Chapter 2
After
the lifers’ meeting, Helen walked with leaden feet along the corridors back to
her office. She didn’t know how she would live without seeing Nikki if she was forced
to have her transferred. They had been through so much together and she was
hopelessly in love with her but she couldn’t get Nikki’s crack, about the
novelty having worn off, out of her head. Was that all she had been to Nikki…a
challenge? Did it give her a sexual thrill to have a supposedly straight woman
fall for her and succumb to her advances or had she pursued her because she was
unattainable? She shook the negative thoughts out of her head. She was just
being stupid. Nikki wasn’t like that.
“So,
how did the reunion go, Helen?”
She
cringed as she heard the smug voice behind her. “Reunion?” she asked innocently
as she kept on walking.
Jim
Fenner fell into step beside her. “You and Wade. Though from what I gather, she
was none too pleased to see you that day on the block. Seems you got the sharp
end of her tongue.” He laughed softly to himself. “Which I’m sure is not the
part you’re used to getting.”
Helen
stopped dead in her tracks then turned and glared at him. “Look, Fenner, it
obviously turns you on to make cheap conjectures about my sex life but this is
a two-way street and I might start making conjectures about yours. Does it turn
you on more if you beat a woman up before sex or after? Do you only prey on
defenceless women who have no choice in the matter? Shall I go on or have I
made my point?”
He
smiled at her superciliously. “You’ve made your point, love, but just think
on…” He leaned towards her until their faces were almost touching and lowered
his voice. “Wade may have appointed herself as your bodyguard in here but she’s
locked up at night and you do live on your own, don’t you, Helen?”
She
looked up at him defiantly. “Are you threatening me, Jim?”
“Course
not, love,” he replied smugly. “Just telling you the facts.” He turned and
started to walk away then thought better of it and turned back. ”I’ve had a
thought, Nikki’s locked up in here so she doesn’t really have much of a choice
when it comes to partners and you must have noticed what a beautiful woman she
is, Helen. Maybe I should broaden her horizons, let her know what she’s
missing. You’d better tell her to be a good little girl, Helen, or she might
finish up down on the block. Just think, all on her own with no one to hear her
screams.”
Helen’s
blood ran cold when she realised what he was suggesting. Not caring about her
own safety, she turned on him angrily. “You sadistic bastard! If you ever touch
Nikki Wade I swear to God I’ll kill you! You can count on that, Fenner!”
“Very
touching, Helen, then the two of you would be in prison but I doubt if the
authorities would be stupid enough to put you in the same cell.” He chuckled to
himself as he walked away.
Helen
watched him go. She was in a catch-22 situation. If she reported him for making
threats against herself and Nikki it could come out that they were having a
relationship then she would lose her job and Nikki really would be on her own.
She couldn’t warn Nikki about him either because the mood she was in at the
moment she would go after him. “Shit, what am I going to do?” she muttered to
herself.
“First
sign that, you know, Helen,” Karen Betts, the governor of G-Wing spoke
cheerfully behind her.
“What?”
Helen looked at her stupidly.
“Talking
to yourself.”
Helen
forced a smile. “Sorry, I was miles away.”
Karen
returned her smile. She liked Helen Stewart and enjoyed working with her. “If
you’ve any problems, Helen, you can always come to me. I may not be able to
solve them but a problem shared etcetera.”
Helen
looked at Karen keenly. Maybe this was the answer. If she told Karen about
Jim’s threats then she could probably keep a special watch on Nikki. “Karen,
I’m worried about Nikki Wade.”
Karen
gave her a sly smile. “Well, I think that’s understandable in the
circumstances.”
“What
do you mean by that?” Helen demanded defensively.
“Don’t
worry, Helen. I’m not going to say anything,” Karen assured her.
“I
don’t know what you’re talking about,” Helen edged.
Karen
laughed and shook her head. “You don’t have to come the old innocent with me,
Helen. I’ve had my suspicions about you and Nikki for quite a while, although I
did at one point think there was something between you and Dominic, but don’t
worry my lips are sealed. You’re obviously good for her. She’s managed to keep
out of trouble just recently, well, apart from this past week. Do I take it she
escaped to be with you?”
Helen
nodded and smiled relieved that at last she had someone to talk to and with
Karen on their side Fenner wouldn’t dare do anything to Nikki. “We’d been
having problems and she was jealous of my friendship with Dominic so she
escaped to try and patch things up. She wanted us to go away together but I
called the police and the rest you know.”
“Talking
about Dominic, he’s just called in to say his dad has had a stroke and he’s
asked for time off.” Karen frowned. “His parents are quite elderly, aren’t
they?”
Helen
nodded. “So I gather. They had him quite late in life and he’s an only child.
Poor Dominic.”
“I’ll
let you know if I hear anymore news,” Karen promised. “As it is, I’ll have to
get in a temporary replacement for him but getting back to your troubles. How
are things between you and Nikki now?”
Helen
sighed. “They couldn’t get any worse. She refuses to have anything to do with
me other than on a professional basis,” she told Karen sadly. “Which brings me
to my problem…”
Karen
touched her arm gently. “Helen, I’m sorry, I’ve got a meeting with Stubberfield
in five minutes. I tell you what why don’t we meet up for a drink and you can
tell me all about it. I can’t tonight I’ve got a date so how about tomorrow?”
“You’ve
got a date have you?” Helen teased. “Come on, spill the beans.”
Karen
leaned in conspiratorially. “Well, promise you won’t say anything but it’s
Jim.”
“Jim,”
Helen echoed. “As in Fenner.” She blanched as Karen nodded almost shyly. “I
see, I didn’t realise the two of you were friends.”
“We’ve
been seeing each other for a few weeks now but we’ve been trying to keep it
quiet. You know what they’re like in here.”
“Yes,
I know what they’re like,” Helen replied stiffly. “Look, I’d better go, Karen.
I’ll let you know about that drink.” She hurried back to her office and sat
down behind her desk. She couldn’t believe she had almost put her foot in it
with Karen. There was no way she would believe anything bad against Fenner, not
when she was in a relationship with him. The only way Nikki would be safe now
was if she was away from her and Larkhall but first she had to make sure she
didn’t do anything to get herself put on the block!
“Missing
me?” Nikki said with a grin, as she poked her head round the door of the cell
she used to share with Barbara Hunt.
“It’s
about time you came to see me,” Barbara reprimanded her. “I thought you’d lost
your way.”
“I
only got off the block this morning then I’ve been to the lifers’ meeting.
Bloody waste of time that was!” she exclaimed. “Helen Stewart is such a
two-faced cow! She makes out she’s so caring but she doesn’t give a shit
really!”
Barbara
regarded her friend sympathetically. “Do I take it, escaping didn’t resolve any
of your problems?”
“Some
of them,” Nikki replied thoughtfully. “At least I got the blinkers off my eyes
so I can see Helen for what she really is…a self-centred bitch!”
The
older woman suppressed a smile. She had heard it all before. Nikki bad-mouthing
Helen Stewart in one breath then singing her praises in the next. “Don’t you
think you’re being a little harsh, Nikki?”
“Harsh!”
Nikki retorted. “Barbara, she said she loved me then called the cops and turned
me in. I wanted her to run away with me…”
“You
did what?” Barbara demanded incredulously. “Nikki, I’m not surprised Helen
called the police. She is a Home Office employee and you were an escaped
prisoner. What did you expect her to do, throw a ‘welcome home’ party for you?”
Nikki
looked at her in surprise then laughed bitterly. Even her best friend was
against her and siding with Helen. “Thanks, Barbara. I guess I know where I
stand with you now, as well. I’ll see you around.” She turned and hurried from
the cell.
“Nikki,
wait! I didn’t mean it like that,” Barbara called after her but Nikki ignored
her and kept on going until she reached the sanctuary of the potting shed.
Helen
was sitting in Shell Dockley’s cell on basic when she saw a vision in a red top
rush past the door…Nikki! Where the hell was she off to in such a hurry? She
forced her attention back to Shell and tried to concentrate on what the woman
was saying.
“I
told you before, Miss Stewart, I tripped and ‘it my face against the door. It
ain’t right you keep ‘avin’ a go at me,” Shell complained loudly.
“I’m
warning you, Shell, you’d better not be protecting anyone!” Helen exclaimed angrily.
“I know you like to dish out your own brand of retribution in here but so help
me if I find out you’ve taken the law into your own hands, you’ll be down on
the block!” She stood up quickly. She had to find out what Nikki was up to
before she got into any trouble. “If you change your mind, Shell, come and see
me in my office.” Outside the cell, she looked around but Nikki was nowhere to
be seen.
She
went up onto enhanced. Maybe Barbara knew what was going on. She knocked
quietly on the door and slipped into the cell.
“Miss
Stewart,” Barbara greeted her warmly. “I was just wondering whether or not to
come and see you about Nikki.”
“What’s
she done now?” Helen asked, exasperated.
“It’s
what I’ve done to upset her,” Barbara told her. “She told me what happened
between the two of you.”
Helen
flushed. Not everything, I hope, she thought to herself.
“She
said she wanted you to run away with her when she escaped,” Barbara continued,
seemingly unaware of Helen’s embarrassment. “And because I saw it from your
point of view she took off in a paddy.”
“I’ve
tried talking to her, Barbara, but it’s like banging my head against a brick
wall. I don’t know what to do to make things right with her,” she replied
dismally.
“Don’t
worry, she’ll come around,” Barbara assured her kindly. “Sometimes Nikki is her
own worst enemy.”
“Well,
I hope so,” Helen replied, unconvinced. “But I have a more pressing problem to
sort out and I just don’t know what to do about it, Barbara.”
“Is
there anything I can do to help?” Barbara offered.
Helen
looked at her hopefully. Right at that moment, Barbara was the only one she
could trust. “This has to be between the two of us, Barbara. I don’t want Nikki
getting wind of it. ”The older woman nodded so Helen continued. “I need you to
keep an eye on Nikki for me. Don’t let her out of your sight during the day.”
She saw Barbara frown. There was nothing for it…she was going to have to trust
her all the way. “Jim Fenner has threatened Nikki!”
“Threatened
her!” Barbara repeated incredulously. “How do you mean?”
Helen
swallowed hard. “He’s threatened to…to rape her!”
Barbara’s
hand flew to her mouth. “Helen, no!”
“He
didn’t use those words but he left me in no doubt as to what he was implying.
Barbara, I’ve got to protect her. If anything happened to Nikki I wouldn’t want
to live!”
“And
Nikki always had doubts about your love for her. You really do love her, don’t
you?”
“More
than I have ever loved anyone,” she said passionately. “And if Fenner or anyone
touches her, they’ve got me to answer to!”
Barbara
looked at the beautiful young woman standing in front of her, silently cursing
Jim Fenner for the overwrought state he had got her into. “Helen, try to stay
calm and think about this objectively. Fenner thinks he can do as he damn well
pleases and no one will stand up to him but Nikki would. He might be able to
subjugate women like Shell Dockley but if he touched Nikki, he would have to
kill her because there is no way she would keep her mouth shut. I think Jim
Fenner set out to do one thing and he very nearly succeeded, put the wind up
you so you react exactly as you are doing. Tell me, Helen, what was the first
thought that popped into your head when Fenner threatened Nikki?”
Helen
looked at her the light suddenly dawning. “I’ve got to get Nikki far away from
me and Larkhall!” She heard a gasp and turned round to find the woman she loved
standing in the doorway, a bereft expression on her face.
“Then
why the hell don’t you do it, Helen! Go and see Karen Betts and get me as far
away from you as possible or I will!” Nikki’s face crumbled and she turned
blindly away.
“Nikki!”
Helen started after her but Barbara took her arm and held her back. “Let her
go, Helen. The mood she’s in, she could cause a scene and that won’t do either
of you any good. Give her time to cool down and then try and talk to her before
she does something stupid and gets herself
shipped out of Larkhall!”