Contents (117)
- Jailbird
- Caro Savage
- Chapter 1
- Chapter 2
- Chapter 3
- Chapter 4
- Chapter 5
- Chapter 6
- Chapter 7
- Chapter 8
- Chapter 9
- Chapter 10
- Chapter 11
- Chapter 12
- Chapter 13
- Chapter 14
- Chapter 15
- Chapter 16
- Chapter 17
- Chapter 18
- Chapter 19
- Chapter 20
- Chapter 21
- Chapter 22
- Chapter 23
- Chapter 24
- Chapter 25
- Chapter 26
- Chapter 27
- Chapter 28
- Chapter 29
- Chapter 30
- Chapter 31
- Chapter 32
- Chapter 33
- Chapter 34
- Chapter 35
- Chapter 36
- Chapter 37
- Chapter 38
- Chapter 39
- Chapter 40
- Chapter 41
- Chapter 42
- Chapter 43
- Chapter 44
- Chapter 45
- Chapter 46
- Chapter 47
- Chapter 48
- Chapter 49
- Chapter 50
- Chapter 51
- Chapter 52
- Chapter 53
- Chapter 54
- Chapter 55
- Chapter 56
- Chapter 57
- Chapter 58
- Chapter 59
- Chapter 60
- Chapter 61
- Chapter 62
- Chapter 63
- Chapter 64
- Chapter 65
- Chapter 66
- Chapter 67
- Chapter 68
- Chapter 69
- Chapter 70
- Chapter 71
- Chapter 72
- Chapter 73
- Chapter 74
- Chapter 75
- Chapter 76
- Chapter 77
- Chapter 78
- Chapter 79
- Chapter 80
- Chapter 81
- Chapter 82
- Chapter 83
- Chapter 84
- Chapter 85
- Chapter 86
- Chapter 87
- Chapter 88
- Chapter 89
- Chapter 90
- Chapter 91
- Chapter 92
- Chapter 93
- Chapter 94
- Chapter 95
- Chapter 96
- Chapter 97
- Chapter 98
- Chapter 99
- Chapter 100
- Chapter 101
- Chapter 102
- Chapter 103
- Chapter 104
- Chapter 105
- Chapter 106
- Chapter 107
- Chapter 108
- Chapter 109
- Chapter 110
- Chapter 111
- Acknowledgments
- More from Caro Savage
- About the Author
- About Boldwood Books
But she was lounging with a purpose, using the architecture of the prison to her advantage. From her position at the centre, she could see down all four wings.
She was propped nonchalantly against a metal balcony, the cold iron surface beneath her hands worn smooth by generations of inmates who’d been doing the same kind of thing. She craned her head slightly to peer downwards.
It didn’t take her long to identify Keisha standing on the landing below at the far end of C-Wing, just where Seema had said she would be. It wasn’t hard to spot a drug dealer when you knew what you were looking for. As a police officer, Bailey’d had plenty of experience in that area.
She watched as a string of different inmates approached Keisha, smiled and greeted her with a handshake. And always something passed between them, transferred via the handshake, so subtle and fast that it would have been easy to miss if she hadn’t been paying attention.
Keisha was putting on a pretty good act of lounging, her hands tucked in the pockets of her jogging top, but Bailey knew that those pockets contained more than just a pair of hands.
Bailey pushed herself off the balcony and moved along the landing to get a closer look. She’d learned covert surveillance techniques as part of her undercover training. Really, though, all it came down to was being as observant as possible whilst remaining as inconspicuous as possible. Fortunately for her, the inmates’ general predilection towards lounging made it much easier for her to blend in and disguise her actions.
She observed another inmate walk up to Keisha, exchange a few inaudible words and a handshake. Watching closely, she saw the inmate casually palm something into her pocket, most likely a small package of drugs that had been concealed within the handshake. The exchange was quick and furtive and over in less than five seconds.
Bailey marvelled at Keisha’s audacity. She was blatantly dealing drugs under the noses of the prison officers, although, admittedly, there were only two per landing.
More interestingly though, when it came to putting a face to the name, Keisha’s face belonged to one of the inmates in the group of bullies who had harassed her in the canteen a few days earlier. She was the black one in the group. As Bailey was learning, it was a small world in here.
She waited until Keisha had finished dealing with the inmate before deciding to act. Pushing herself off the balcony, she walked to the end of the landing and descended the metal staircase to Keisha’s level. Looking around, she saw a male prison officer approaching, his shiny black shoes clumping along on the concrete floor. She waited until he had passed her and then made her move. She trotted up to Keisha and leant on the balcony next to her.
Keisha looked her up and down suspiciously with her hard cold eyes. If she recognised Bailey from the altercation in the canteen, she didn’t show it.