Dead Memories (D.I. Kim Stone #10)(72)

‘Yeah,’ she said. She knew what she’d posted on Facebook.

‘Funny, geeky and caring. All three of your perceptions are covered and the more I scroll I find more of the same.’

‘And?’

‘You’re also moody sometimes. You sulk. Occasionally you’re envious and often you’re insecure about your weight.’

Stacey could feel the heat flooding into her face.

‘All perfectly normal feelings,’ Alison said. ‘But what I’m trying to say is that we only show on social media what we want people to see. Billie obviously felt comfortable showing different parts of herself but not all in the same place.’

‘But it’s so clearly defined,’ Stacey said, glad the focus of the conversation was off her. ‘Just look here. Just a few weeks ago on the very same day she’s causing a Twitter storm voicing her thoughts on abortion she’s posting photos of her pasta meal at the Park Lane Tavern.’

‘Where?’ Penn asked, snapping to attention.

‘Park Lane Tavern, Colley Gate. Why?’

‘Because that’s where John Duggar used to work.’





Ninety-Three





‘Fuck’s sake, King,’ Symes spat. ‘You gotta do better than that,’ he said, rubbing his jaw. The punch to the mouth had stung but gone no way to what he was really after.

‘Preece, you do it,’ he instructed. He’d asked King to oblige thinking his previous gang leader background would have meant he could throw a decent punch, but maybe the bookworm had been the better choice after all.

Preece stepped forward and rubbed his knuckles.

‘Here,’ he said. ‘This fucker’s a bit loose and you know what or who to think of when you’re doing it.’

Symes saw the rage fill his eyes and braced himself for impact.

The fist hit him exactly where he’d indicated with a force he’d not been expecting. Just give folks the right motivation, he thought, as the taste of blood filled his mouth. His acknowledgment of the pain came secondary.

He nodded approvingly as he held on to his jaw. ‘More fucking like it.’

He strode out of the cell and called out. ‘Gennard…’

‘What the?…’ Gennard called, seeing the trail of blood oozing from his mouth. ‘What the bloody hell happened?’ he asked, opening the gate. His glance towards King and Preece was met with shrugs.

‘Fell over,’ he said. ‘Clumsy bastard.’

He opened his mouth wide for the guard to take a look.

‘Jesus Christ.’

Symes’s tongue had already told him part of the tooth had been knocked out but not all of it. Perfect.

Symes watched the guard perform a rapid risk assessment. ‘Come on, Symes. That needs sorting.’

Symes held his jaw dramatically and groaned as he followed the guard to the health centre. Two inmates were sitting outside the dentist suite. The door opened as they approached.

‘Emergency,’ Gennard called out as the next in line had begun to stand.

‘Oh my goodness,’ exclaimed the young, male dentist ushering him inside.

‘Sit down, sit down,’ he instructed, as Gennard closed the door behind him. He knew the officer was just praying the tooth could be fixed, preventing an outside trip. Generated a lot of paperwork. Which was fine. Today.

Symes opened his mouth. The dentist with the name badge ‘Dennis’ placed some gauze into his mouth while he took a seat and pumped them both into position. He switched on the overhead light, removed the gauze and added the suction tube.

Symes groaned for effect.

‘Open wide,’ he instructed.

Symes obliged and tried to stop himself from smiling. The plan was going perfectly. Get punched on Marcia’s day off. Having worked at the prison for over ten years Marcia was experienced and knew all the tricks in the book. Despite being five foot nothing in socks, in her forties and a few stone overweight, Marcia was the subject of many an inmate fantasy. No one messed with Marcia.

But the ‘fill-ins’ as they called Marcia’s relief staff were nowhere near as canny and made mistakes. The main one being forgetting who they were dealing with and not seeing the bigger picture.

‘Mandibular right first molar requires extraction,’ Dennis said to Gennard.

Why was he talking to the guard? It wasn’t his fucking mouth.

Gennard nodded.

Dennis turned away and reached for a syringe. ‘I’m going to inject local anaesthetic to numb the pain. You’ll feel a sting.’

Symes said nothing and had no reaction as Dennis injected his gum in three different places. Immediately he felt the numbing effect.

Gennard shuffled from one foot to the other as Dennis lined up the tools he needed for the job. Now they were getting somewhere.

Dennis stood up, moved to his left side in front of Gennard and towered over him, opening his mouth and placing the pliers ready to pull. He reached out his right hand and felt around the instrument tray. His hand retracted slowly and went into his pocket.

He felt the pressure from the pull of the tooth. Perfect.

He bolted upright, screaming with pain, sending the dentist and all his instruments crashing to the ground.

Gennard took a second to recover and instantly bent down to assist the dentist. It was all the time he needed to put his booty down inside his jeans.