The Dead Ex(85)

When I got back to my office, there was a message on the answerphone. David! ‘Sorry. The trip is taking longer than I thought. Expect you’re in another meeting or sorting out some emergency. Love you.’

Immediately I rang back, but his mobile went through to voice message. How frustrating! I was going to be tied up for the rest of the day and the evening too. Still, with any luck, we might be able to catch up tomorrow.

Meanwhile, word had got round that the exercise slot was being moved to later in the day. It would be done in strict rotation for half an hour instead of a full hour. So even though I’d slotted it during daylight hours, the inmates were still angry.

Zelda was furious at being left in the last group. ‘It’s not bloody fair,’ she yelled while being shepherded out of her wing towards the series of double-locked doors towards the courtyard.

‘Stop moaning,’ snapped Jackie, who’d also volunteered for extra duty. ‘If it wasn’t for the guv, you wouldn’t be going out at all.’

‘That’s cos she had no choice. It’s against my human rights to stay in all day.’

Oh!

‘You all right, Guv?’ asked Frances, who was there too.

I held my hand against my stomach. Another flutter. ‘Fine, thanks.’

‘When are you due, Guv?’ called out one of the women.

‘Early summer,’ I said. No point in keeping it quiet. Nearly everyone knew now.

‘At least you get to keep your kid,’ snarled Zelda.

Not again! I’d tried to be understanding, but now I’d had enough. Something inside me snapped.

‘Look,’ I said, going right up to her and staring her in the face. ‘I’m sorry that you can’t be with your daughter. But actions have consequences. You did something wrong and you have to pay for it. Maybe you should have thought a bit more about your kid before you broke the law.’

‘You’ll be sorry you said that,’ hissed Zelda. Her hard eyes locked with mine. ‘I’ve warned you before but now I mean it.’

‘How dare you threaten me.’ I was livid. ‘You can go inside right now.’

Zelda laughed. ‘Make me. You haven’t got enough back-up, have you?’

An icy chill ran down my spine. I looked around for Patrick, but he was further down the line. It was cold, and the afternoon light was fading fast.

For a moment Zelda just stared at me. I forgot to breathe.

Then she turned and started running back towards the building.

‘Walking only,’ roared one of the officers.

The last few stragglers passed me.

‘Back in now!’ shouted Jackie from up ahead.

‘You’ve cut us short,’ I heard Zelda shout. ‘Just cos we’re the last group.’

‘I don’t mind coming in,’ shivered another woman in front of me. ‘It’s cold.’

It was too. I pulled my heavy-duty jacket closer around me and followed her. As we came into the building, the lights flickered. ‘Circuit playing up again,’ mumbled one of the officers. This often happened in bad weather. The electricians were meant to have sorted it by now. I made a mental note to chase them.

Right now I needed to concentrate on getting this lot back through the doors to the rest area and then up the stairs. Jackie was running past to check the others. ‘I want to see Zelda Darling in my office as soon as we’ve got them all locked up,’ I called out.

‘Sure. Anything wrong?’

‘Tell you later.’

‘Keep moving,’ called out Frances. Patrick was somewhere here, although it was difficult to see where, with the lights flickering.

‘Stay together,’ yelled another officer. There was a note of urgency in his tone. Then suddenly we were plunged into blackness. Fuck.

I waited for the lights to come on. Nothing.

‘Into your cells, everyone.’

The officers’ torches were scattered like glow worms. I fumbled for my own, but the battery was fading. Why hadn’t I checked earlier?

‘This is fun,’ called out someone.

Another was giving a wolf-whistle.

The smell of fear and excitement was tangible. The women were acting like schoolkids who had been let loose unexpectedly. Then, suddenly, the mood changed to one of mass fear.

‘I can’t find the handrail,’ whimpered a voice.

‘It’s not fucking fair. If I couldn’t keep my kid, why should she?’

Footsteps. Running.

Face your attacker. That’s what the self-defence refresher course had taught us.

But it was dark.

There was a sudden blinding pain in my head.

I reached out for the handrail, clutching instead at empty space. And then I fell.

‘Vicki, Vicki. Are you all right?’

David’s voice seemed to be coming from a great distance.

The ache between my legs – like a terrible period pain – made it hard to think straight.

‘You’re here,’ I murmured, struggling to open my eyes. I was in hospital, judging from the drip in my arm and the white uniforms around me.

‘Are you all right?’

My head hurt. I could barely talk. ‘What happened?’

‘You were attacked. One of the women hit you.’

It was coming back now. Outside exercise. The stairs. The agonizing, searing pain.