BooksBarbecue
Back The Jump
Chapters (52)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Page
  3. Dedication
  4. Acknowledgements
  5. BOOK ONE
  6. Chapter One
  7. Chapter Two
  8. Chapter Three
  9. Chapter Four
  10. Chapter Five
  11. Chapter Six
  12. Chapter Seven
  13. Chapter Eight
  14. Chapter Nine
  15. Chapter Ten
  16. Chapter Eleven
  17. Chapter Twelve
  18. Chapter Thirteen
  19. Chapter Fourteen
  20. Chapter Fifteen
  21. Chapter Sixteen
  22. Chapter Seventeen
  23. Chapter Eighteen
  24. Chapter Nineteen
  25. Chapter Twenty
  26. Chapter Twenty-One
  27. Chapter Twenty-Two
  28. Chapter Twenty-Three
  29. Chapter Twenty-Four
  30. Chapter Twenty-Five
  31. BOOK TWO
  32. Chapter Twenty-Six
  33. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  34. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  35. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  36. Chapter Thirty
  37. Chapter Thirty-One
  38. Chapter Thirty-Two
  39. Chapter Thirty-Three
  40. Chapter Thirty-Four
  41. Chapter Thirty-Five
  42. Chapter Thirty-Six
  43. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  44. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  45. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  46. BOOK THREE
  47. Chapter Forty
  48. Chapter Forty-One
  49. Chapter Forty-Two
  50. Chapter Forty-Three
  51. Chapter Forty-Four
  52. Epilogue

Ricky shook his head in wonderment. ‘The man’s as mad as a hatter.’

Benjy tut-tutted loudly, like a motor mechanic assessing the damage to a car.

‘It could be worse, Ricky mate. It could be you!’

Everyone laughed again, a friendly, contagious sound.

Georgio joined in, feeling euphoric at the thought of his planned escape. At the thought of getting one over on Lewis. At the thought of never having to listen to any of them again. Especially Eros.

It was coming up to a quarter to ten when Lewis made his entrance into the rec room. Everyone was there, the air was alight with tension and the screws had picked up on it. Lewis still limped slightly, and was still on medication, but there was a burning brightness in his eyes that denoted his inner strength. His easy smile made the prison warders nervous. There was something going down but they couldn’t even hope to guess what it was. Since open visiting and the new Governor, they felt they had lost a lot of their authority and credibility with the prisoners.

But it was always the same on the violent wings: these were men who would kill their own grannies if they annoyed them enough, and they were men it was hard to police. You could only watch and wait and see what was going to happen, and hope against hope that you weren’t going to be caught in the crossfire. Most of the warders were in the pay of Lewis anyway. They had a job to do for him as well as the Home Office.

The screw in charge today was a Mr Hollingsworth. He had been deliberately chosen because he was quiet and on the verge of retirement - exactly what Lewis needed on a day when the Wing was to be pulled apart.

Hollingsworth called the two screws out of the rec room at one minute to ten exactly.

It was what Lewis had told him to do, and Mr Hollingsworth, being used to taking orders, did precisely what was asked of him.

Chapter Forty-Three

Chapter Forty-Three

Donna parked the Astra van outside the lock-up garages in Pitsea and turned off the engine. She looked at Carol, who was watching the road to see if Davey had arrived before her, and was maybe waiting for them. At the moment the two women trusted no one. If Paddy had been found, and the chances were that he hadn’t, then the men could arrive at any minute.

‘Do you think we’re doing the right thing, Carol?’

She shrugged, helplessly. ‘I really don’t know, Donna. All I do know is that we have to get out the merchandise and burn it. Burn the bloody lot. If that arsehole of an old man of mine thinks I’m going to sit back and let him carry on with this lot, he’s got another think coming!’