Nicky picked up as much speed as he could and sighed with relief when he saw the sign saying he was only two miles from home. As he rose over a slight bump in the road, he could see all the traffic in the distance. He was even more relieved when he saw that the van had pulled over to the verge behind him to let a saloon pass. They weren’t after him. He was being paranoid.
The saloon drew up close and began flashing its lights. The driver waved his hand indicating he wanted to pass. Nicky didn’t fancy it but having already pissed off one other driver, he didn’t want to do it a second time.
He slowed and ran up on the verge to let the saloon go by. As he went, the guy honked in thanks and Nicky moved off. No sooner had he done so when the car’s brake lights flashed full on and it ground to a halt in front of him. Shocked, Nicky managed to judder to a halt just as he was about to shunt the bumper in front. In the mirror, he could see the van had driven up a couple of inches behind him. He was sandwiched between the two vehicles. The doors of both were flying open and men were jumping out. Panic stricken, Nicky reversed the Jag into the van but there wasn’t enough weight or power in it to shove the tailgater backwards. He crashed into the car in front and managed to jolt it forwards, reversed and went forward again to squeeze through the gap onto the verge. As the metal scraped and buckled, he managed to mount the grass, wheels spinning before he hit the hedge.
It seemed men were all around him, pulling the doors open.
His seat belt was unbuckled and he was dragged out. Mal’s leering face looked at him and that’s when Nicky twigged – he’d been set up.
‘Courtney?’ Babs was stunned to see her granddaughter through the Perspex panel in the door of the Visitors’ Centre. When Mrs Field had told her that someone had turned up at the prison claiming to be her daughter, demanding to see her without a V.O. and then creating when they wouldn’t allow her in, Babs figured it was either Dee or Tiff. Only those two had the bare-faced audacity to give that level of front. No way would it be Jen; she’d always played it by the book, even though at the hospital her middle girl had developed some claws. But Courtney? Never.
Mrs Morris, standing next to her, said, ‘From the look on your face I can assume that this isn’t your daughter.’
Babs shook her head. ‘It’s my granddaughter.’
‘How old is she?’
Courtney had obviously gone to some effort to give the appearance she was much older. My poor girl has gone a bit overboard with the slap, Babs thought. And Babs had no idea how she was able to walk in the heels she had on. ‘Thirteen,’ she said softly.
‘We thought she was underage but she had papers claiming to be twenty-year-old Susie Cane.’
Babs tightened her lips. Anyone could pick up fake ID on The Devil if they had the right readies.
She turned to stare beseechingly at Mrs Morris. ‘I can see her, can’t I?’
‘The Governor shouldn’t really permit this, but she’s going to let you as a favour. But only ten minutes mind. She’ll need to be picked up. Can I have her mother’s details?’
When they walked into the room, Courtney catapulted out of her chair and rushed into Babs’ waiting arms with such strength she staggered back slightly. Emotion choked her as she hugged her granddaughter tight. It had been three long years since she’d seen her beautiful little princess. When she’d gone down she’d made it clear to Jen her girls were not to visit her. She didn’t want them growing up remembering her as some pathetic case inside the bleak walls of a prison. Especially Courtney.
‘We haven’t got long.’ Babs quickly eased away, catching Mrs Morris’s warning gaze reminding her about no physical contact. Her little baby had grown up so much. ‘Let’s go and get comfy.’
When they sat down opposite each other Babs started worrying again about why Courtney had come. ‘You haven’t told —?’
‘Nah Nan.’ Courtney shook her head. ‘I’d never do that. You told me to keep our secret here,’ she patted her heart, ‘and this . . .’ She made a closed-zip motion across her lips.
‘So what are you doing here lovey?’ Babs put her stern grandmother hat on. ‘And what are you doing telling porkies about your age and who you are? You must’ve gone to some dodgy people on the estate to sort that bogus ID out. I never brought you up like that nor did your mum.’
‘How else was I gonna see you?’ Babs heard the rebelliousness in Courtney’s voice. Oh yeah, her little girl was growing up. ‘I needed to talk to you Nan. How else was I gonna do it? You won’t let me come see you.’ Tears glistened in her blue eyes.
Babs reached across to hold her hands, but forced them back. ‘You know why. I don’t want you to see me here.’
Her granddaughter burst out, ‘It should’ve been—’
‘Don’t say it.’ Babs was back to being stern, although her heart ached at the terrible expression on Courtney’s face. ‘Remember, we agreed, we don’t ever chat about it. What’s done is done and there’s no going back. In this life the best way to live is looking forward. And don’t you forget it.’
Courtney crumbled. ‘But Nan, sometimes I can’t sleep coz it’s all in my head. I keep whispering ‘‘go away, go away, go away’’, but it won’t leave me alone. I can’t talk to anyone . . .’ The words dried up as agonising sobs broke free.
Fuck this! Babs took her granddaughter in her arms. She stared warily at the prison officer, waiting for the reminder about the rules. Instead Mrs Morris mouthed, ‘ten seconds.’ Babs rocked Courtney. She felt so bad that their secret was tearing her granddaughter apart. But Babs toughened her heart. That was how it had to be; there was no other way. She’d make the same decision in a heartbeat.
‘Babs . . .’ Mrs Morris reminded her, so she gently loosened her hold. With a reassuring smile she used her fingertips to mop up the tears.
‘Look at you, all gorgeous and so grown up,’ Babs said proudly, desperate for them not to dwell on the past. Then it occurred to her that Courtney could tell her what was what on the home front. ‘It gladdened my heart that your Uncle John had a peaceful send-off.’
Courtney huffed. ‘Peaceful? There was a right punch up.’
‘You what?’ The girls hadn’t mentioned a word of this.
‘That sleaze ball Kieran, who’s going out with Mum, got into it with some of Aunty Dee’s mates. And then she sent him a bomb.’ Babs’ mouth flapped open but she was so flabbergasted she couldn’t utter a word, ‘coz he says she’s got his gold or silver or something. And he says he’s gonna sort her out. Mum ain’t talking to Aunty Dee, especially after she nearly bashed Mum up in that spa place. Mum’s acting all weird since Kieran came along. I don’t like him.’
Babs was stunned, her world rocking back and forth. She knew it, just knew it that things were going to the dogs outside.
‘But your mum’s so soft-hearted. She wouldn’t say boo to a fly.’
Courtney had scorn written all over her. ‘She’s putting herself about like she’s Paris Hilton on crack. She’s always shooting her mouth off. And the clobber that creep Kieran buys her makes her look like a right slapper.’
‘I’ve got to get outta here.’ She didn’t even realise she’d mumbled it under her breath. ‘My family’s turned into a horror story.’
‘What did you say Nan?’ Courtney looked at her curiously.
‘Nuthin.’ Babs beamed, although she felt sick. ‘Don’t worry your pretty head about a thing.’
But Courtney couldn’t get it out of her head as she sat in the cab. Arse face Kieran had paid for it and Mum had been going on and on at her since she’d arrived to collect her, jabbing her finger and blowing her stack. What a show. Courtney turned her ears off and bit her lip. This was all her fault. Her mum, Aunty Dee and Aunty Tiff wouldn’t be trying to rip each other’s heads off if it wasn’t for what she’d done.
Fifty-Four
Although he was shitting himself, Nicky tried to think what his two dads would’ve done in this situation.
Mal and another geezer
had blindfolded him and dumped him into the boot of their car. He’d tried to keep track of time as he bounced in the dark. The motor had stopped at his calculations after well over an hour, so he thought he was somewhere in London. He’d fought hard when they’d taken him out, receiving a major league slap across his mouth for his troubles. Then he’d been dragged unceremoniously down a set of steps, tied to a chair and left in a place that smelt musty. The blindfold kept him in the dark.
He knew exactly what Chris and John would’ve tried – to get free of the plastic cuffs that tied his wrists to the back of the chair. He stretched his fingers, trying to get to the cuffs’ centre, but couldn’t reach it. He gritted his teeth the second time, sweat coating his forehead. With an almighty effort he did it again and this time the chair toppled over on its side. He crashed to the floor.
Someone slow-clapped behind him, putting him on high alert.
‘I’m not scared of you,’ he screamed, noticing that his words echoed off the walls.
Footsteps. ‘No one has to be scared here. All you’ve got to do is tell me the truth.’ It wasn’t Mal. The man’s voice was soft and slight as if he was trying to disguise it.
His captor lifted the chair and got Nicky in an upright position again.
‘You can go home.’
‘But?’ Nicky said tightly.
‘It’s simple really. All you’ve got to do is answer one question.’
Nicky said nothing, just waited.
‘Where did your dad hide the gold?’
‘What gold?’
Footsteps around his chair. ‘Don’t play silly buggers with me kid. I want to know now.’
Nicky started shouting with all his might, which made the man laugh. He stopped, his throat hurting.
‘Scream blue murder all you want boy. No one’s going to hear you. The walls are soundproof, plus you’re in the bowels of hell. Tell me where my gold is.’
His hands were like rings of steel around Nicky’s throat. ‘Tell me.’
‘I don’t know.’ Nicky’s voice was hoarse.
The hands dropped away and the man stepped back. ‘I didn’t want to do this but you leave me no choice.’
There was a moment of silence before Nicky heard them. He started bricking it. The vicious barks and snarls of dogs entering the room.
Babs found Knox doing what she loved doing best – beating the shit out of one of the other girls. She was kneeling on a terrified and tearful younger prisoner while her two goons looked on laughing. They were round the back of the kitchen, Knox’s favourite spot to dispense her brand of justice because it was a security camera blindspot.
When Babs coughed to get her attention she received a growled ‘knob off,’ in response. Usually she’d be on her way, but what she wanted was urgent. If there was any way she could do it without involving mad girl she would, but there wasn’t.
‘Knox, can I have a word?’ Babs stood her ground.
Knox viciously kneed her victim in the chest and turned round, cursing beneath her breath. Her face scrunched up when she spotted Babs. ‘This better be life and death Miller.’
‘A private word.’
Knox rolled her eyes. ‘Private she says.’ But she got up. ‘Whatcha want?’ She surprised Babs when her face fell, revealing a human layer under her usual scowl. ‘Nuthin’s happened to my Kieran?’
Babs’ mouth opened. Her Kieran? She wasn’t his girlfriend or something? Perish the thought. As if reading her mind Knox lowered her voice. ‘He’s my brother, you twat.’
‘Your brother?’ She was speechless. Of course she knew that Kieran had sisters, as well as brothers, but Crazy here being one of them had never crossed her mind.
‘What are you? Some friggin’ parrot? That’s what I said, didn’t I. I’m the one who had the brains to do a runner when I was fourteen. Got married to Bob Benson when I was sixteen. He was twenty-five years older than me and had the good grace to cock his toes up when I was twenty.’ She leaned in closer. ‘Course his kids said I hastened him on his way. They couldn’t prove nish.’
Babs could only gawk. A shiver broke out like cold sweat at the final part of Knox’s story. Mind you, who was she to point the finger? She was doing bird for offing her old man. ‘I need your help.’
The other woman got sarky again. ‘Well, I didn’t think you wanted a chinwag coz you like the colour of my eyes. Now gob it out.’
‘You know this prison inside out? The comings and goings?’
Knox puffed her chest out. ‘Like the back of my hand,’ she smiled maliciously at Babs, ‘which you’ll get if you don’t get to the point sharpish.’
Babs held the words back, playing with them inside her head and then she spat them out. ‘I need to get outta here.’
‘Join the queue.’
She grabbed Knox’s arm desperately, her fingers digging tight. ‘No, I need to escape.’
‘Are you off it or what?’
Babs pulled her close. Not many people would dare do that to Knox Benson. ‘I’ve got to get outta here pronto.’
‘Your jam’s only two weeks away.’
‘How do you know about my parole?’
‘Like we’ve established, I know all the comings and goings. Put your head down for a couple of weeks and then you’re out.’
Babs almost wept, ‘I can’t. I can feel it in my bones. Something terrible’s gonna happen if I don’t get to my family.’
Fifty-Five
‘Have you heard a word I’ve said Babs?’ the inmate next to Babs asked at lunchtime the next day.
‘Wh . . . What?’ Babs faltered. She flicked her gaze away from the food in the dining area or, as the women nicknamed it, Noshers’ Yard. The room was noisy, as per usual, which didn’t help her already cracking nerves, although she’d taken her last remaining Benzo. She was keeping an eagle eye on the counter because Knox was going to pop her head from the back of the kitchen to give her the nod. The other woman hadn’t been happy to aid Babs’ escape, but after she promised her a nice drink when Knox got out she’d been all grim sunshine and smiles. Knox was keeping the escape plan close to her chest until the last minute, which Babs hadn’t been best pleased about, but what could she do? Her anxiety was hitting the stratosphere because Knox still hadn’t put in an appearance.
‘Babs you’re a million miles away,’ said Lucy Warren-Jones, a very posh and pretty inmate who’d been done for cooking the books at her City job to finance her increasing coke habit. ‘Is there something wrong?’
‘Nah, nuthin’s up.’ Everything’s up. Where the bloody hell is Knox?
‘Like I was saying, my fiancé has given me the elbow. The creep. After all I did for him. He won’t find another girl who enjoys being tied up . . .’
Babs wasn’t listening. All she could think about was getting shot of this place. She needed to bang some heads together. But doing a bunk less than two weeks away from her parole was crazy . . . Maybe she should bottle it, tell Knox to forget it, do the rest of her time and hope her family kept themselves quiet. No, she knew her daughters. If things were already bad they were only going to get worse.
She drew in a deep breath when she saw Knox at last. The other woman nodded. Babs got up, picking up her tray.
‘You haven’t finished your rice pud,’ Lucy noticed.
‘Not hungry,’ she threw back and started moving. Here we go. She added her tray to the other empties and secretly checked out the kangas monitoring the hall. She breathed easy when she saw they weren’t looking her way. She moved cautiously towards the end of the counter. Took a step around it to the door, which Knox said would be open. Reached for the handle . . .
An alarm tore through the air. She stumbled back as a bunch of kangas flooded the hall.
Bully kanga Bradley took control. ‘Right, you lot, everyone back to their cells. It’s a lockdown ladies.’ A lockdown meant something serious had gone on or the prison wanted to ship someone out with minimal fuss.
A huge moan filled the room. Shi
t. Had they found out what she was about to do? But the POs shepherded her into line with the others and didn’t single her out. She twisted around to see if she could catch Knox but the other woman was long gone. There was no way she was going to be able to do a flit now.
Five minutes later she was banged up in her cell.
She moved to the wall and shouted to the woman in the cell next door. ‘Why’s there a lockdown?’
‘Someone must’ve been making pigeon pie coz they found two dead birds in her cell, every drug known to man stuffed inside.’
‘Who was it?’
‘Knox. She’s being shipped out.’
Babs slumped against the wall. Her escape route had just become a dead end.
Tiffany inhaled deeply, a dreamy expression on her face as she passed the spliff to Dee. They were reclining near the indoor pool at the back of Dee’s house. Mel and Kim’s ‘Respectable’ played on Tiff’s mobile, hooked up to a mini speaker.
The smoke left her with a hugely satisfied grin. ‘Now that’s what you call a tote. Not like that shit skunk,’ she arched her brow at her sister, ‘which I hope you don’t indulge in. I hear it’s sending people doolally.’
‘Maybe we should let Kieran have a tote, it might send him over the edge.’
Tiff chuckled as the spliff was passed back. ‘You can tell me where John hid the gold. I won’t tell a dickie bird.’
There was a violent banging at the front door, but both women ignored it. Dee stared hard at her sister. ‘Like I’ve said from the off, John never told me bollocks about no gold.’
Whoever was banging at the door was making a right racket. Dee yelled, ‘Go. Away,’ knowing full well whoever it was wouldn’t hear her. She wasn’t in the mood to deal with people. The truth was she was knackered. Tired of this nonsense with Kieran. She just wanted it to stop, so she could get on with trying to make a life for herself, the baby and Nicky without John. She did miss him so.
Blood Daughter: Flesh and Blood Trilogy Book Three (Flesh and Blood series) Page 31