Page 19 of Stolen Ones

Kim didn’t disagree with them.

‘We’d still like to catch and punish the person who abducted her,’ Bryant answered.

‘Well, good luck with that after all these years,’ Lyla said, picking up the remote control.

Kim would have liked to stay just a little longer to capture the reason that this family caused a sense of unease in her stomach but she knew a dismissal when she saw one.

Ten

Alex pushed the phone deep into her pillowcase, enjoying the warm flush of anticipation that stole over her. She would be speaking to DI Kimberly Stone later this evening, and she could barely wait, but for now she had other things to attend to.

The most important meeting of her life was due to take place at the end of the week, and she had both a plan A and a plan B running concurrently.

Warden Siviter’s input and recommendation at her parole hearing was crucial to a favourable decision, and she was determined to get it by using either one of her plans.

‘You ready?’ she asked her cellmate.

‘Yep, I’m starving Marvin,’ Emma said, putting her book aside.

They headed out of the cell and towards the dinner hall – if you could call the impersonal, functional space something that sounded so grand.

During her time she’d suffered every indignity this place had to offer: the loss of liberty, the rules, the lack of control over her own life, the absence of privacy and above all the disgusting, tasteless food. Everything was boiled and seasoned as though salt was on ration, and she was guessing the kitchen crew had never used a herb or spice in their lives.

She could almost taste freedom and a return to her former life, which made these last few days almost intolerable. But she had to keep her cool. If even one thing went wrong now, she’d be looking at another six months at least to get another hearing.

She’d been a decent prisoner for almost five years. Yes, there’d been one or two hiccups when she hadn’t got her own way, but that was less important than the next few days. It was how you finished and the most recent memories that stayed in someone’s head.

She was banking on it.

‘You know what to do, don’t you?’ she asked Emma.

‘Errr…yeah, it ain’t rocket science.’

‘Wait for my signal,’ Alex said, joining the food line.

For her plan to work, she was reliant on everything happening as it always did on a Monday night.

She followed everyone else in, pushing the newbie out of the food line. The kid was barely out of her teens. She’d been brought in a few hours ago and had already earned the nickname Bambi due to her wide, terrified eyes. So far, she’d been robbed of her phone card and smokes, and her toiletries had been taken from her cell. Every possession was fair game in prison, and she was being shown her order in the hierarchy. Her day wasn’t going to get any better now. Bambi was a nothing, a nobody, one of life’s losers who mattered to no one. But she mattered to Alex and was integral to her plan.

By the time Alex sat with her food, the line was thinning and Bambi was eyeing up opportunities to jump in. Emma hung about in the doorway.

Right on cue, Warden Siviter entered the hall and wandered over to the prison officer at the far end. Every night she did the same thing before leaving. A final check that her charges were in order.

Alex waited for just a few seconds before giving Emma the nod.

Emma strode up to Bambi and shoved her out of the way.

‘Fuck off, newbie bitch, I’m first,’ Emma shouted at the top of her voice. The girl fell to the ground.

‘What the fuck you just call me?’ Emma shouted, pouncing on her. The girl hadn’t said a word.

The officers started moving towards the scuffle, but Alex got there first.

Prisoners began to chant ‘fight, fight, fight’ as they closed in around the skirmish.

Bambi was covering her head with her forearm as the punches continued to rain down on her.

‘Emma, stop it,’ Alex called out loud enough for everyone to hear. The guards were moving inmates aside, trying to get to the centre. ‘The girl only wanted something to eat.’