The Woman Before Me Read Online Free Page A

young farmers got taught to work the land, then pissed off for a new life in Australia. Wouldn’t mind emigrating myself. Now it’s two prisons, one for men and one for women. The men’s side is ‘open’, so you’ll see cons wandering around, just like those farm-boys, getting ready to leave. Some have been inside for years, at the end of long sentences, but if they’re here it means we can trust them to work locally. They’re Category D – low risk.”
    “I’m going to be based on the women’s side.”
    “That’s a different kettle of fish altogether, that’s why they’re behind the wall. Female cons aren’t categorised, but if they were those bitches would be category A. Evil, some of ’em. It’s too late to teach ’em to be proper women. They’d rather be out burgling and scoring drugs than looking after their kids.”
    They walked down a slope leading to a separate building with a flat roof. The sign on the wall said ‘Hospital Wing.’
    Callahan unlocked the external doors and lead Cate into a corridor of cells, where the walls had been painted white rather than grey. The hospital wing didn’t deserve its name. It was still just a prison landing, but with posters telling visitors to wash their hands and a torn diagram of a skeleton tacked to the wall. The cells were still locked, with an observation window of about thirty centimetres by ten, meaning there could never be any privacy, even for the sick. A woman was in the office, bent over a newspaper. She was wearing a starched nursing jacket instead of the usual white shirt and black tie. Cate guessed that whatever medical training she had received would be scant and it was unlikely she deserved that watch fob pinned to her chest like a medal.
    At the sound of their footsteps, she looked up and came forward. She was slightly built and wore black trousers with steel capped boots. She reminded Cate of one of those games of Amelia’s, where you were dealt the tops and bottoms of people, and had to match them up. With the top half of a nurse and the bottom of a prison officer, this woman was a match Amelia would never have made. She offered the woman a hand, and introduced herself.
    “I’m Cate Austin. The new probation officer.”
    “Kelley Todd. Principal medical officer.”
    “It’s my first day working here.”
    Todd dismissed her in one glance, as if to say she knew as much.
    Callahan had pushed behind them into the office, and was leafing through the Daily Star . “How’s that poor bitch who got roughed up?” he said.
    “Susan Thomas? Well, she needed stitches, but she’ll mend. She’s keeping her trap shut though – she won’t say who attacked her.”
    “Mind if I have a go at jogging her memory?”
    “Be my guest.”
    Callahan threw the paper into the bin and led Cate towards the furthest cell in the block.
    The cell was quite large and the bed was hospital issue, with a mechanism for lowering the height by foot. In the bed, a grey blanket pulled high to her chin, was a young woman of about eighteen. She had black stitches criss-crossing a wound on her brow and forehead, and her jaw was swollen. What struck Cate most were her eyes, wide with fear.
    “Watcha, Thomas. Say hello to the new probation girl.”
    Thomas cautiously watched Cate, and she responded by smiling warmly, willing the poor girl to relax. She wished she could have a moment alone with her, just to calm her.
    “You gonna say who did this to you?”
    Thomas’ voice was barely a whisper. “No, Sir.”
    Callahan leaned heavily on the bed, his hand pinning the blanket at one side and his voice low. “You sure you won’t be persuaded?”
    Thomas shook her head as much as she was able, fighting tears.
    “Okay… If that’s your final word. You’ll be pleased to know you’ll be shipped out tomorrow.”
    The patient managed a slight smile, and Callahan chuckled, tapping Cate on the arm. “Let’s get out of here.” As he locked the cell door he said, “she’s