by Caro Savage
Once they were successfully infiltrated, the undercover police officer would subsequently introduce and vouch for another police officer and so on, so that it was harder for the criminals to trace the infiltration back to the original informant once the operation was over.
In here, however, for better or for worse, Bailey was all alone. She was going in cold. She had no informant to introduce her to the gang, so it was a much more challenging situation in terms of getting to know them and getting them to trust her, a relative newcomer to the prison. She needed to engineer an appropriate situation to facilitate her infiltration into the gang. And that was going to require a certain amount of creativity.
Based on her observations, she had ascertained that each member of the gang was allocated an area of the prison in which to sell drugs.
When it came to free association time, she walked methodically around each wing of the prison and along every landing until she had located Toni. As the leader of the gang, she knew it had to be Toni who she targeted.
Toni was leaning on an upper balcony of D-Wing, casually lounging, her hands in the pockets of her jogging top, sporadically conducting transactions with a succession of inmates.
By now it was late afternoon and Bailey knew that Toni probably had a good amount of both cash and drugs in her possession – more than enough illicit material to get her into serious trouble if she was searched. However, she had chosen her position well; from her perch at the end of the upper balcony, Toni had an excellent vantage point from which to spot any approaching prison officers.
After observing her from a safe distance for a short while, Bailey made her way to the stairwell and descended all the way down to the ground floor of D-Wing.
Earlier on, when she had been determining the locations of the gang members, she had made a mental note of where Shelley Foster had been patrolling. Shelley was the prison officer who’d reprimanded Bailey in the laundry, the one who resembled a female gorilla. She was known to be one of the most humourless, straight and stern of the prison officers, and that was exactly the reason that Bailey had chosen her for this next vital stage in her plan.
She was going to snitch.
This was a particularly risky venture as she could not afford to let the other inmates witness her communicating with Shelley. To be known as a snitch in prison was not a good thing. The comebacks were just as brutal as they were on the outside but a whole lot harder to evade. After all, you couldn’t just skip town if things got too hot. And once your card was marked, it stayed that way even if you were transferred to another institution.
Bailey retreated into the protective shadows of the large stairwell on the ground floor in the middle of D-Wing, waiting for Shelley to walk past. She could hear her big heavy shoes clunking on the floor as she got closer.
As she walked past, Bailey whispered to her from the shadows. ‘Hey! Psst! Shelley!’
Shelley halted and looked around. Her eyes narrowed in automatic suspicion as she sized Bailey up.
‘What do you want?’
Bailey beckoned her into the shadows, but Shelley just stood there, hands on her hips, tapping her foot.
‘It’s important,’ hissed Bailey, looking around urgently. Speed was of the essence.
Shelley sighed and stepped warily towards Bailey. She cocked her head to indicate that Bailey should come out with whatever it was she wanted to say.
‘You know Toni, the one with the gold tooth?’
Shelley nodded, grinding her jaw slightly. Of course she knew Toni. Everyone in the prison knew Toni. She probably hated her. ‘What about her?’
‘She’s up at the top of D-Wing, at the far end, selling drugs, right this minute.’
‘Is she now?’ Shelley raised her thick dark eyebrows.
She definitely looked interested. She also didn’t look particularly surprised. Bailey guessed the prison officers probably had a fairly good idea what Toni and her gang were up to.
Shelley eyed Bailey one last time, marking her as a snitch with a certain amount of contempt in her eyes, but then she probably regarded most of the inmates in here as scummy people with their own scummy reasons for wanting to stitch each other up. She probably thought Bailey had some score to settle with Toni. But that was immaterial if Bailey’s information was sound.
As a police officer, Bailey felt a similar way about snitches herself, but this was a means to an end. And, anyhow, if all went to plan, it wouldn’t turn out like a normal snitching.
Shelley did an about-turn and headed towards the stairwell which would bring her out on the top landing closest to where Toni was situated.
Bailey glanced around, checking that no one had seen her talking to Shelley. She waited until Shelley had begun to climb the stairs and then she took action. She marched rapidly in the opposite direction towards the central atrium.
There were three main stairwells in each house-block – one by the central junction of the four wings, one in the middle of each wing and one at the far end of each wing. Shelley had taken the one at the far end of D-Wing. Bailey took the one by the central atrium, paralleling Shelley’s ascent, going up two stairs at a time, as fast as she could without drawing too much attention to herself.
She reached the top floor at exactly the same time that Shelley did. Peering along the landing, she saw Toni clock Shelley and rapidly begin to walk away, head down, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible.
‘Hey you! Stop!’ barked Shelley.
Toni continued walking, her hands tucked into the pockets of her tracksuit top, pretending she hadn’t heard Shelley, making out like she thought Shelley wasn’t talking to her.
‘Toni!’ shouted Shelley. ‘Stop right there!’
Toni halted without turning around. She gritted her teeth and cursed.
‘Where do you think you’re going?’ said Shelley.
Toni forced a smile onto her face. She turned around slowly, her hands still in her pockets. She smiled at Shelley. Shelley didn’t smile back, her face like granite. She paced slowly up to Toni, almost leisurely, knowing she had caught her bang to rights.
‘Just heading back to my cell,’ said Toni.
Bailey rapidly advanced along the opposite side of the landing to where Shelley was confronting Toni. She kept to the wall, unobtrusive, scurrying in the direction of the stairwell that Shelley had just ascended. She looped around it and began to work her way stealthily along the landing so she was right up behind Shelley, just a few metres away.
‘Empty your pockets,’ she could hear Shelley saying.
‘I don’t have anything on me,’ said Toni.
‘I don’t want to have to repeat myself. Now empty your pockets.’
‘I haven’t done anything wrong.’
‘You’re in big trouble and you know it. Dealing drugs’ll get you an extra forty days in nick.’
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
But Toni was looking panicky now. Her eyes were darting around furiously, looking for some way out of the situation. But she was stuck and she knew it.
The landing had gone silent and all the inmates were now watching the show. They’d known exactly what Toni was up to. And they knew that if she emptied her pockets, which she would have to do in a matter of seconds, she’d be in big trouble. Bailey could feel the tension and anticipation in the air.
Bailey tiptoed a little closer towards them, her trainers silent on the metal floor, creeping up closer behind Shelley. She craned her head to peer over Shelley’s shoulder and catch Toni’s eye. She gave Toni a large exaggerated wink and nodded in the direction of the banister. An almost indiscernible frown of puzzlement flickered over Toni’s face. But it was all the confirmation Bailey needed that Toni had acknowledged her presence.
Bailey grabbed onto one of the metal pillars and pulled herself up onto the banister. She stood balancing precariously, hanging onto the pillar for support. She looked down and could see the tiled floor four storeys below.
T
oni’s eyes widened. Shelley tensed as she realised something was up.
‘I’m gonna jump!’ shouted Bailey. ‘I’m going to do it! I can’t stand being in this place any longer!’
Shelley spun around. Her eyes widened. ‘What the…? Get down right now!’
Bailey looked down. She wobbled a little. She had never been great with heights. She had no intention of actually jumping, but if she did go over she’d have two floors to fall before she hit the anti-suicide netting. She hoped it was attached strongly.
She glanced at Toni. Shelley was trying to negotiate both Bailey and Toni, her attention flicking frantically back and forth between them, desperately trying to keep an eye on both of them at the same time.
The moment Shelley’s back was turned to her, Toni started furiously mouthing at Rong, who had appeared on the other side of the landing. Rong swiftly made her way around the landing to come up behind Toni.
Bailey saw that just a few more seconds were needed.
‘I’m going to do it,’ shouted Bailey. ‘I’m going to jump. I can’t bear it any longer.’
‘You’re going to do nothing of the sort,’ barked Shelley, taking a step towards her.
‘Don’t come any closer!’ said Bailey. ‘I’m warning you!’
She released her grip on the pillar, so she was balancing with just her feet on the slippery metal surface of the thin banister. She stood there wavering, her arms going in circles one way and then the other in order to try and keep her balance.
She now had Shelley’s full attention.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Rong finally catch up with Toni, who rapidly offloaded a pouch of contraband onto her. Rong folded the pouch of drugs and cash into her tracksuit top and melted away back into the crowds of inmates who had gathered to watch.
Mission successful.
Shelley spun around back to Toni, who gave her a wide smile, pulling her pockets inside out with an innocent look on her face.
‘Look. Nothing.’
Shelley’s eyes narrowed furiously. She knew she had been given the slip somehow.
Bailey suddenly felt the sole of her trainer slip on the smooth metal surface of the banister. Her balance was starting to go.
‘Oh shit,’ she muttered. She grabbed for the pillar, but her fingertips brushed it in vain, not quite able to get a grip on the glossy metal.
She saw Shelley’s eyes bulge even wider as she reached out to try and grab Bailey’s leg.
She saw Toni’s smile transform into a grin of genuine amusement.
And then she was falling.
Down.
Down.
Down.
Past a landing full of inmates. Their faces watching in entertainment. Their mouths open, their jaws hanging slack.
And then she hit the anti-suicide netting, landing on her back. It creaked dangerously, the support springs stretching as they took her weight.
She felt the thin strands of the netting flexing elastically, biting into her back and shoulder muscles as they absorbed her impact.
And then she bounced up, like she was on a trampoline. Up in mid-air again.
And then she landed again.
And bounced back up again.
And landed again, finally coming to rest in the vibrating netting.
She lay there looking up at the ceiling, at the grimy skylights high above. At the faces of the inmates leaning over the banisters looking down at her. Among them she could see Toni.
Whoops and cheers echoed around the interior of the house-block.
It had been kind of fun.
Bailey got to her feet and walked unsteadily off the anti-suicide netting onto the landing. Shelley was standing there waiting for her. She looked pissed off in the extreme. She took a firm hold of Bailey’s arm, her fingers biting like a vice into her biceps. She glared into Bailey’s eyes and spoke in a low growl.
‘I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing, but whatever it is, I don’t like it. I’m putting you on the nicking sheet.’
30
The next day, Bailey arrived at the canteen for lunch as early as she could, got her food and headed straight for their corner table, which was, as she’d hoped, empty. She sat down, getting the expected looks and whispers from the other inmates, and waited for the gang to arrive.
After jumping off the balcony, she’d received a DIS1 form almost immediately from Shelley. The DIS1 form was what was informally known as the ‘nicking sheet’, and they had to give it to Bailey within forty-eight hours of the offence being committed. What it meant was that she would have to have an adjudication to discipline her for her actions. Although it was regarded as a negative thing by both the inmates and the prison authorities, it made her feel a little more comfortable in her cover because it made her feel that little bit more like a genuine inmate.
She noticed the gang file into the canteen. They queued up for their food, and she saw them look over at her and then talk amongst themselves.
Her heart was beating hard, thumping against the inside of her chest. She was too nervous to take even the smallest bite of her food. In fact, she felt like she was about to throw up. She could sense the eyes of the entire canteen upon her table. Sitting down here was a big gamble. If it paid off, fine. If it didn’t… Best not think about what might happen if it didn’t. She took a deep, slow breath and fought to keep her cool. It was all about keeping cool.
Their shadows fell across the table.
For a few moments, they stood there surrounding her, holding their trays of food. The entire canteen had gone silent. Not even the smallest clatter of cutlery could be heard. Everyone was waiting for something to happen. To her.
But, unlike last time, they didn’t ask her to move.
They just sat down around her. She was sandwiched between the big lumbering one to her left and Keisha to her right. Toni sat directly opposite her, next to Rong.
Bailey breathed out slowly. So far so good…
Toni gave her a long hard look. Then she started eating, which was a signal for the others to also start eating.
They ate in silence, indecipherable looks occasionally passing between them.
Bailey also ate, forcing the food down even though she didn’t feel like it.
The rest of the canteen ate and watched, waiting – perhaps hopefully – for the inevitable violent outcome.
But that didn’t happen.
What happened was that Toni finished eating, put down her knife and fork, steepled her fingers and fixed Bailey with another long hard gaze with her pale flint-coloured eyes.
Bailey held her stare, forcing herself not to blink.
‘So, you want to sit at our table, huh?’ said Toni finally.
‘Seems like the best seat in the canteen,’ said Bailey.
Toni’s eyes narrowed as she sized Bailey up. She nodded to herself, coming to some unspoken conclusion.
Toni glanced around the canteen. All eyes seemed to be upon them. Everyone appeared to be straining to hear what they were saying. She leaned in close to Bailey and lowered her voice so it was almost inaudible.
‘Meet me in the yard. Half an hour. Corner of C-Wing.’
Then she stood up. The others followed suit. They left the canteen, leaving Bailey sitting by herself alone at the table.
She looked around.
The other inmates were looking at her with a certain amount of curiosity and even a little respect.
She couldn’t help but smile to herself, pleased with how it had turned out so far. But a strong sense of trepidation also gripped her. What was going to happen next?
31
The yard was flat, bare, compacted dirt, encircled with wire fences topped with concertina coils of razor wire, beyond which lay the massive perimeter wall with its fortress-like crenellations and watchtowers. Inmates dotted the yard in ones and twos, some walking along, others kicking a ball to and fro, some sitting on the series of poured concrete picnic-style benches which lined one side. Mos
tly they just stood around and smoked.
Bailey trotted across the yard in the direction of her impending rendezvous. Although she felt a certain amount of apprehension, she was fairly confident she’d done a decent job of convincing them. After all she wasn’t a complete rookie when it came to this kind of work.
Moments later, she spotted Toni, smoking a cigarette, leaning against the corner of the exterior wall of the house-block which formed C-Wing. Toni smiled at her and beckoned her over.
‘Hey,’ she said, looking around. ‘Anyone with you?’
Bailey shook her head. Toni nodded slyly, flicked her cigarette away and motioned for Bailey to follow her.
‘We couldn’t really talk in the canteen. Too many ears, if you know what I mean.’ She glanced around the yard, her eyes resting for a moment on the CCTV mast. ‘Let’s go round here a second.’
Bailey hesitated for a moment, then followed her around the corner, out of sight of the cameras…
Where someone suddenly slammed hard into the side of her. She crashed up against the wall. Stunned. Winded.
She found herself pinned against the wall by her neck. The big one whose name she didn’t know was holding her with a giant meaty hand, staring at her with dead piggy eyes.
Next to her were Keisha and Rong. Rong was staring at her cross-eyed, one eye deceptively peering over Bailey’s left shoulder. Toni stood there, hands on hips, nodding slowly to herself and smiling.
‘I don’t think you’ve been properly introduced. This is Muscles,’ said Toni, gesturing at the big one who was holding Bailey. ‘I think it’s probably fairly self-evident why we call her that. She could rip you open like a bag of crisps. She doesn’t know her own strength, you see. That’s kind of why she’s in here. But she’s a gentle giant really. Except for the “gentle” part, maybe. And she does exactly what I tell her. Look…’ Toni tilted her head at Muscles. ‘Squeeze, Muscles.’
Muscles’ thick fingers began to squeeze Bailey’s neck.
‘Urghhh…’ choked Bailey. ‘Let… urgh… let go.’