The Escape by Lynda La Plante

Author:Lynda La Plante [La Plante, Lynda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook
ISBN: 9781471132292
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK

Chapter Eleven

The prison officer opened the car door for Colin and walked with him to the entrance. They went into the court along a stone corridor and headed into the prisoner reception, where she took off the handcuffs. She should have taken Colin down to the cell area, but instead told him to sit and wait while she asked if his case had been called yet. She became even more anxious when told that his solicitor was already in court with another client.

Colin sat watching and listening, wondering when, and if, he could find the moment to escape. The officer was pacing up and down, unsure what to do, when the door to the court opened. The defendant in the previous case was led towards the cells and the female officer went through the door to try to get the solicitor’s attention. Colin looked round. No one was taking any notice of him and he knew it was now or never. He stood up and calmly headed back down the corridor to the door through which they had entered.

Colin walked slowly across the rear car park and out of the open gates, and then ran as fast as his legs would carry him up the street. He had to keep a tight hold of his baggy jogging pants as they kept slipping down. Nervous and confused, he asked a couple of passers-by the way to the nearest bus station because he knew the Underground did not go as far out as Croydon. The depot was half a mile down the road. On the way, Colin nipped down a side alley and turned Barry’s T-shirt with the Coke can logo inside out. Arriving at the bus station, he looked in Barry’s wallet, to find nothing, not a penny. He knew that by now the prison officer would have realised he’d gone and had probably told the police. He looked round in despair and saw a man get off his bike at a newsagent’s shop and rest it against the wall. He didn’t want to take it, but felt he had no choice.

Karen meanwhile was at home checking her hospital bag with her mother. She was feeling scared as they had been told that she should not contact the hospital unless her waters broke or she had regular contractions. She wasn’t sure, but she had begun to feel twinges in her belly. Her mother kept on asking if she was all right and, at the same time, checking they had the due date written correctly on the calendar.

‘I just want to have the baby!’ Karen wailed.

‘I know you do, love, but they’ll only send you back home if you’re not really ready. Often, it’s a few days either side of the due date. When your waters break you’ll know . . . and right now, they haven’t, have they?’

‘I want to be there early to make sure they have a bed for me.’

‘Of course they’ll have a bed for you on the maternity ward.

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