"How is your digging going?" Bea asked two weeks later when Frankie met her to discuss the case.
"You've led an interesting life Red" Frankie stated to see Bea's reaction.
"I have?"
"Yeah... I've managed to get a hold of your entire medical history. It looks like you were in hospital every couple of weeks with some kind of injury. Its been documented that you always had an almost viable excuse, yet they always asked you if you were being domestically abused, and you always answered no. But there is certainly enough factual evidence there to support your claims that you were abused. It also appears that you had two miscarriages before Debbie, one due to a car crash... yet when I looked into insurance claims there were none under your or Harry's name. I managed to track down what car you owned at the time, and managed to get the VIN number, I ran it through the systems to see if there was any signs of repair, and it looks like all you had done on the car was servicing and upgrades, no signs of an accident. So when your memory comes back, we need to try and establish if that was a cover up, or if it was in a different car, ok?" Frankie frowned. She hated having to tell Bea about all this stuff she had gone through.
"The second miscarriage was due to 'falling down the stairs' however when I brought up your address at the time, you lived in a one story house, so that's another thing we will need to look into further when you regain more of your memory... come on Bea don't sigh like that, your memory will come back and we will be able to fill in all the blanks ok, until then there is plenty of work for us to be doing" Frankie smiled warmly as she watched her friend deflate in front of her.
"Now after you had Debbie, you had another miscarriage, which from what it seems, looks like it was just that, a natural miscarriage, however when you were pregnant with Deb, well it looks like you were in and out of hospital with injuries, your medical record states that you just felt dizzy a lot and kept passing out, but the injuries don't really look like they line up with that. I have an appointment next week to meet up with your GP, I just need you to sign this permission form to grant him the ability to talk to me, I'm hoping he can shed light on a few things and may be able to be a character witness about you and Harry and confirm that you were an abused woman who was just too scared to get out." Frankie handed Bea a piece of A4 paper full of words, she signed the line without even reading it, smiling at Frankie to show that she trusted her and didn't need to read it. Frankie nodded, and took a deep breath before continuing.
"Ok... so, that's the Harry side of things, that's where we are at the moment. Now I know that the charges were dropped with that case, but what we are trying to do is paint a picture for the judge and the jurors. We need to get them to understand firstly, why you were in prison to begin with, secondly what makes you tick, and thirdly why you are the person you are now. Once we have painted them a picture of who Bea Smith was prior to being put in Wentworth, we will start making plans to paint the picture of why you did all of the things you did afterwards, let them understand that they were under extraordinary circumstances. Then once all that's explained to them, then we will bring in as many character witnesses as we can to confirm that you're a good person, that you don't deserve to be in jail for the rest of your life, and that you would better serve your purpose on the outside than on the inside... I'm sorry Red but I have to be clear here, the best we are hoping for as an outcome to this is to get your sentence reduced from life without parole, to having a release date... you will still be looking at 10-20 years depending on which judge you get and how much we can get the jurors on board... but it gives us somewhere to start. Then we can start looking at formulating a parole hearing, and trying to get that sentence reduced with good behaviour... but its going to take a long time, we are at the beginning of a very long journey... it could take a year or two to get the case to court, then get the sentencing, then another year or so to work on a parole if we can" Frankie frowned, wishing she could be the bearer of better news.
"Just focus on getting the 'without parole' bit worked out Frankie... that's the best I can hope for right. If I want any chance of a future, I need to be able to have way to get out of here one day" Bea grimaced. She knew that Frankie would not be able to just pull strings and get her out of here tomorrow, but her head was swimming from everything that Frankie had said to her so far.
"I promise Bea, I will do everything I can, and Gidge is on our side, she's doing everything she can within the red tape. She needs to be being seen to not be giving you preferential treatment because you're her partners best friend. But her impeccable professional record will go a long way, and she's been speaking to some people she knows in the field that may be able to help, so expect a visit from some strangers who will be asking you hundreds of questions. My only advise is to keep calm, whatever you do, whatever they say, we need everyone on board that you are a calm, sane person who is no threat to anybody on the outside, can you do that?" Frankie asked, hoping that the old Red wouldn't show it's ugly head and mess things up for them.
"Sure, I will be on my best behaviour, all the time... scouts honour" Bea smirked, reading Frankie's mind. She was well aware of the reputation that she had managed to build up.
"Vera... Governor Bennett... she is going to be helping out too. Gidge and I had dinner with her last weekend and she asked to help. I think she's really taken a shine to you... Anyway, she has agreed to give you a character statement, and has said that if there is anything else we need her to do, to just let her know. So if you have any problems and cant get to Gidge, get to the Gov ok... she will help you out and keep you safe" Frankie smiled at Bea's shock.
"You had dinner with the Gov?" Bea asked moments later, a smirk playing on her face.
"Oh yes... at her house too" Frankie laughed. "I have to say, It was really weird at first, I think that's the first time I have ever seen her not in her uniform" Frankie admitted and when she saw the playful smirk on Bea's face.
"Disgusting... not like that! She was wearing jeans and a tee if you must know... she cooked for me, and Gidge though. I took desert round. We talked about the case and I filled her in on where we are at the moment, we shared a few bottles of wine and when Gidge and I decided we had drunk too much to drive and should call a cab, she offered us her spare room" Frankie grinned, enjoying seeing the amusement on Bea's face.
"You spent the night?" Bea laughed, trying to keep her voice down so the other inmates and officers wouldn't overhear their private conversation.
"We did" Frankie confirmed with a laugh. "She even made us breakfast on Sunday morning" Frankie laughed at Bea's face.
"New best friend, is she?" Bea grinned.
"Piss off... I'll tell you what though, get her out of this place, put her in some normal clothes, and get a few drinks in her... you honestly wouldn't believe how hilarious she is, honestly she had me pissing myself a few times. I couldn't believe how normal she is, definitely not the stuck up bitch we all thought she was... and she found it hilarious when I told her as much" Frankie grinned, sitting back in her seat and enjoying the banter with her friend.
"You didn't tell her that we think she's a stuck up bitch!" Bea exclaimed half in shock and half in amusement.
"Oh yeah. She thought it was hilarious. Honestly Red, you wouldn't believe how different she is, she is actually a decent person... normal... kind of nice" Frankie admitted.
"You got the hots for her or something?" Bea asked, grinning at Frankie's disgusted look.
"Yeah... I'm going to dump Gidge and hook up with her" Frankie tried to exclaim seriously, but the smile broke her face.
"Hook up with who exactly?" Bridget asked quietly as she approached the two women from behind, causing them both to jump and spin around.
"Oh Hey, what are you doing here?" Frankie asked sweetly, throwing Bea a glare as the older woman sat laughing, unable to control herself.
"I needed to catch you to tell you that Miss Bennett has requested to see you in her office before you leave" Bridget said professionally in case they had any eaves droppers, she glanced at Bea and noticed her laughing harder, watching in amusement as Frankie kicked her under the table.
"So who are you dumping Gidge for to hook up with Miss Doyle?" Bridget asked, amusement on her face as she watched Frankie gulp and panic at how to get out of this conversation. Bridget glanced to Bea who subtly nodded her head, telling her silently to keep winding Frankie up.
"Sorry Miss Westfall, that's a private conversation between my client and I, I cant discuss anything that is said between us" Frankie smirked proudly at herself as she used one of Bridget's tried and tested lines on her.
"Oh that's fine, I give you full permission to discuss this with my psychologist, I think she has a right to know about your little crush" Bea stated, struggling to keep a straight face as Bridget winked at her behind Frankie's back as Frankie threw a glare to her friend.
"So Miss Doyle... apparently you have a crush " Bridget asked teasingly.
"Piss off the pair of you" Frankie announced, folding her arms in frustration that her lover and best friend were tag teaming her. "If you don't mind Miss Westfall, I'm having a timed discussion with my client and the clock is ticking" Frankie sat forward and grabbed some more paperwork, trying to focus on the tasks she needed to sort with Bea whilst they had time.
Bridget took pity on her partner and waved to Bea, who sat looking very pleased with herself, she noticed the psychologist begin to leave and tried to mouth something to her, Bridget frowned as she tried to work out exactly what Bea was trying to tell her, it looked like she mouthed 'Vera' but she couldn't be sure. She decided to just ask Bea next time they bumped into each other, but Bea tapped her shoulder, roughly in the place where an officer holds their rank, then nodded subtly to a sign that stated 'Wentworth Correctional Facility', above the words were a crown. She took a few seconds to think, a crown on the shoulder, that was the governor, and it did look like Bea mouthed Vera. 'Ahhh Frankie must have told Bea about our Saturday night and Sunday morning with Vera... oh this could be fun, I have to get in on this' Bridget grinned to herself, nodding confirmation to Bea that she was now on the same page.
"Miss Doyle, don't forget to report to Miss Bennett's office before you leave, she's desperate to catch up with you" Bridget announced loudly, hoping that only the two women she was directing it at understood what she meant and nobody else would get suspicious, she walked away to an outroar of Bea's laughter and the sound of her partner's voice sighing loudly "Fucks sake!".
"Frankie Doyle for you governor" Officer Miles announced with a little amusement, it was highly unusual to be escorting an ex prisoner to the governors office, she would love to be a fly on the wall right now.
"Thankyou Miss Miles, I will let you know when we are finished discussing this case and you can escort Miss Doyle to the exit" Vera announced, making sure that the officer who loved a good rumour understood the Frankie was here in a professional capacity. Once the officer had left, Vera smiled warmly to the young woman sat before her.
"How's your head now?" Vera grinned, remembering how hung over Frankie had been on Sunday morning, she literally looked like death.
"Remind me to never try and pace you again" Frankie frowned, enjoying the banter with her new friend.
"I just wanted to let you know that I have added you to our register of professional's. Basically what this means is that you will be able to come in and visit Bea without requiring a visitors order, I know your feeling worried about people catching wind of what your trying to do, so I thought it would be less conspicuous if you were able to chat in a closed environment without any little ears being able to overhear. I understand you will also need to discuss things with the case with some other inmates in time, so I'm trusting that you wont abuse this trust?" Vera asked professionally.
"No of course not, thanks for that, you have no idea how much easier it will be, but will it not look suspicious with me being down as visiting Bea professionally?" Frankie frowned, wondering if Vera had just fucked up by trying to help.
"It would... that's why your listed as a paralegal who words for Legal Aid, I have put against the comments that you will be visiting prisoners to help them with legal advice for parole hearings and the such, and that this is required for part of your external education. That way if anyone asks you can just say that your doing an assignment for your course, your specialising in criminal law and have to submit case studies, and wanted to help people out whilst you were doing it. So every now and then, just try to visit a different face so no officers get suspicious, if they do they will come and notify me and I will work out some little white lie to get them off the scent... is that ok?" Vera smiled, proud of herself for having thought up such a genius idea.
"Fantastic, thanks for doing that, I cant tell you how much easier you have just made my life" Frankie admitted with a warm smile. "Oh and so you know, Bea knows your helping us, I have told her to come to you for help if she cant get to Gidge, she also found out about our dinner on Saturday and has been abusing me about it, she seems to think its hilarious and has decided to wind me up about it, so if you overhear her making any comments to me about it, I apologise in advance, and will be more tight lipped in future" Frankie confessed, she didn't want to mess up the rapport she was building with Vera, she had a feeling she would be needing a lot more favours from her in the future, and she was actually starting to warm to the woman.
"Don't worry about it, I trust Bea isn't likely to be going to tell the other women about it?" Vera asked, trying not to worry too much.
"Nah, she will tell Allie probably, but that's about it. Bea knows to keep her mouth shut and knows how to keep it shut. She also knows how much we are going out of our way for her, there is no way she would do anything vindictive like that, she's just giving me a bit of grief about it and I didn't want you to overhear something and think we were laughing at you, trust me when I say that I'm the butt of this joke" Frankie grinned, glad that Vera hadn't over reacted.
"Do I want to know?" Vera asked with a smile.
"Probably not, she is calling Saturday night a hot date, saying I have a crush on you... and now it appears that Bridget is in on the joke too... they are a pair of bitches" Frankie grinned as she relaxed in the chair, she had sat in that same chair so many times before, but never as an equal, and never feeling so relaxed and welcome.
"Hah, I'm surprised Bridget hasn't been in to kick my arse yet then" Vera grinned causing Frankie to laugh.
"Nah she's a lover, not a fighter... I don't think she could kick anyone's arse" Frankie grinned. "Anyway, unless there was anything else Gov... id better head off, now I have Bea's signatures on some consent forms, I have to go get them lodged" Frankie asked standing from her chair.
"Nope that was all, I just wanted to let you know about the change to visitations. Good luck with your forms" Vera waved as Frankie left, finding Smiles waiting just outside of the office playing with her fingernails.
She left the prison after being scanned out, collected some items from the locker, and made her way to her VW as she checked her phone to see if work had called. She opened a text from Bridget and laughed in frustration.
'Hope you had a good time with Vera and she didn't wear you out too much... see you tonight. Love you xxx'
Typing a quick response of 'Haha. Very funny. See you later x', she locked her phone, jumped in her car and headed towards her first destination to lodge the consents.