Page 99 of Stolen Ones

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.