I felt a sinking sense of foreboding, but before I could drag Clara away from this bloody place, the door on the opposite side of the room opened. Two guards entered, escorting Frank Mason between them.
His eyes widened when he saw Clara, then narrowed when they shifted to me. The bruises on his face had faded to sickly yellow-green, but his left arm was still in a cast. He looked smaller somehow, diminished in his prison-issue clothes, without his expensive watch and signet ring.
“What’s this?” he demanded, glaring at the guards. “I was told this was about my case.”
“Leave us,” I told them. They hesitated only briefly before exiting, closing the door behind them.
Frank’s face twisted into a sneer. “Playing Lord of the Manor even in here? Must be nice to have the system in your pocket.”
“Sit down, Frank,” I said, my voice cold as ice.
“I don’t take orders from?—”
I moved too quickly for Frank to have time to react, darting forward, grabbing him by the collar and shoving him into the chair with enough force that it skidded back several inches.
“I said,” I repeated, leaning down until my face was inches from his, “sit down.”
Real fear flickered across his expression as his eyes darted between me and Clara. I let go of his collar and moved back to her side.
“What’s the snitch doing here?” he asked, jerking his chin towards me.
“Frank, you piece of––”
“I came to tell you, I won,” Clara said, cutting me off and shocking the absolute shit out of me.
“Proud of yourself, are you?” Frank sneered. “You and your pathetic brother. You’ve always been weak; the pair of you are an embarrassment.”
“And yet we’re not the ones in prison.”
“I wouldn’t bloody well be here if it wasn’t for you, you fucking snitch cunt!” he yelled. “You happy now? Your father and brothers banged up. Your mother alone. When I get out of here I’m gonna––”
“That’s enough!” screamed Clara, her hand slamming down on the table in front of her. Frank flinched as the noisecracked through the room. His face paled as he stared up at his furious daughter. “You arenevergetting out of here. Not ever. You will rot in this place or you’ll be killed, either is fine with me, but you will never be a free man again. So, I won. I brought you down. I snitched and, yes, Iamfucking proud of myself.”
Frank blinked at her, his face flushed and his nostrils flaring.
“I’m done here,” Clara said after a few moments had passed. “I’ve said what I needed to say.”
“We’re not done,” I said, focusing on Frank. “We still have five minutes.”
Frank’s red face drained of colour as he swallowed, his eyes darting to the door the guards left through. “What are you on about, five minutes?” he snapped.
“There have been some power outages at Wandsworth in the last few weeks, Frank,” I told him almost conversationally. “Unfortunately, an outage is currently affecting the legal consultation rooms. To be more specific,thislegal consultation room.” I checked my watch. “For the next four minutes.”
Frank stood suddenly, his expression now panicked. “Stay away from me, you posh psycho.”
“Kneel, Frank,” I said softly.
“Fuck off,” he spat. “I’m not…”
“I could break your neck right now, and the official report would say you tripped and fell. Or maybe you’ll have an accident in prison. Fall down the stairs. Slip in the shower. Happens all the time.”
Real fear flashed in his eyes then.
“You can’t be––”
“On. Your. Knees.Now!”
I had thought I would have to force him down, butFrank had seen the stone-cold determination in my eyes. Clara gasped as he dropped down awkwardly onto the floor.
