The Escape by Lynda La Plante Read Free Book Online Page B

pretend to be Colin, but one of the officers gave him a hard clip round the back of the head. He then
claimed that prisoner Burrows had never told him anything about an escape plan. The Governor, who was now seething with anger, got up from his desk and went nose to nose with Barry.
    ‘I’m not a fool, so don’t make it any worse for yourself, son. Just admit that you helped him with his escape plan because YOU had to know about your court appearance,
right?’
    ‘I might have been told, sir, but I just forgot about it.’
    ‘Well, you’d better start remembering quickly, or you’ll be in solitary confinement for months, without so much as a piece of chalk to draw with!’ the Governor shouted,
and again an officer slapped the back of Barry’s head hard.
    He was really frightened now, and couldn’t face the thought of being in solitary with no art book, felt tips or pencils. Sobbing and terrified, he changed his story and admitted that he
had known about the plan. He said he was scared of Colin Burrows and had to agree to let him take his place for the court appearance.
    ‘Did Burrows threaten you?’
    ‘Yes, sir. I was afraid not to do exactly what he told me.’
    ‘Do you know where he was planning to go?’
    ‘All I know is that he was desperate to be with his wife. She’s having a baby, sir, and he said he would do anything to be there at the birth.’
    ‘Did he say which hospital?’
    ‘No, sir.’
    ‘Take him back to his cell,’ the Governor snapped angrily.
    He was worried that the press would get hold of the story, and that he and his staff would be made to look like a bunch of incompetent fools. He also knew that it could mean the end of his
career in charge of Barfield Prison.
    As Barry was dragged back to his cell, he got a huge cheer when the inmates saw him. They all started singing as loud as they could, ‘There’s only one Barry
Marsden’, repeating the words over and over. The officers felt they were being made to look like idiots and, in anger, threw Barry back into his cell. He hit the floor and wall really hard,
hurting his right shoulder and arm. He wasn’t sure if he’d broken it, but he didn’t dare say anything as he knew the officers wouldn’t care anyway.
    ‘You are going to get a lot of extra time inside for this. Believe me, we’ll be watching your every move from now on.’
    The cell door slammed shut as Barry crawled onto Colin’s bottom bunk and curled up in pain. The cell was a mess after the search. The officers had broken all his felt tips into pieces and
thrown them in the toilet.
    The fact was many of the prison officers were going to be investigated for having allowed the escape to occur. The male officers had all been smug at first, trying to blame it
on the female officer who’d escorted Colin on the court run. They now realised they were all in big trouble, and there were plenty of excuses as the officers argued and accused each other.
Prisoner Burrows had fooled everyone who had dealt with him that morning. If just one of them had done his job properly and checked more closely, they would have recognised the switch and prevented
the escape. Now some of them might even lose their jobs.

Chapter Fourteen
    The police couldn’t believe it when they were told that the escaped prisoner was actually Colin Burrows. The prison sent his picture, a full description and his home
address with a plea that they find and arrest him as soon as possible. They also told them that his wife Karen was pregnant and due to give birth, so they should check local maternity wards in case
Burrows was there.
    Colin’s freedom was to be short-lived. Police forced entry into his flat and, finding nothing, spoke to the elderly neighbour. She was quick to reveal she’d seen Colin and he had
gone to hospital to be with his wife. At the same time, other officers went to Karen’s parents’ address, hammering on the front door. Her mother, frightened out of her wits, opened