Fetish (25 page)

“Makedde!”

That woman’s name was called out again, a familiar sound reverberating through the corridors of Long Bay jail.

“
Makeddeeee!
”

Wilson shook his head with irritation and walked towards the sound, keys jangling on his belt. His polished, steel-toed boots echoed through the halls. The inmates on his wing couldn’t mix with the other prisoners. He found that some of them got strange in their isolation, if they hadn’t been crazy to begin with. He had a couple of psychotics, several paedophiles, and a couple of fellas who had been convicted of drug dealing but had squealed on the wrong people. Those types weren’t safe in the general prison population. But this one, the one who took to chanting that girl’s name at ungodly hours, was allegedly a serial killer awaiting trial.

Word was, the other prisoners wanted to be protected from
him
.

He was famous, but Wilson didn’t read the papers, so he didn’t much care. To him, Brown was just the chanting pain in the arse with the stitches across his forehead, who kept smearing his own shit into his wounds to keep himself going back to the infirmary. He was definitely weird, but Wilson had seen his type before; once the trial was over, they usually stopped playing nutty.

“
Makedde—Makedde—Makedde!
”

“Go to sleep, Brown,” Wilson said, and banged his riot stick on the cell door.

But he didn’t stop. “Makedde—Makedde—Makedde!”

“Shut the fuck up!” Wilson banged his stick again, harder this time.

The chant continued, starting in a low but powerful voice, then building higher and higher until it morphed into a howling wail, the words running together. “Makedde—Makedde—Makedd—Maked—NAKED—Naked—Na—Ma—Mama—Mama—Mother…MOTHER!”

“Save it for the judge,” Wilson scoffed, and the chanting abruptly stopped. With the peace of his area restored, he walked back to his station. He had a crossword to finish, and
Celebrity Home Shopping
was still on.

Ed Brown sat on the cot in his cell, as alert as a caged, nocturnal animal. This was but a temporary setback.

He had a plan.

Put your stilettos on, Makedde.

I’m coming for you.

Among the many people I want to thank for their help in bringing my first novel to life, I would like to make a special mention of Selwa Anthony, my guiding hand and unbeatable literary agent; my tutor and friend Marg McAlister; Dr Kathryn Guy for her friendship and medical consulting; my buddy Senior Constable Glenn Hayward for his police consulting; Dr Robert Hare PhD for his consulting on psychopathy; and the entire team at HarperCollins, particularly Angelo Loukakis and my editor Rod Morrison, for believing in me. Special thanks to Chadwicks and Sisters in Crime for their great support. Much love to my pals Linda, Anthea, Pete, Alex, Phil, Michelle and little Bo for helping me through; Nicholas for the wisdom; Christopher for the Conundrum; and everyone who has been so supportive on this journey. Most of all, my father Bob, my sister Jackie and all of my wonderful family for their ongoing love and support. I appreciate you all.

Tara is the author of four bestselling crime novels published in fifteen countries in ten languages. Writing has been a lifelong passion for her; she began penning gruesome ‘Stephen King-inspired’ stories for her classmates when she was only ten. Tara enjoyed a successful international career as a fashion model before pursuing professional writing, first earning a Diploma from the Australian College of Journalism. She began writing her debut novel,
Fetish
, when she was just twenty-three. Her crime novels have been nominated for the Davitt and the Ned Kelly awards. She has a star on the Australian Walk of Fame: the first person so inducted for services to literature.

Not a writer to rely solely on imagination, she has toured the FBI Academy at Quantico, spent time in squad cars, morgues, prisons, labs, the Supreme Court and criminology conferences world-wide, taken polygraph tests, shot weapons, conducted surveillance, flown with the RAAF, and acquired her CAMS race driver licence. Tara recently earned her PI licence, and was set on fire by Hollywood stunt company West EFX and choked unconscious by Ultimate Fighter ‘Big’ John McCarthy for her research.

Born in Victoria, BC, Tara is a proud dual Australian/ Canadian citizen, and divides her time between Sydney, Los Angeles and her hometown in Canada. She is a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, as well as an ambassador for the YWCA and the Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children.

Visit taramoss.com

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