‘Prove myself how?’

‘Blood in. Blood out. Know what that means?’

Bailey didn’t know exactly what it meant, but she didn’t like the sound of it.

‘“Blood in” means that in order to get in, blood has to be shed,’ said Toni. ‘Either your blood or someone else’s.’ She pointed to an inmate slouching across the yard. The inmate had a thin wan look about her. ‘See her? She’s a snitch. A bit too matey with the guards. No moral compass, if you know what I mean.’

Bailey watched the hapless inmate walk across the yard puffing on a roll-up. She had seen her previously in the canteen, sitting alone with no mates.

‘You’re going to shank her with this blade.’ Toni said matter-of-factly.

She looked down and saw Toni had flipped the shank in her hand so she was offering the handle to Bailey. She felt her policewoman’s principles rise to the surface. There was no way that she could justify stabbing an innocent person, even though technically no one was innocent in here. At any rate, doing anything illegal undercover could risk destroying the entire operation if it surfaced later in court.

‘You either shank her or you face a beating from us,’ said Toni. ‘Either way, blood has to be spilt if you want to get in. Yours or hers. What’s it going to be?’

Bailey knew she only had one choice. And it wasn’t looking good.

‘You know what I think?’ said Bailey.

‘What’s that?’

‘You didn’t say the magic word.’

Bailey took a deep breath and punched Toni in the face.

Toni staggered backwards but quickly regained her balance. She looked astounded that Bailey had actually hit her, as did the others. A small dribble of blood oozed from her left nostril. She slowly brought her finger up to wipe it off. She looked at the smear of blood on her finger. Then she looked at Bailey. A strange empty crazy look came over her face.

Bailey gulped and braced herself.

And then all four of them simultaneously laid into her. Their blows rained down on her, each impact sending shockwaves of pain through her body. She felt them punching her in the face, the ribs, the back, the stomach, and there was no way she could parry all of their blows at the same time.

She swung out blindly, making contact, hearing grunts of discomfort. But the force was overwhelming as they pummelled her into submission.

She crumpled down onto the ground, putting up her hands and arms to try and protect her head. And the last thing she remembered seeing was Muscles’ huge trainer-shod foot coming towards her face.

And then blackness.

Chapter 32

Bailey woke up and opened her eyes. Or at least she tried to, but the left one wouldn’t open properly for some reason. Through her semi-blurred vision, she could deduce that she was lying in a bed in a whitewashed pristine room that was definitely not her cell. Where was she?