The Angel: A shocking new thriller – read if you dare!

Anger surged through him. ‘You can’t just let yourself in here whenever you want.’

‘Obviously I can.’ He shrugged. The fact that Adrian was a police officer obviously didn’t scare Dominic, and that scared Adrian.

‘What do you want, Dominic?’

‘Just checking in, seeing what you were up to.’

Adrian glanced over to the dining table; the bag of paperwork he and Gary had been working from was tucked safely to the side of it, undisturbed. It was in a reusable carrier bag so he guessed it probably didn’t look all that important.

‘Why?’

‘I just wanted to make sure you were behaving yourself.’

‘Get out before I call for back-up.’

‘Come off it Adrian, you don’t frighten me and you know it.’ He smiled. ‘Actually, this visit is about Tom.’

‘What about Tom?’ Adrian felt sick whenever Dominic said his son’s name.

‘He’s not been very cooperative at home lately, I think maybe he needs a little stability at the moment, so you won’t be seeing him for a while.’

‘You can’t do that.’

‘According to the court, we need your signature to take Tom out of the country. He’s had a tough year, I think you’ll agree, and he needs a treat.’

‘What are you talking about? Take him where?’

‘Undecided at present, but he’s going to be missing some weekends with you, I’m afraid. I have discussed it with Andrea and we both agree that these visits with you are unsettling for him.’

‘I have a custody agreement.’

‘Of course, this is a courtesy. I am asking nicely.’

‘Well, I’m saying no nicely.’

‘You know, I could make sure you never see either of them again. I can make them disappear.’

There was a pause. Adrian wasn’t sure exactly what he was saying. Was he threatening to kill them? Knowing that he had contacts in human-trafficking added a certain gravitas to Dominic’s threats, it had to be said. Adrian didn’t have anything now, no concrete evidence to pull Dominic in. His instinct was telling him to kill him, but that wouldn’t help anyone.

‘Why are you doing this? Why are you fucking with me?’

‘I don’t like you.’

‘I’ve made it clear that I’m not interested in Andrea anymore, so what threat am I to you exactly?’

‘No threat at all.’ Dominic stood up and dusted his coat as though he had just fallen in mud. ‘But, Adrian?’

‘What?’

‘If I find out you have been sticking your nose where you shouldn’t, you’ll be sorry. You’ll never see your son again.’

Adrian tried to ignore the sound of his own heart pounding in anger; he mustn’t submit to it even though all he wanted to do was drive his fist through Dominic’s expensive porcelain smile. Instead he stood to the side, waiting for Dominic to pass. Dominic didn’t move for a few moments, just stared at Adrian. A cold stare, a stare that turned Adrian’s stomach, like the dead black eyes of a shark. The beginning of a smile adorned his face as he passed Adrian and walked to the front door. Adrian followed behind him, making sure he stepped onto the pavement. He didn’t turn to look back at all, just started walking away. Adrian closed the door behind him. He wanted to look out of the window and watch him leave properly, make sure he was gone, but that felt too much like succumbing to fear and he’d promised himself a long time ago that he wouldn’t be bullied. Instead he walked straight out of the lounge and into the hallway, punching the wall to release the fury that had built inside him.

How dare he? How dare he come into his house, how dare he mess with his family? Adrian felt powerless against this man, but he needed to find out more before he took any action. If he behaved rashly, he might put his son in danger and that wasn’t something he was prepared to do. Patience was not something that Adrian had an abundance of, but he needed to be smart here. He needed to play the long game to win rather than employing his usual reactionary tactics of hit first, ask questions later. He rubbed his throbbing knuckles and tried to calm down. He couldn’t let Dominic push his buttons, couldn’t let him win this time.

Chapter 11 (#ulink_4003b670-bf61-5bbf-90c3-1034a8e68cab)

No one had mentioned Jason to Gabriel since the first night he had been in. He had had his cell to himself and, although it was unbearably lonely, it felt safer. He hadn’t slept well since he’d arrived, even worse since someone had come into his cell at night. He was afraid that it would happen again but it never did.

Solomon Banks had started to knock for Gabriel at mealtimes, and they usually walked to the servery together. He could feel himself adjusting to the routine. Roll call took place several times a day, breaking up the hours spent alone in his cell because he hadn’t been granted his labour order yet. He had to stay on his own while the rest of the wing went to their jobs, which mainly consisted of working in the servery or the laundry. There was also no shortage of cleaning gigs around the prison. The most sought-after employment was in the library, it was clean, quiet and quite civilised. It didn’t involve you getting wet or dirty. Gabriel wasn’t allowed to enrol on any courses yet either, not until he had been sentenced and he hadn’t even been given a court date yet.

The uneasiness he had originally felt in the prison had become a part of his day now; he didn’t really notice that he was scared anymore, he just got on with things. Being afraid was the new normal. He followed the rules and spoke when he was spoken to. He hadn’t made any friends, but he hadn’t upset anyone either. Gabriel knew there were cliques in the wing for sure; he just had to figure out which ones were the most dangerous and stay the hell away from them.

He needed to hold on like this for a while longer. He longed to laugh, to really engage in a conversation, but he felt himself disappearing slowly with every single day. It was no more than he deserved.

The door was opened for lunch and Gabriel stepped outside to find Sol there as usual, this time accompanied by two other men. The fear that Gabriel thought he had adjusted to reared its head with a vengeance. It hit him like a bolt of lightning and his stomach tensed so hard that it started to cramp.

‘Relax, Gabe, this is Kenzie and this is Sparks, they bunk together in the cell next to mine.’ Sol grinned at him.

‘Hi,’ Gabriel managed a smile, noting that both men were shorter than him. There were a lot of short men in prison.

‘This is Gabe.’

Kenzie shook Gabriel’s hand firmly. He must have been of a similar age to him, but he still had a teenage frame, awkward and angular.

Sparks nodded and started to walk towards the servery. ‘Let’s get there early so it’s not stone cold today. I hate cold sausages – all the fat gets clogged up in them and then I get the shits.’

As they headed towards the metal stairwell, Sol held his hand out to the side as though he were a mother trying to stop a child venturing into the road. Gabriel followed the direction of Sol’s eyes and saw a group of men walking towards the stairs as a man came up them.

‘We should disappear,’ Sol said in a low voice, more serious than Gabriel had seen him before.

‘What’s going on?’ Gabriel asked.

‘Someone’s about to get a kicking,’ Kenzie said excitedly.

‘For fuck’s sake,’ Sparks said. ‘I’m starving.’

They walked away from the commotion and Gabriel saw one of the group of men grab the guy on the staircase. Then the three of them laid into him, punching him in the face in quick succession. The guards hadn’t noticed yet. Sol grabbed Gabriel by the arm and pulled him into the cell across the way from him. The ginger man with the beard that Gabriel had seen on his first day was sitting in one of the cell chairs, reading. He looked up and smiled as he saw them. Gabriel had noticed the way he looked at him before, his eyes travelling over his frame at a snail’s pace, resting on his neck, shoulders, torso, hips. He was doing it again and it made him uneasy.

‘What the hell do you reprobates want?’ the ginger man said, putting down his magazine and shifting his gaze to Sol briefly.

‘It’s kicking off out there,’ Sol said, ‘we’re just hiding out.’

They could hear shouting and people shuffling about out on the wing.

‘I’d better get some fucking dinner,’ Sparks exclaimed in a huff.

‘Who’s your new friend?’