Anna continued to stare at her open-mouthed and Adele knew she had gone up even more in her estimation. But that hadn’t been her intention. Adele was satisfied, however, that word of what had happened would quickly get around the prison. Now that Anna knew, she’d soon put everyone in the picture, especially when she saw Shazza’s injuries.

Adele had known that she had the tools at her disposal. But she had been afraid to use them ever since she had killed her father in a violent rage. When she attended kickboxing classes, years ago, she had been taught that she was in possession of lethal weapons. And her instructor had warned her that she wasn’t to use her skills unless absolutely necessary.

But today had been an exception. She didn’t like doing what she had done. But she knew that it had been absolutely necessary. It was the only way that she and her friends would find any peace within the prison.

And now that she had sorted out the prison top dog there was no one else left to challenge her. She could finally serve out the rest of her prison sentence in relative harmony.

Part Two

1989–1990

Chapter 26

When Adele stepped out of the prison doors and into the outside world, it was a complete culture shock. She gazed in awe at the trees, the grass, even the roads. It was ironic that such a place had been built slap-bang in the middle of the idyllic Cheshire countryside. Adele had never had an appreciation for the countryside before, but more than five years behind bars had changed her view of things.

She glanced over at the high-spec car that was waiting. When she heard a toot of the horn, she looked more intently at the driver. It was her brother, Peter. A smile graced her lips; he certainly knew how to arrive in style.

Adele dashed over to the car and opened the passenger door. ‘Bloody hell! This is a bit flash, isn’t it?’ she said.

‘Jaguar XJ6, 1986 model; air con, anti-lock braking system, six-speaker sound system and stainless-steel window frames,’ he bragged, flicking a switch on the car’s dashboard. Dire Straits’ Brothers in Arms popped out of the car’s CD player. He put it back inside its case and inserted a Tracy Chapman album.

‘Wow! What’s that?’ she asked.

‘Part of the sound system; it takes CDs,’ he said.

Adele was amazed. CD players in cars! She’d never seen that before. All the cars she had been inside had cassette players.

‘I bet this car cost you a bloody fortune, didn’t it?’ she asked.

‘Enough,’ he said. Then he grinned before adding, ‘It’s nice to be able to afford it, though.’