‘So am I right or am I Rong?’

Leanne knew that whatever answer she gave would be incorrect. She let out a sob of despair.

They all burst out laughing. Keisha punched Rong playfully on the upper arm to congratulate her on her wordplay.

Toni stepped forward and looked at her watch. She turned to address Keisha.

‘Where is she?’

‘I told her to meet us here at three,’ said Keisha.

Leanne wondered who they were talking about, her sense of dread growing even more pronounced.

At that moment, Muscles stepped aside to let someone into the cell. It was a member of the gang Leanne hadn’t seen before. She was slender, with brown hair, pale skin and a distinctive scar down the left side of her face.

Toni turned to her. ‘Just wondering where you had got to.’

‘What’s up?’ said scar-face, surveying the scene with interest.

‘Get your shank out.’

Scar-face hesitated a moment, then reached behind her and pulled out a shank.

Leanne eyed it and gulped. This was just what she had been fearing. They weren’t called the Ace Blade Crew for nothing. She had been stupid enough to obtain drugs from them without having the means to pay and now she was going to suffer the consequences.

‘This cunt owes us money,’ said Toni. ‘And you know how we feel about unpaid debts. We thought we’d let you do the honours.’

‘The honours?’

‘A nice little reminder if you know what I mean.’

Scar-face nodded. An unpleasant sneer came over her face.

‘With pleasure,’ she said, stepping towards Leanne.

Leanne retreated as far into the corner of the cell as she could manage, her back pressed right up against the wall.

This new member of the gang looked really mean, a proper nasty bit of work with those dead grey eyes and that horrible scar. She looked like the quiet type and they were always the worst, and she had that thousand-yard stare that all the real nutters had.

Scar-face stopped. She held up her shank and examined the edge of the blade, running her thumb along it.

‘You know I don’t know if this is sharp enough for what I’ve got in mind.’

‘Oh god… no…’ whispered Leanne. ‘Please…’

‘But then maybe blunt is better. It’ll take longer that way, give you more time to think about why you should pay your debts on time in the future.’

She took another step forward.

‘Please don’t hurt me,’ whimpered Leanne.

She had always had a low pain threshold. And she had a feeling this was going to hurt in a big way.

‘Now, where shall I start,’ said scar-face, licking her lips.

She was really stringing this out. What a sadist. She obviously enjoyed wallowing in the suffering of others.

Leanne’s mind was turning over all the horrible possibilities of what was about to be done to her. The terror grew and grew, enveloping her totally and thoroughly in its icy grip. Eventually it reached such a pitch that she didn’t think she could bear it any more. She felt her bowels loosen and then give way completely.