by Tina Donahue
With her out of the mix, Hallie had to find another inmate to help expose Dick and Edward. Weariness and discouragement overwhelmed her more than when she’d lived with a madman for a father.
Patricia made a beeline for Ynez and Ruth.
Watching her, Chase joined Hallie and kept his voice low. “Anyone gives you trouble, I don’t care how minor, call me immediately, understand?”
“Nothing’s going to happen. I’ve backed off. She’s made her point.” Hallie brushed her hand against his. “You be safe, too. Call me if anything comes down.”
“No way will those pricks mess with me. I’ll see you at lunch.”
*****
Dick and Edward manned their stations in the bubble.
Chase dropped into his chair.
Neither man glanced his way, nor did they speak to each other, their silence thick and ripe with tension.
Fine with Chase. If he was lucky, those two would get into it with both ending up dead.
Chase worked long enough not to arouse suspicion then left and hurried down the hall to phone Jacqui. He’d already sent a text detailing what he wanted her to do.
She answered on the first ring. “I have Hallie on the monitor. You can chill. Nothing’s going to happen to her.”
“Better not.”
She made an annoyed sound. “I think I liked you better when you weren’t in love.”
He grinned so hard his cheeks hurt. “Get used to it. This isn’t going to change.”
“Watch out for yourself.”
“I always do.”
He returned to the bubble and forced himself to concentrate on his job, rather than his concern for Hallie. Every sound made him jump. Thankfully, Dick and Edward’s backs were to him and they didn’t see his agitation.
Time dragged as it never had before. A half hour seemed like days.
Dick stood. “Taking my break.”
Hunched in front of his monitors, Edward made a derisive noise.
Dick slammed the door.
Looked like the twins had broken up. Once Chase worked his magic, one would hopefully befriend him and share secrets so he’d get critical info he could use to hang them.
Edward slapped the counter. “Shit.”
Chase looked over, ready to bond with him. “What’s wrong?”
“Lunez is missing from the kitchen. Lazy bitch is probably having a smoke while the inmates stuff baloney under their shirts or spit in the food.”
“Or worse.”
Edward sighed loudly. “Yeah. Looks like we might have a case of food poisoning on our hands. One gang getting back at the other. Better warn your girlfriend.”
Just what Hallie needed. Too much work heaped on top of her worry. “Did you contact Lunez? Tell her to get her ass to her post?”
“She’s not responding.” He pushed back his chair. “Time to crack some heads.”
“Keep your seat, I’ll go.” Chase didn’t want Edward having an excuse to beat an inmate to death. “Buzz Lunez until she answers.”
*****
Hallie updated patient charts. No one interrupted her, least of all Patricia.
Whenever she needed patient medication or had a question, she went to Shirl who treated her like manure stuck to her shoe. The cruel behavior rolled off Patricia who returned to work and fawned over her charges.
How anyone could show such empathy then switch lightning fast to combative or murderous mystified Hallie. She still wanted to believe Patricia was a good person. Deep, deep, deep inside.
Unfortunately, the mission couldn’t wait until Patricia decided to come around. Someone else could get hurt or killed.
The phone rang. Dick.
Hallie grimaced. “Yes?”
“Chase is hurt.”
Her heart stalled.
Dick’s voice seemed far away. “He must have planned to go to the canteen on his way back from the kitchen. Got hit on the head fucking hard near the first storeroom. He’s bleeding damn—”
She dropped the phone, gathered bandages and antiseptic then tore from the infirmary.
Inmates jumped out of her way. A guard turned.
If anything happened to Chase….
Adrenaline poured through Hallie, fueled by fear and rage.
She rounded a corner and dashed to the storage room, the door ajar. “Chase!” She ran inside.
A hand clamped over her mouth.
*****
Chase reached the kitchen and frowned at Lunez. “So you’re back.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Back from where? What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Being AWOL. Forcing me to come here to check on your inmates.”
“Have you lost your goddamn mind? I haven’t budged from this spot for an hour. My varicose veins are getting varicose veins.”
He went hot then cold. “Edward didn’t try to reach you on your unit?”
“Fuck no. Why would he?”
To get Chase out of the way for reasons he didn’t want to consider. His cellphone rang. Jacqui. “Yeah.”
“Someone called Hallie. Must have been bad. She looked like she might hurl then grabbed bandages and stuff and bolted out of the infirmary.”
Dick, Edward, or both were after her. Chase ran from the kitchen. “Where’d she go?”
“I tried to follow her, but there are blind spots. Give me a sec to scroll back.”
“You don’t have that long, goddammit. Hurry.”
*****
Dick shoved Hallie against the storeroom wall, his hand on her throat.
She trembled uncontrollably.
He pushed his face into hers. “You could have left well enough alone. You could have gone along with the program and made some bucks for yourself, but no, you had to be a crusader. Don’t deny it. Patricia told me everything.”
The betrayal hurt but didn’t surprise Hallie. Patricia had done what she thought best to save herself, and maybe to spark Dick’s interest in her as a woman. “If you kill me, do you honestly believe you’ll get away with it?”
“Not here. That’s why you’re going to be a good girl and forget everything you heard or think you saw in this institution.” He squeezed her throat.
Her vision dimmed. She clawed him.
He squeezed harder. “Stop that or I’ll break your fucking neck.”
She released him.
He let up. “Pay attention. I’m only going to tell you once. Your tire was a warning. Next time, it might be a cut brake line, or worse. You’re going to do whatever I say, or you’ll end up like Kim, an unfortunate suicide. She didn’t know how to behave either. Think you can fight me? You’re dead fucking wrong. Edward and the other guards will tell anyone who’ll listen how down you were about your drug problem so you offed yourself. You think we can’t plant coke or smack on you like we’ve done to inmates?” He squeezed her throat again.
She stiffened.
He bared his teeth. “Before we take you out, your sister or mother might have an unfortunate accident that we stage as a double suicide. Unless you prefer us to off Chase. Maybe that would keep you in line, having to live without your precious boyfriend when you two seem so—”
A baton struck Dick’s shoulder.
Its crack and his scream filled the room.
His hand dropped from Hallie.
Chase shoved Dick off her and lit into him, his blows lightning quick.
Dick cried out. He staggered away, arms raised to protect himself.
Repeatedly, Chase drove his fist into Dick’s belly.
He gagged and dropped to the floor on top of the bandages. Curled into a fetal position, he lost consciousness.
Chase took his baton and gun.
Hallie ran to Chase. “You okay?”
“Yeah. You?” He looked at her throat. “What else did he do?”
“Just threatened. And confessed to what he and Edward have done. It’s all here.” She tapped her glasses.
Chase tugged her into the hall, locked Dick i
n the storage room, and pulled out his cell.
“Who are you calling?”
“Athena.” He summarized what had happened and told her to call the authorities.
Edward approached. Chase pointed Dick’s gun. “Don’t move any closer.”
Hands raised, Edward stared at the weapon. “What the fuck’s going on?”
Justice.
Epilogue
With Dick’s threats on record, thanks to Hallie’s eyeglasses, she relaxed for the first time since Kim’s death. Or rather murder.
Although Dick and Edward refused to confess to what they’d done, Patricia told the authorities everything under an immunity grant.
On Dick’s orders, she’d planted the contraband in Kim’s bunk to keep another Gatekeeper bed filled.
On the night Kim died, the women held in confinement heard her struggling with Dick. She’d begged him not to rape her and finally screamed.
Pounding sounds cut off Kim’s shouts. Dick most likely banged her into the metal door and then squeezed her throat as he had Hallie’s until Kim had died. When he realized what he’d done, he and Edward staged the hanging.
Conjecture, of course, but surveillance footage showed Edward leaving the bubble. The route he took led to confinement, a place he had no business being during his shift. Even though he or Dick scrubbed the recordings to eliminate their visit to Kim’s cell, all one had to do was connect the dots to know what had happened. That night, Dick and Edward were gone from the bubble for forty minutes before they returned and resumed working.
Hours later, the on-duty guards found Kim and sounded the alarm.
Dick and Edward’s arrest had happened a month ago. It seemed a lifetime.
With her arm around Chase’s waist and his around hers, they strolled down the Key West beach. Surf nipped at their ankles. Gulls cried out overhead. She’d miss the cooling breeze, brilliant sun, and amazing sights. “I can’t believe this is our last day here.”
“Told you it’d go fast. We should have taken two weeks.”
“Can’t. The inmates need me.”
He gave her a scolding look. “You keep forgetting there are other healthcare professionals at Zephron, doctors available by phone, and Patricia to snarl at everyone and keep things humming.”
Hallie laughed.
Patricia had proved a remarkable surprise. Repeatedly, she’d apologized for what she’d done. She and Hallie cried about Kim’s death and what happened to Barb and too many others. No one had ever given Patricia a chance to blossom until now. At her core, she was a decent human being.
So was the client who’d hired The Omega Team, a new state senator who wanted to end privatized prisons in Florida and bring back sanity and decency to the criminal justice system. As a freshman legislator and a woman, she’d faced incredible odds, but then, so had Hallie.
She steered Chase to a taco stand they coveted. “What about your work? Athena and Grey have agents, besides you, to help clients.”
“Yeah, but I’m one in a million.”
More like zillion in Hallie’s opinion. “You miss your job as much as I miss mine. Admit it.” She smacked his butt.
He swung her around and kissed her deep, hard, and long.
Finished, their foreheads touched.
She gulped air.
He traced her swimsuit top. “Yeah, I enjoy my work, but nothing matters if I don’t have you to come home to every night.”
“You always will.” Before they left for vacation, she’d moved into his house. He hadn’t pestered her to do so. She told him what she’d like, and he agreed.
He certainly knew how to work her. He also understood what a woman required.
Respect. Autonomy. Friendship. Love.
She couldn’t have asked for better.
About the Author
Tina is an Amazon and international bestselling novelist in erotic, paranormal, contemporary, and historical romance for traditional publishers and indie. Booklist, Publisher’s Weekly, Romantic Times and numerous online sites have praised her work. Three of her erotic novels (Freeing the Beast, Come and Get Your Love, and Wicked Takeover) were Readers' Choice Award winners. Another three (Adored, Lush Velvet Nights, and Deep, Dark, Delicious) were named finalists in the EPIC competition. Sensual Stranger, her erotic contemporary romance, was chosen Book of the Year at the French review site Blue Moon reviews. The Golden Nib Award at Miz Love Loves Books was created specifically for her erotic romance Lush Velvet Nights. Two of her titles (The Yearning and Deep, Dark, Delicious) received an Award of Merit in the RWA Holt Medallion competition. Take Me Away and Adored both won second place in the NEC RWA contest (different years). Tina is featured in the Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market. Before penning romances, she worked at a major Hollywood production company in Story Direction.
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