over his shoulder and beamed at the young woman who had just entered the club. ‘Perfect timing!’ she cried. She kissed the pretty blonde on each cheek in greeting as she reached them. ‘Sophie, this is Michael, my… Freddie’s brother.’ She stopped herself from using the term ‘brother-in-law’. ‘And, Michael, I would like you to meet a good friend of mine, Sophie.’ Anna stepped back and watched as they assessed each other.
‘Oh, OK. Hello.’ Sophie laughed nervously. Anna felt a small stab of guilt. She hadn’t told either of them that this was a set-up. She knew Michael wasn’t super keen on the blind-date idea, despite agreeing to it, and she hadn’t been sure what Sophie’s reaction would be. Sophie was a charismatic, interesting, beautiful girl, but she could be quite shy when it came to people she didn’t know.
‘I was actually hoping to catch up with both of you, but I’ve had something come up…’ Anna lied. She pulled an exaggeratedly annoyed face. Michael shook his head at her from behind Sophie. He knew what she was up to. She purposely ignored him and directed her apologetic smile at Sophie. ‘So sorry. Why don’t you guys grab a drink? I’ll see if I can wrap things up quickly and get back here so we can still catch up. Would that be OK?’
‘Sure, no problem,’ Sophie said in an understanding tone. ‘I’m not up to much for the rest of the day anyway.’
‘Michael, you’ll look after Sophie for me, won’t you?’ she asked him, her expression innocent.
‘Sure.’ His tone was bemused, but he smiled at Sophie and offered her a seat. ‘Guess we’ll see you later then.’
‘Mm.’ She nodded.
Anna squeezed both of their arms and left them to it, making her way towards the exit. She breathed in and let herself relax, making plans in her head to go and enjoy the sunshine for a while. They wouldn’t be seeing her later, but they wouldn’t know that for at least an hour, at which point she would text to make her excuse.
‘Just call me Cilla,’ she muttered to herself humorously as she stepped into the outside world and away from her club.
43
Freddie swirled the whisky around in the glass he was holding. It occurred to him that he had been drinking more and more frequently lately. The stress of the so-far-fruitless search for Katherine was getting to him more than anything ever had before. Perhaps it was because he had so much to lose this time. Nightmares woke him frequently. They were always the same thing, a vision of Anna screaming and struggling as one of Hargreaves’ lackeys bent down to slit her throat in a cold, dark jail cell. His freedom didn’t matter to him anymore. It would mean nothing without Anna to share it with. She was the only woman he had ever loved, and the only one he ever wanted to. If he lost her, it would kill him. And it might already be too late.
He sighed heavily and knocked back the golden liquid. He signalled to the bouncer standing at the rope separating him from the dance floor to order him another. He looked around at the busy club. People were dancing, drinking, having fun. This was where it had all started, this nightmare that he was now trapped in.
A couple of young women stood gossiping just the other side of the rope, shooting him appreciative sideways glances. He knew they were wondering who he was, the mysterious man seated at the top VIP table all alone. He smirked without humour. They would assume he was some minor celebrity or a trust-fund kid spending his inheritance. They would never guess that he was the head of one of the largest criminal organisations in London. They would never imagine that he was a killer, someone who ended the lives of people who tried to cross him. He wondered what they would do if he told them he had suffocated a man to death, just days ago. They most likely wouldn’t believe him. If they did, they would run screaming. It took a certain amount of darkness in your soul to swallow the sort of life Freddie led. Even Anna, as good a person as she was, was tainted with past horrors which had darkened her forever.
The bouncer opened up the rope and Michael marched in, throwing his jacket on the end of the luxurious, curved sofa before sitting down next to Freddie.
‘Sorry I’m late.’
‘Yeah, you should be,’ Freddie replied. He didn’t much like being left alone with his own thoughts at the moment. That was why he was down here, instead of in the peace of his office. He needed the noise. Michael ignored the comment, assuming Freddie was joking.
Freddie shook off the self-pity and turned away from the party girls to face his brother. ‘Three days, Michael. That’s all we’ve got now. It’s not looking good.’
‘It’ll be fine.’ Michael brushed it off as though it were nothing.
‘No, it won’t, Michael. Hargreaves is coming for me and Anna, and he’ll make sure we go down. And if I go down, they’ll most likely pull you and Paul down with me. They know it’s a family business. I doubt they’d let such a golden opportunity slip through their hands.’
Michael blinked, his face suddenly serious. ‘Fuck,’ he said after a few moments. He looked over at his brother and let what this meant to him soak in. For once he had nothing else to say.
‘Yeah, exactly,’ Freddie said wryly.
The barmaid arrived with two fresh glasses and an open bottle of the whisky Freddie had been drinking. She had seen Michael come in. Michael thanked her and she hurried off, acutely aware that her boss was not in the best of moods this evening.
Freddie looked at Michael and frowned. ‘Where’s Paul? I thought he was with you?’
‘He was.’ Michael’s tone was tinged with annoyance. ‘But he buggered off again. He keeps doing that lately.’
‘Yeah, I’ve noticed that. What’s going on with him, do you know?’ Freddie asked. He was pissed off. He needed to be able to rely on his brothers more than ever right now and Paul, his right-hand man, never seemed to be around.
‘No, he don’t tell me nothing these days…’ Michael trailed off, deep in thought.
They sat in silence for a few minutes. After a while, Michael sat up, and his eyes flickered towards Freddie. He bit his lip. Staring at the floor, he began speaking slowly, as if unsure whether or not to sh
are his thoughts.
‘It’s been since the girl disappeared, I’ve noticed.’ Michael carefully poured them each a whisky and slid one across to Freddie. ‘Paul’s disappearances.’
‘Yeah, which is exactly what’s so fucking annoying,’ Freddie replied, exasperated.
Michael stroked the stubble on his chin before delicately continuing. ‘What I mean is… the timings are a bit odd. I noticed too that he was pretty certain from the off that we wouldn’t find her. He always talks as if it’s futile…’ Michael stopped talking and let it sit for a moment.
Freddie’s forehead creased deeply as he turned to his younger brother. He didn’t like where Michael’s thoughts were heading.
‘What are you saying?’ he demanded.
Michael blew out his cheeks as he exhaled slowly. ‘I don’t know what I’m saying. I’m just saying it seems odd, that’s all.’ He sat back and drank his whisky, moving his gaze to the dance floor. He had said enough. He didn’t need to continue.
Freddie’s frown deepened as he mulled it over. He didn’t like what his brother was insinuating. Paul was their flesh and blood. He was one of the Tyler brothers. There were a lot of dark things Paul would do for the sake of the family, but he would never do something like this. And he would certainly never put Freddie into this sort of position. He was the most loyal person Freddie had ever known. Wasn’t he?
Freddie studied the side of his younger brother’s face as he watched the dance floor. Michael was flesh and blood too. He was as much one of them as Paul was. Michael spent a lot of time with Paul these days. Should he be concerned at the suspicions Michael was having? Should he be taking them seriously? Surely not. Freddie closed his eyes. His head hurt. He rubbed his forehead as he warred with a decision that went against the grain of everything he had ever stood for. He felt as if he had aged a decade in a matter of minutes when he opened his eyes.
‘You really think there’s something in it?’ he asked heavily. ‘I need you to be sure, Michael. This isn’t the sort of thing you say lightly.’
‘I think the sudden absences and his attitude towards the issue have been very odd,’ Michael repeated carefully.
Freddie stared at him long and hard before eventually nodding.
‘I’ll deal with it,’ he said curtly. His expression was full of tense disappointment as he resigned himself to what he had to do. Whether he felt that disappointment in himself, in Michael, or in Paul, Freddie wasn’t quite sure. He stared into the bottom of his glass, not really seeing. Guilt began to settle uncomfortably in his stomach. Because after the suspicion Michael had just shared, he was going to have to cross a line that couldn’t be uncrossed. He was going to have to put a tail on his own brother.
44
Tanya cut a line of cocaine on the desk in the back office. It wasn’t something she did much these days, but lately she hadn’t been sleeping and she needed a pick-me-up to get through her shifts at the club. She pulled her thick, long hair over one shoulder and leaned in. Holding the rolled-up twenty-pound note delicately between her fingers, she sniffed the fluffy white powder up through it. She sat back upright, shook her hair back out behind her and sniffed a couple more times to make sure it had all gone up. Blinking, she rubbed the end of her nose to make sure all visible traces were gone, neatly stowed the little bag back into her purse and with her finger dabbed up any traces still on the desk and rubbed it into her gums. They immediately went pleasantly numb. She pulled a face of approval. It was good stuff.
She walked through to the bar and leaned on it, waiting while the bouncers escorted the last of the rowdy crowds out for the night. Her phone vibrated in the back pocket of the tight black jeans she was wearing. She pulled it out and read the text. It was from Simon, her bodyguard for the night. He was stuck in traffic and was still half an hour away. She sighed, resigned, and replied to tell him it was no problem.
Since she had confided in Freddie, he had made sure one of his men was present to escort her to and from work and that someone was stationed outside her flat at night. She had to admit, it had made her feel much more secure. And to his credit, Freddie hadn’t told a soul, not even Anna. She felt guilty about that. She knew how much Anna loathed secrets, and she hated herself for adding to them. But this one was for her own good. Anna had enough to worry about without Tanya throwing her problems into the mix.
Freddie had looked into the Tube incident for her. He had managed to get hold of the tapes somehow, but the angle had been off, and with such a large crowd of people there was no way of telling who it was that had pushed her. They had gone through the faces on the footage, but there was no one who Tanya recognised or who looked particularly suspicious. Her ghost was still a ghost.
Carl began to wipe down the tables as the last waiter left for the night, and Tanya took a deep breath as the line of cocaine she had just taken kicked in. A rush of energy soared through her, and she jumped up from the bar. She licked her lips. Man, this stuff was strong. She knew the initial buzz would wear off in a few minutes and leave her feeling a more normal level of awake, but right now she just needed something to do.
‘Hey Carl, I’ll do that,’ she offered merrily.
He gave her a quizzical look. ‘You want to do the clean down?’ He didn’t sound convinced.
‘Well, not all of it,’ she admitted, laughing. ‘But I’ll do the tables.’
Carl laughed with her. ‘OK then, you crack on. I’ll sweep.’ Carl yawned. It had been a long day.
‘Why don’t you leave it till the morning?’ Tanya offered. ‘It won’t hurt. You look cream-crackered.’
‘You sure? I am pretty done in,’ he admitted.
‘Yeah, go.’ Tanya waved him away. ‘My ride won’t be here for another half hour, so I’ll do these and leave the rest for you tomorrow.’
‘Alright.’ Carl threw his cloth to her. She caught it. ‘Catch ya later, then.’ He grabbed his jacket from behind the bar and left through the side door.
Tanya smiled fondly after him. He was a great guy, Carl. Both she and Anna had spent many a night with him in here. She thought of him as a bit like an older brother, always there to lend an ear and some advice. He was reliable too and worked harder than anyone she knew. He deserved an early night.
She set to work scrubbing the tables, putting all of her sudden excess energy into it. It didn’t take long to do the first few, then she paused to catch her breath. The buzz was beginning to settle into a normal pace and she needed to slow down. She laughed at herself suddenly. What on earth was she doing here late at night, coked up, scrubbing tables? This would certainly be something to laugh about on her next girls’ night in with Anna.
A noise resounded through the empty club, and Tanya immediately stopped. She held her breath, all her senses on high alert. She strained her ears, listening hard but there was nothing else to hear. Tanya shook herself. She was being paranoid. It was probably just a water pipe clanking somewhere in the building. Still, she decided to check all the doors were firmly locked before she carried on with the tables.
Walking through to the front of the building, the only sound was that of her high heels tapping on the hard floor. She stared through the glass panel in the front door and was soothed by the sights and muffled sounds of the still-busy London street outside. She shook the doors. They rattled slightly, but the sturdy locks held fast. Tanya checked the side door, which was locked just as tightly. Satisfied that everything was as it should be, she walked back through the inner doors into the club and picked up where she’d left off.
She wasn’t sure what it was that made her look up, some kind of sixth sense maybe, but as she did, she caught sight of the thin, brunette woman standing across the room, staring at her with deep venom in her eyes.
Tanya stifled a scream. She put her hand to her chest in an attempt to calm her racing heart and stared at the small woman with wide eyes, not knowing what to do next. The woman just stood there, not moving. Small though she was, the dark anger in her expr
ession and the tense way she held herself made her incredibly menacing.
Tanya slipped her hand slowly towards her back pocket, her fingers reaching for her phone, but it wasn’t there. Her eyes flicked over to the bar and her heart dropped as she realised she had left it there earlier. She knew without asking that this was the woman who had been sending her all those texts. She knew without doubt that, for some reason, this woman was the one who had tried to kill her.
45
Tanya swallowed the dry lump in her throat as she tried to figure out what to do. A fresh wave of bitterness rippled across the woman’s face, and Tanya wondered what she could have done to her to cause such anger. She had never seen this woman before, that much she was sure of.
The woman was dressed in leggings and a long plain top. It was hardly club attire. How had she even got into the building? Her knee-length boots were flat and simple, and her overcoat was thick and grey. It was this which caught Tanya’s attention. Why would she be wearing a winter coat in the middle of summer? Her eyes moved down to the large pockets, which the woman’s hands disappeared into. Ah, she thought, her fear increasing. Large pockets were perfect for concealing small weapons.
Their eyes met once more, and Tanya suddenly couldn’t bear the heavy silence any longer.
‘What do you want?’ Tanya heard the false confidence and authority in her voice. She had learned long ago to style things out. Fake it till you make it.
The woman shook with rage, her face turning red, but she didn’t answer.
‘OK.’ Tanya swallowed. ‘Well, who are you, then?’
‘Who am I?’ the woman suddenly burst out, her voice louder and stronger than Tanya would have expected from such a small person. She stepped back slightly. ‘You know exactly who I am,’ she continued, her cultured voice shaking with emotion. ‘You whore.’
