'A prisoner was attacked on the threes.'
'Is he okay?'
'Broken leg. He's in the hospital. What's your interest, Macdonald?'
'I missed out on the gym because we were banged up, that's all. How do I go about getting on today's list?'
'I'll see what I can do,' said Hamilton, but Shepherd could tell from his tone that he wouldn't.
He finished shaving and dried his face, then went out on to the landing and down to the ground floor. Digger's cell was in the corner opposite the door to the exercise yard. Prisoners were milling around but no one paid him any attention.
Digger's door was ajar. Shepherd pushed it open. The cell was empty. Shepherd cursed.
'You looking for something, man?' said a voice.
Shepherd turned. Needles was standing behind him, his hands on his hips. 'I'm looking for Digger.'
'Don't you know you never go into another man's cell until you're invited? Never as in ever.'
'I wasn't over the threshold, but I hear what you're saying, Needles. Now, where is he?'
'Showering,' said Needles. 'What do you want?'
'To talk to Digger.' Shepherd moved to get past him, but Needles put out a massive arm, blocking his way.
'You can talk to me,' he said.
Shepherd looked at the arm. It was the thickness of his leg. 'You spend a lot of time in the gym, yeah?' asked Shepherd.
'Some.'
'Lift weights, yeah?'
'Some.'
Shepherd wasn't sure how much damage he could do to a man as big as Needles. He was huge, but he wasn't fat. It was muscle. That didn't necessarily mean that he was hard, but it did mean that all his vital organs and nerve centres were well protected. If it came to violence Shepherd would have to aim for the unprotected areas - the throat, the temple, the sternum. But the problem with aiming for a vital area was that if he hit Needles too hard he risked killing him. Not hard enough, and Needles would have a chance to retaliate. He was capable, evidently, of inflicting a lot of damage.
'Here he comes now,' said Shepherd.
As Needles turned, Shepherd drove his knee into the man's groin. The breath exploded from Needles's mouth and he bent over, groping for his balls. His eyes were wide and staring as his mouth worked soundlessly. Shepherd stepped round him, then put his foot against the back of the man's left knee and pushed hard. Needles toppled forward. Shepherd started to walk back along the spur. He'd taken three steps before he heard Needles hit the ground with a dull thud. Two black men in tracksuits moved to let him walk by. From the astonished looks on their faces it was clear that they'd seen what he'd done to Needles. He glared at them, then scanned the spur. No prison officers.
He went quickly back up the stairs. There were two officers in the bubble, both men in their mid-thirties whom Shepherd hadn't seen before. He went along to the shower room. Lee was walking out, his hair still wet. 'Is Digger in there?' asked Shepherd.
Lee nodded and hurried away, as if he realised what Shepherd was planning to do. There were two men in the showers, a stocky white guy with a tattoo of the union flag on one shoulder, and Digger.
Shepherd leaned against the wall where two towels were hanging. The white guy glanced over at him and he gestured with his thumb for him to go. The man took his towel and left.
Digger turned to watch him go, then smiled. 'You want something?'
'A word.'
'In here?'
'Not shy, are you?'
'You could have talked to Needles.'
'I did.'
The water stopped running. Digger walked over to Shepherd, his huge feet slapping on the wet tiled floor.
'I want Jurczak's place on the cleaning crew,' said Shepherd.
'There's a queue.'
'Fuck the queue. I want his place.'
Digger loomed over him. He was as big and as hard as Needles, but he didn't seem the type to fall for the behind-you ruse. 'You got money?' asked Digger, thrusting his chin forward.
'I can get you money.'
'A grand.'
'Fuck that,' said Shepherd. 'Jurczak paid five hundred.'
'Inflation.'
'The way I see it, you've already got five hundred from Jurczak so the job's paid for.'
'You did a number on him. Broke the man's leg.'
'I asked him nicely first. Now I'm asking you nicely.'
Digger's eyes narrowed. 'That sounds like a threat,' he said.
'I just want Jurczak's place. He's not going to be walking for a while. Cleaning crew's a man short. I'm that man.'
'Five hundred.'
'Agreed.'
'You pay my sister on the out.' Digger told Shepherd her name and address. A flat in Brixton. 'Five hundred by tomorrow night.'
'Okay. When do I start?'
'Soon as it's okayed with the screws.'
'Who okays it?'
'I fucking okay it. That's all you need to know.'
Shepherd hadn't expected that Digger would tell him who his contact was, but it had been worth a try. 'There's something else.'
'Yeah?'
'Needles.'
'What about Needles?'
'We had a run-in downstairs.'
'And?'
'I had to hurt him.'
Digger chuckled. 'You hurt Needles?'
'A bit.'
'Because?'
'He blocked my way.'
Digger put a hand on the wall and pushed his face closer to Shepherd's. 'What if I block your way?'
Shepherd shrugged but didn't say anything. When a man was that close his options for attack were limited; Digger was too close to kick or punch so that meant a headbutt or a knee in the groin. Digger was several inches taller than Shepherd so headbutting would be difficult and Shepherd kept his hands low so that he could block the knee if it moved. However, Digger was menacing, but his body positioning was wrong for an attack.
'Am I going to have a problem with you, Macdonald?'
Shepherd shook his head. 'It's your spur. I just want to get out of my cell, that's all.'
'That money isn't paid to my sister by tomorrow night, I'll be paying you a visit.'
'She'll get it.'
Digger nodded slowly, then pushed himself away from the wall. Shepherd looked down at the other man's groin and grinned. 'It's true what they say about you guys, then?'
Digger chuckled. 'I don't get no complaints.'
