Jax suddenly felt a flush, a wave of heat hitting him like a truck. He could feel the beads of sweat pooling under his arms and on his back, his face burning hot with anger. He wanted to scream but couldn’t, wanted to bang on the wall but couldn’t. He’d been relatively calm when he’d taken up his post twelve minutes earlier, but as every minute ticked by he became more and more agitated. Now he was three minutes late and stuck in a traffic jam. He knew it could clear at any moment, but feared it wouldn’t. He lit up his watch again.

2.04 am.

Bluey, his new ally from Marsh’s gang – who, as anticipated, had also been moved to Goulburn – had agreed and sworn he would hit the knock-up at exactly 2 am. Jax hadn’t told him why or what was on the line, he’d just stressed that it needed to be done. This was the only part of the plan that had worried Jax. He hated relying on others, always had, but he couldn’t think of a way to do this on his own that didn’t involve killing the guard. That fact that he even considered killing the guard made him realise he was now like most of the inmates in this place – a killer. He also realised he had barely thought about Halim since murdering him.

With the cameras taken care of, his keys cut and the Kent brothers drugged, the only thing between him and planting the bug was the guard. The irony that the only man he trusted to be the decoy also happened to be a man he had tried to kill wasn’t lost on him.

2.05 am.

He was now regretting his decision. Bluey must have fallen asleep or decided to stand him up. Jax considered a Plan B. Maybe he would have to kill the guard. Maybe he should have just planted the bug during the day. Walked into the open cell when the brothers were out and got to work. No. Anyone could have walked in. And a camera loop wouldn’t have worked with corridor traffic.

His eyebrows shot high when he heard a door open. The guard. He was coming. Bluey had come through. He listened. Fast. Loud. The guard wasn’t running but he was in a hurry. He waited for the footfall to pass his cell.