Stella Mackinley was serving ten years for running a crystal meth lab out of a barn in rural Warwickshire. So volatile had been the equipment and chemicals that police had been unable to enter until deemed safe by the fire service.
There were few things that bothered the women collectively, but anything that involved harming children got their attention. And Stella had sold to teens.
The drug itself was known to be highly addictive due to the long-lasting euphoric effect, a high that went on for as long as twelve hours, much longer than cocaine.
Knowing that she was unlikely to last the stretch unharmed, Stella had wasted no time in enlisting the first muscle she had come across. Titch would do anything for a couple of extra quid to shovel down the gummy bears she was addicted to. And that was her payment for protecting one of the most hated women in the prison.
There was only one thing that Stella wanted more than protection and that was control. And Alex was going to offer it for a price.
She walked down the food line and headed over to the table, sitting two spaces away from her target.
Both Stella and Titch eyed her suspiciously but continued eating.
Alex reached to her side and positioned the phone at the edge of her pocket. She adjusted her position on the seat.
The phone made a noise as it met with the ground. Alex paused one second before reaching to pick it up. She made a show of looking around.
‘That a fucking phone?’ Stella asked, still looking at the spot on the floor where it had landed.
Alex said nothing and continued to eat.
Stella scooted across to the seat that had separated them.
‘I said, is that a fucking phone?’
‘Shh,’ Alex said, looking around. She knew no one else had seen or heard.
‘I need to use it.’
Of course she did. She had an empire to run, and it wasn’t easy with recorded phone calls.
Having the ability to call Inspector Stone directly had been nice, but this had been her real plan all along.
‘Can’t do. I need it. I’ve got calls to make.’
‘Give me that fucking phone or you’ll be eating a mouthful of fist.’
‘From who?’
She inclined her head towards Titch.
Alex smiled in response and leaned around her.
‘Hey, Titch, that iPod still working okay for you?’
She nodded while scraping up the last of her cold custard.
‘Sound, mate, sound.’
Who knew that a cheap device loaded with Barry Manilow songs would buy her protection for her entire stretch? She had known. She had made it her business to know and that’s why she always got what she wanted.
Stella’s face creased in irritation. Titch would never touch her.
‘Threatening me is never going to get you what you want.’
‘So what is? You want me to fix you up with some…?’
‘Not a chance. I wouldn’t touch your filthy product.’
‘So you’re just like all these other bitches in here. Wanna shank me the first chance you get.’
‘If you want honesty, Stella, I don’t give one fuck how many lives you’ve taken or ruined with your pharmaceutical enterprise. Neither would I care if you’d been wrongly convicted and are completely innocent. I don’t care.’
She moved to bring her legs from under the table.
Stella put a hand on her arm.
‘You want something else?’ she asked, licking her lips.
Alex burst out laughing. ‘Er… that would be no.’
She stood. ‘Sorry, Stella, but there’s nothing you have that I want.’
‘Not right now,’ she said cagily.
Alex almost laughed at the ease of the task.
‘Go on.’
‘Well, it never hurts to have a favour in the bag, does it? You never know when you might want help with something.’
Alex appeared to give it consideration, as though she hadn’t been expecting the offer.
She sat back down. ‘Okay, but it won’t be today. I’ve got my own stuff to do.’
‘When?’
Alex thought about it. ‘Meet me tomorrow in the library. I’m in there working at two. I’ll make sure it’s private.’
Stella looked to her sidekick.
Alex shook her head. ‘Not a word and don’t bring her or you’re not getting the phone. If she knows anything, she’ll tell for two packets of sweets, and I’m not losing this phone for you.’
Stella considered her options. Risk being alone for a short time and get to use the phone or keep her protection and get nothing.
Alex pushed herself up from the table. ‘Okay, choice made. See you—’
‘No, no. I’ll do it. I’ll be there but you gotta make sure the place is empty.’
‘Oh, you can bank on it,’ Alex said, walking away.
As she neared the door, she noticed one particular prisoner watching her closely.
Good. That’s what she’d wanted, and it looked as though her second meeting of the day was going to come to her.
Sixty
‘Nothing,’ Penn said. ‘I can’t find one thing on the man.’
The boss had asked him to go deeper on Jenson Butler. They all knew they didn’t have enough for an arrest or search warrant. No judge would sign off on it with his tenuous links to the crimes.
The task he’d been given had allowed him to immerse himself in work and push aside his fears about Jasper. He knew that Stacey and Alison thought he should loosen the reins a little bit, but that was harder than they could imagine. The text message from his brother had remained unanswered.
As the older brother it had always been Penn’s job to protect Jasper from the cruel comments and curious looks. It was ingrained in him to shield the boy from anything that might hurt him. At Billy’s he was safe, playing Xbox and eating pizza. Out in the big wide world he was vulnerable. Jasper loved everyone and felt that everyone loved him. He wouldn’t understand if a gang of yobs decided to torment and abuse him. Just the thought of it made him sick to his stomach – Jasper’s sweet, innocent nature having to accept that the world wasn’t the bouncy castle he thought it was.
Their late mother had spent years preparing him how to take care of his little brother. She just hadn’t versed him on how and when to let him go.
Maybe Stacey was right about his own personal life. He’d set up two different dates to meet up with Lynne, just for a drink and a chat, and both times he’d had to cancel because of work. They hadn’t spoken for a while, and he missed her.
‘Is Butler too clean?’ Alison asked, bringing him back into work mode.
Penn shrugged. ‘Not even a hint of impropriety. He’s been married for twenty-seven years, has two grown sons who appear to be responsible and respectable. One is training to be a geologist, and the other is finishing med school. His wife volunteers at a group for disadvantaged kids and, before you ask, there’s no record of any involvement from Butler himself. No parking tickets, no speeding fines. Nothing.’
‘He’s in his fifties,’ Alison observed. ‘Surely there’s something.’
Penn shook his head.
‘Doesn’t that make you think he’s being extra careful so as not to attract any police attention to himself?’ Alison asked.