Mack walked over to her man and heard a car door open and shut behind her. She turned around quickly and saw the terrified woman about to pull away in her car. “Don’t—wait,” she called out.

But it was too late. The woman without a name was gone in an instant.

Chapter One

Mack zipped up her holdall and placed it on her bunk. This was her last morning in prison and hopefully the start of a new life.

“Please, Mack.”

Mack’s most recent cellmate, Kelly, was sitting on the bed, trying to control a tremor in her hands.

“No, you know I don’t have anything to do with drugs,” Mack said.

“You’re a Sharkey. You can get anything in here—phones, drink, drugs, anything.”

Mack had been listening to this broken record for days and was getting fed up with it.

She went to put on her jacket, but before she could, Kelly jumped up and grabbed her by the T-shirt.

“Are you listening to me?”

Mack quickly grabbed her by the neck, gained control, and pushed Kelly up against the wall. “Don’t ever touch me,” Mack snarled.

Kelly looked terrified. “Sorry, sorry.”

“What does that mean?” Mack pointed to the underside of her forearm, where she sported a big shark tooth tattoo.

“You’re a part of the Sharkey family,” Kelly spluttered.

“Aye, and being a Sharkey means following the family code. We don’t take drugs, we don’t sell drugs, we don’t allow them in Sharkey territories, and we sure as fuck don’t supply them to addicted prisoners.” Mack let go of her and said, “You’ve got an opportunity here—you’ve not got long to go in your sentence. Get to the docs in here, and get on a rehab program. Okay?”

The cell door opened and a prison guard said, “It’s time, Sharkey.”

Mack gave Kelly a soft punch to the arm. “Good luck, okay?”

Kelly nodded.

Mack put her jacket on and lifted her bag to follow the prison officer out.

As they passed through the main part of the jail, other prisoners shouted and whooped as she passed. She was popular amongst the women, not just because of the name Sharkey, but because she was genuinely liked and helped people where she could.

When the final paperwork was dealt with, the officer took her out the front door and towards the main gate.

“You won’t be coming back here, will you, Sharkey?”

Mack Sharkey glanced to the prison officer beside her as they walked towards the prison gate.

“Me? Nah. It’s the quiet life for me from now on, Officer Davis.”

Davis chuckled as she opened the gate. “When has a Sharkey ever lived a quiet life?”

“I’m a changed woman.”

“I’m sure. Good luck then.”