Bailey took a deep breath and kept her calm. She scowled and looked over her shoulder in a similarly paranoid fashion.

‘Maybe that’s why Terry was arrested,’ said Rong. ‘What do you think, Toni?’

All eyes turned to Toni. She grimaced, her gold tooth glinting.

‘Stay vigilant and look out for anyone who’s acting suspicious.’

Her eyes rested on Bailey for what Bailey thought was a fraction of a second longer than they needed to. Or was she just imagining it?

At the first opportunity, Bailey made her way to the phones, where she waited impatiently in the queue for a booth to become free.

She was on edge, acutely aware that, thanks to the newspaper story, many of those around her now had their eyes open to the possibility that there could be an undercover police officer in their midst. It lurked there in every glance in her direction, every veiled whisper. But she knew that it was mostly just in her head and she fought to keep those negative thoughts at bay. No one knew who she really was and she was going to make sure it stayed that way. So long as she kept her cool, she would be fine.

A phone became free. She scurried over to it and hurriedly punched in her PIN, followed by Frank’s number.

‘Hello, Sullivan Knight Solicitors,’ said Rita in her customary sing-song tones.

‘It’s Bailey Pike speaking. I’d like to talk to Mr Knight please,’ said Bailey, reciting the words as if by rote.

‘Just putting you through.’

She got to listen to less than two seconds of Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight Sonata’ before Frank came on the line. He dived in immediately, clearly expecting her call.

‘Bailey, it’s as much of a surprise to me as it is to you. The first I knew of it was this morning’s paper, but there was no way for me to get hold of you. Is your cover still intact?’

‘I think so. I can’t tell for sure. But either way, this revelation is something I just don’t need right now.’

‘I’m really pissed off with the family,’ he huffed. ‘I thought I made it quite clear to them that this kind of action could endanger ongoing police operations.’

‘Well, what’s done is done. I’ll just have to be that bit more careful.’ She paused. ‘One thing it did prove though is that up until this morning the gang had no idea that Alice was an undercover police officer, which only serves to reinforce my belief that they didn’t kill her, or any of the others for that matter.’

‘But are you any closer to finding out who actually did do it and why? I told the drugs squad you’d found a new angle and that seemed to satisfy them for the time being, but time is running out, Bailey.’

‘You don’t need to remind me.’

Chapter 68

Bailey stood just outside the cell, to one side of the open door, eavesdropping on their conversation, trying to ascertain what they were saying above the soporific bass beat of the dub.