‘I’m gonna go and see Dad right now and then I’ll drive straight over to yours. Keep your chin up, Mum, the old man will come home at some point, I know he will.’

Over in Holloway, Frankie was having an interesting conversation with Katie Cooper. ‘Freeflow’, was the word the prison authorities used to describe the times where all prisoners on the wing were allowed to mix together, and Frankie had spent the last few days in this period getting to know Katie better. Frankie hadn’t asked her to get a message to Jed yet, as she was still dubious as to whether Katie could be trusted or not.

‘So, what happened with you and Jed? Do you wanna talk about it?’ Katie asked kindly.

Frankie shook her head. She had no intention of spilling her guts to Katie.

Katie squeezed Frankie’s hand. She knew what the poor girl had been through, as she and her sister had both suffered in the same way. ‘Look, I know you don’t trust me because I’m a traveller, but I ain’t like Jed and his family. Some of us are decent people and my mum always brought me and my sisters up in the proper way. That’s why what happened was so awful. My sister hasn’t recovered from what Jed did to us, even to this day. Neither have I, to be honest, that’s why I’ve ended up in here.’

Intrigued to know more, Frankie clasped Katie’s arm. Instinct told her that this girl had something spicy to say and the more ammunition she had against Jed, the better. ‘Do you wanna talk about it?’ she asked.

Katie nodded and dragged Frankie towards her cell. Once inside, she urged the screw to leave them be and pushed the door to.

‘I was fourteen and Debs, my sister, was fifteen when Jed moved onto our site in Basildon. It was only a small site and there were few lads our age there, so he was an instant hit with all us girls. Jed was only about thirteen then, but he was old for his age. He was good looking, a real charmer even then, and he had this old pick-up truck that he used to drive about in. He used to take me and me sister for rides up and down the lane outside, then try and snog us both before he took us back.’

Frankie nodded knowingly. Visions of her meeting Jed in the Berwick Manor flashed through her mind. ‘He could charm the birds out of the trees when I first met him, so I know where you’re coming from,’ she said.