‘The fuckin’ bastard!’ Peter cursed again. ‘I can hardly believe it, but it must be Dave who betrayed me,’ he continued. ‘I can’t see any other reason why he’d be getting so cosy with the Millers. And if he’s scoring from the same fuckin’ supplier, well, that says it all, doesn’t it?’

‘Looks that way… Sorry, Pete. I hate to be the one to break it to you. I know how close you and him were.’

‘Yes, we were,’ said Peter. ‘But not any fuckin’ more! He’s been going downhill ever since he got hooked on the fuckin’ coke. I think you and me need to pay Dave a visit and have a little chat.’

He emphasised the word ‘chat’ and they both knew what the implications were. This wasn’t going to be a cosy chat. Peter wanted answers from David and if he didn’t like the answers he gave, then he and Glynn would take whatever action was necessary.

‘Sure. You know I’ll back you up, mate. Any time,’ said Glynn.

Chapter 5

Adele had to wait until they had ‘association’ before she had chance to speak to Caroline again. This was the period in the evening when inmates were free to mix with each other, and Adele often spent that time in Caroline’s company. She found her in her cell alone, sitting on the bed reading a book. It always amazed Adele how Caroline managed to read effortlessly considering the clamour of prison life. Maybe it just took time to acclimatise to the noise.

‘Hi, how’s things?’ Caroline asked.

‘Not bad,’ said Adele. ‘What about you?’

‘OK, yeah.’

Adele decided that if she wanted to find out what Caroline was in for then there was no sense in beating about the bush.

‘Caroline, I’ve been wanting to ask you something,’ she began, tentatively.

Caroline’s expression changed straight away to one of sadness, perhaps tinged with guilt; it was difficult to tell. Her tone of voice changed too and it now had a hard edge to it. ‘Let me guess,’ she said. ‘You want to know what I’m in here for.’

‘Well, yeah. But if you’d rather not talk about it, that’s OK.’

‘No, it’s alright.’ Caroline sighed as she fidgeted nervously with the bedcover. ‘I thought you might ask eventually. In fact, I’m surprised no one’s told you. Anna’s not usually one to keep a secret.’

It was as though Caroline was delaying the inevitable revelation. There was now a tone of irony in her voice – something Adele hadn’t heard before – and she decided to tread carefully. She felt a pang of disquiet, which caused a prickle down her spine. It was obviously a sensitive subject.

‘She wouldn’t tell me,’ said Adele. ‘But you know Anna: knowledge is power, and all that.’