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

  BOSS GIRL

  A GRIPPING CRIME THRILLER OF DANGER, DETERMINATION AND ONE UNSTOPPABLE WOMAN

  EMMA TALLON

  BOOKS BY EMMA TALLON

  RUNAWAY GIRL

  DANGEROUS GIRL

  BOSS GIRL

  CONTENTS

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Epilogue

  Hear More From Emma

  Books by Emma Tallon

  A Letter from Emma

  Runaway Girl

  Dangerous Girl

  Acknowledgements

  As always, this book is dedicated to the love of my life.

  My centre of gravity, my son – Christian.

  PROLOGUE

  She groaned and put her hands up to her head. Why does it hurt so much? When did I fall asleep? She opened her eyes groggily and pulled herself upright. She blinked and frowned as she looked around. She was in a room that could have almost been her own bedroom at home. Except it wasn’t. Where on earth am I?

  Trying to shake off the thick fuzz still swirling in her brain, she stood up, staggering. She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment as the throbbing intensified, but shook it off. She needed to focus. Why couldn’t she remember how she got here? She tried to think back. They had been in a car. Someone had given her something to drink, said it would make her feel better… She froze. That was the last thing she could remember. It must have been drugged. Why would anyone try to drug me?

  Her eyes darted around the room and widened as they settled on a camera in the top corner of one wall. She was being watched. Her heart thudded against her chest.

  Panic set in and she raced to the door and tried to open it. It was locked. She put both hands on the handle and used all her strength to try to force it open, but it was no use. The door held fast. Ice speared through her stomach as the realization of how bad the situation was dawned on her. Her eyes flew around the room, looking for something, anything, that she could use to get herself out of here.

  Rushing to the window, she grappled with the slatted wooden blinds, trying impatiently to move them out of her way. Grasping the rope pulley to the side she yanked it, pulling the blinds up.

  She opened her mouth to shout, ready to fight for her freedom. But before a sound could escape, she paused in shock. She was not confronted by the tall buildings and busy streets of London that she had been expecting. Outside the window, there was nothing but miles and miles of untouched, wild countryside.

  She backed away from the window as horror and fear washed over her. There was no point even trying. Nobody would hear her.

  She jumped and screamed as an eerie voice came from the camera in the corner of the room. The gravelly whisper echoed loudly around the small space.

  ‘Oh, there’s no way out; I wouldn’t waste your time. You won’t be going anywhere.’

  1

  ‘This is it. This is the night we’ve been working towards for the last six months,’ Tanya said heavily, her eyes gleaming with excitement. She squeezed Anna’s hands, her smile stretching from ear to ear. ‘And’ – she took a deep breath – ‘this time you can enjoy it just as much as me.’

  They stood in a small hallway leading out to the back of their new comedy club. Tanya and Anna had been running a successful gentlemen’s club in the busy West End for the last four and a half years and had decided to expand. Wanting to branch out into new ground, but also wanting to stay in entertainment, they had decided on a comedy club. Six months of research and hard work had gone into their plans, and now they were about to open the doors.

  Anna grinned and felt the butterflies flit around in her stomach. Tanya was right. She could fully enjoy this opening in a way that she had not been able to when they had opened Club Anya. Back then she had been on the run from a psychotic, brutal ex who wouldn’t let her go. She had been forced to stay in the shadows for her own safety, always watching her back. But she had come a long way since then, and there had not been any reason for her to look over her shoulder for a long while. This time she could enjoy herself and bask in the light of what would hopefully be a successful first night.

  Tickets had sold out for the opening and it was going to be quite the party. If there was something Anna and Tanya knew well, it was how to throw a party. The house would be full, the comedy would be on point and there was a small army of staff who would make sure everyone was well fed and watered. All they had to do now was walk through the doors and cut the ceremonial ribbon. The local press were waiting outside to get their shots.

  Anna squeezed Tanya’s hands back and took a deep breath. ‘Let’s do this,’ she said.

  They entered through the main room of the club. The staff stood at the ready and clapped as they walked past. Anna smiled to them and nodded as they made their way to the front. They took one last look at each other and then opened the doors, smiling and waving as the cameras flashed from all angles and the waiting customers cheered. Tanya handed Anna the large pair of scissors and stepped back, letting her cut the ribbon.

  ‘Welcome, everyone to the biggest, baddest, best new comedy club in town – The Last Laugh!’ Tanya cried, raising her hands up to welcome everyone in. The ribbon fell and the first customers made their way inside, ready to be entertained. Anna and Tanya stepped aside, welcoming people as they passed. As she filled one of the journalists in about their plans for the next few weeks, Anna felt as though she was walking on air.

  Freddie popped the cork on the bottle of Dom Pérignon, then poured it into the seven glasses that were standing ready on the bar, next to him. He was thrilled that it had been such a brilliant opening night for the girls. He knew how much Anna had been looking forward to this day. She had been chomping at the bit for a new challenge for the last couple of years.

  Anna loved their first club, Club Anya – it meant the world to her. She and Tanya had opened it up together, risking everything they had. They’d built up its reputation and kept it fresh and modern together for years. It would always be their first and most precious ‘work baby’. But since Carl had taken on a management position, there wasn’t as much for her and Tanya to do and she had time on her hands. She couldn’t sit about and do nothing with that time – she wasn’t bui
lt that way. Anna needed something to consume her, something to really sink her teeth into. Her drive was one of the things Freddie loved most about her.

  They had been together for four years now, and to say they had been through a lot together would be an understatement. Little had they known when they first met, but the man Anna had been running from had been the same man who was trying to usurp Freddie’s well-earned position as one of the heads of central London’s underground. When Freddie had killed Tony, he had not only kept his firm safe but had freed Anna from the dangers of her past.

  They had lived in peaceful bliss for three years, before another threat had reared its ugly head. Ben Hargreaves, the Secretary of State for Justice had come at them with a vengeance. His daughter had been kidnapped outside Freddie’s club and Ben had threatened Freddie’s freedom and Anna’s life if Freddie did not find her and get her back to him. It had almost cost Freddie everything. And even though they had found her, it had still cost him a brother.

  Michael, the youngest Tyler sibling, had been unmasked as the kidnapper, and a very disturbed young man indeed. Freddie had managed to save his life by faking his death and smuggling him out of the country with false papers, but even so, they would never see him again. Michael would never be able to return to England; it was too risky. Instead, Freddie kept occasional tabs on him where he now resided in Rio, and sent money over from time to time through his business contacts, to ensure Michael never went without. He missed his little brother, though, and the guilt of not recognising his dark mental state sooner still ate him up inside.

  Despite these dark times, Freddie and Anna were still as strong a couple as they could be. And today especially, Freddie was full of pride for his partner. He handed out the champagne to the small group around him and held up his glass.

  ‘To the two most fierce and amazing businesswomen in all of London. Congratulations on another resounding success and the continuation of it, as time goes on. To Anna and Tanya!’

  ‘To Anna and Tanya!’ they all chanted, before chinking their glasses together.

  He sipped at the cold, crisp champagne and watched as Anna chattered animatedly to his younger sister Thea. Next to her stood Paul, his other brother and second in command. He looked troubled and Freddie shot him a questioning glance. Paul gave him a subtle hand signal that told him something was up, but they couldn’t discuss it here. He nodded, almost imperceptibly and picked up his jacket. He placed a hand on Anna’s back and kissed her cheek.

  ‘Something’s come up – I’ve got to go.’

  ‘OK, I’ll see you at home later,’ she replied with a warm smile.

  ‘Paul?’ Freddie said.

  ‘Go, go. I’ll stay with the girls,’ Paul’s partner James replied, ‘and Tom, of course.’ He indicated towards Tanya’s boyfriend. James was enjoying himself immensely and didn’t mind that Paul had to go. Like Anna, he understood how things were if you were with a Tyler. They had been together for nearly two years now, publicly for one of those. It was nothing new.

  ‘OK,’ Paul replied to James with a nod. ‘Right, see you later, everyone.’ He picked up his jacket and the pair left the building. They walked around the corner to where Freddie’s new black Mercedes was parked. They jumped in and Paul began talking as they drove away.

  ‘Stanley failed the drug test.’

  ‘Fuck sake!’ Freddie hit the steering wheel in frustration. ‘Are you serious?’

  ‘I wish I wasn’t,’ Paul replied heavily. ‘He had coke in his system. Been thrown out of the competition.’

  Freddie groaned. This was the last thing he needed. Stanley Wright was a boxer on their payroll. He was one of the best and had a stronger love for money than he did for the sport. They had fixed several competitions and made increasing amounts of money each time. This one was their seventh and would have been the biggest haul yet. All the bets were set up; their bookies were at the ready to cash in when he fell in the fourth round. This outcome was going to cost Freddie a lot of money, and that was something he did not take kindly to.

  ‘Where is he?’

  ‘Done a runner. Sent Dean to bring him in, but appears he’d cleared out of his flat before Dean got there. Looked like he left in a hurry,’ Paul said.

  ‘Well, he’s not completely stupid then,’ Freddie replied. He sighed loudly. He was fuming. What he really wanted to do right now was find Stanley and teach the stupid twat a lesson he wouldn’t forget. He knew he had to be clean, he knew there would be a standard blood test. What on earth had he been thinking, doing cocaine?

  ‘What’s the chat?’ Freddie asked.

  ‘That we have no backup. Which is true. With the bookies, about sixty per cent of the bets are now invalid. We’ll have a lot of pissed-off punters, but that will pass. The rest are still fair game and we’re set to lose a lot of money if we can’t find someone to go down in the fourth.’

  ‘Right.’ Freddie tried to think as he drove, but he already knew there were no other decent options. ‘We’ll have to substitute a straight shooter and let the chips fall where they fall,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘Fuck sake,’ he swore again. He was livid. It was a good thing Stanley had the sense to scarper because if he was still around right now Freddie would have ripped him a new one.

  He took a deep breath and tried to calm down. ‘I’ve had someone on my radar for a while. It won’t help us on this one, but I think he could be a long runner. Ring Irish Craig. Tell him I need a meeting soon. And tell him I want to meet his son.’

  2

  Tanya heard the doorbell ring as she turned off the shower and stepped out onto the mat. She quickly wrapped a towel around her hair and another around her body and then stepped out into the hall. Tom had already opened the door and was welcoming Freddie into her flat.

  ‘Oh, what are you doing here?’ she asked, surprised to see him. ‘Is Anna with you?’ She moved her head to look behind him, but Freddie was alone.

  ‘Not this time, Tan – just me,’ Freddie replied.

  ‘Oh. Well what do you want?’ She smiled, her banter friendly.

  ‘Actually, I’m here to see Tom,’ he replied.

  ‘Oh. OK then.’ Tanya was surprised. She had been seeing Tom for about a year now, and although he got on well enough with Freddie and Anna, they only ever really hung out as a group. She hadn’t realised that he and Freddie were on one-to-one terms.

  ‘Well, don’t misbehave too much!’ She smiled at her boyfriend and walked back to the bedroom as the pair turned into the lounge.

  She closed the door and frowned. What did Freddie want with Tom? She knew Freddie Tyler too well and would bet her last penny that this wasn’t just a social call. Aside from when it came to Anna and family, all Freddie’s time and energy was poured into his work. The man ate, slept and breathed ‘the life’. He wouldn’t take time out of his busy day just to hang out with Tom if there was nothing in it for him. She narrowed her eyes. She would find out what it was when he was gone.

  Tom welcomed Freddie in and poured him a coffee.

  ‘Thanks for coming over,’ he said.

  ‘No problem, mate, what’s up?’ Freddie asked. He’d been surprised to get the text from Tom asking if he was free for a chat.

  ‘Well, I have a proposition for you.’ Tom took a deep breath. He appeared nervous and excited. Freddie wondered if he’d finally worked up the guts to ask him for a job.

  ‘Look, I heard on the grapevine that you got the go-ahead for that big building project,’ Tom said. ‘So I know you’ll be looking for a foreman. I want to ask you for the job. I’m good at what I do, I’ve been running projects on-site for years, but I just haven’t had the title. I also have the right contacts to put together a good crew for the build – I know who works hard and who’s worth having. That’s valuable to have on a big build like this.’

  ‘It is,’ Freddie conceded.

  ‘And more than that’ – Tom licked his lips nervously – ‘I want to work for you.’ He gave Freddie a meaningfu
l look. ‘I want in, Freddie. I’ll be as loyal and hard-working as they come. I don’t mind doing some dirty work, as long as I’m finally in a position where I’m respected, you know? Respected and earning something decent for my future.’

  Freddie breathed out heavily. Tom had been angling for a while but having considered it, Freddie wasn’t convinced he was cut out for life in the underworld. Tom seemed like a good guy, but he wasn’t hard. He was big and muscular and could no doubt hold his own in a bar fight should he ever need to, but he lacked the type of hardness you needed in this line of work.

  The dark side of their world was a bleak, unforgiving place and the mentality required to survive it was something not many people possessed. Most of the people who lived this life had come from harsh backgrounds or suffered difficulties that would break the majority of men. They had come through it and risen like the phoenix does from the flames. Those people had been born of fire, as Anna liked to say.

  Tom wasn’t one of those people. He had never suffered real hardship or risen above difficult beginnings. He had grown up in a secure family who had normal jobs and his life so far had been an uneventful journey of his own making.

  Freddie knew that what attracted Tom was the outside image. Tom saw the money, the power, the suits, the cars, but he didn’t see the blood and sweat and grit that lay beneath the surface.

  Would he be able to stomach the things that Freddie dealt with? Freddie was fairly sure he would break under the pressure of the first real challenge he was faced with and that wasn’t someone Freddie could afford to have around. When the shit hit the fan, he needed men who would turn up, clean up and carry on as if nothing had happened.

  ‘Tom, I don’t think you fully understand what I do,’ Freddie said eventually. ‘I know it might look appealing, but it ain’t all sunshine and roses.’

  ‘I know that, Freddie,’ Tom burst out, ‘and I do understand what you do. I know the decisions you make aren’t easy and aren’t above board. I know there’ll be things I don’t agree with,’ he said honestly, ‘but that doesn’t matter. If I work for you, that’s all that matters. You’re the boss.’