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“Well, someone we know can.”
“Who?”
“That’s for me to know and you to find out,” Lace says. She drops her hands to take mine, then draws me in, teasing my lips with her own. I rest my forehead against hers, eyes lost in the never-ending solar of blue.
“If it’s dangerous, don’t do it. I’ll find a way.”
“I owe you this.” Lace kisses my nose, squeezing my arm in one hand. When she hugs me, I don’t ever want to let go.
I can’t remember the last time I’ve felt this way, if I ever even have.
I’mon my way to the work unit in the laundry room later that afternoon when someone shoves into me in the hallway, pushing me up against the wall with shockingly strong force, my toes barely touching the ground. The air seeps from my lungs as I fight to breathe, struggling. Ronnie has her arm against my neck, pushing down hard. Lulu and Bull are right behind her, keeping a lookout.
“I know you’re covering for someone, Taylor,” Ronnie says, and the searing pain of her forearm crushing my windpipe is so bad I worry I might pass out.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I gasp, clawing at her arm. Bull steps around Ronnie and holds my arms to my side so I can’t fight it, and tears sting my eyes.
“We all know you weren’t the one who snitched,” she continues, her lips hovering, hot and muggy, near my ear. “And I think I know who really did it.”
“It was me.” I’m begging now, mostly because if she keeps her arm against my throat for much longer, I won’t remember this conversation in the morning.
“The women in here must pay the debts they owe,” whispers Ronnie. “All of them.”
“You already bashed me.”
“That was just the warm up,” Lulu leers, getting in my face. “Everyone has a price to pay.”
Stars dance in my vision, and pain vibrates through my head and shoulders. I try to cough, to collect some air, but I can’t even seem to do that. Just as my vision goes dark and I’m sure I’m going to faint, Ronnie releases me, and I fall in a slump onto the floor, clawing at my throat, gasping for air.
“What in the hell is happening here?” Mia Armstrong snaps, stepping around the corner. Her eyes travel from my face, then to Ronnie. “Get up, Taylor,” she says, and I clamber to my feet, hand on the wall to support my shaky legs.
“We were just having a little chat, that’s all,” says Ronnie. “No need for concern, Ms. Armstrong.” She looks over her shoulder at me and winks. I swallow and look away.
“Just a chat,” I confirm, my voice hoarse. “It’s fine.”
Looking unconvinced, but too tired to care, Mia orders us all back to our units until dinnertime. Ronnie says nothing to me as we walk, but as I open the door to my cell to step in, she stops at her own door, eyes on me.
“Pretty little thing she is, isn’t she? Lace, I mean.”
I glance over my shoulder to make sure no one is around to hear me, then drop my voice.
“If you or any one of your thugs touch a hair on Lace’s head, I will put you in a fucking wheelchair.”
“Promise?” says Ronnie, that sly smile spreading over her face. I clench my fists, hyper aware of the pulsating pain still traveling down my neck. I think of Julie, my only hope, my best friend, and suddenly, there’s nothing in the world I care about anymore.
Except for one. A single person. And it’s not my sister.
“I promise,” I say, holding her gaze steady with my own. “On my life.”
Chapter Eighteen
Lace fallsasleep that night in my bed, one arm slung around my midsection, snoring softly into the pillow. I’m still awake, even though I know it’s past midnight, but I can’t sleep. I can’t really decide if it’s the fear for Lace keeping me awake, or thoughts of my plan to get to Julie that’s keeping me awake, but it doesn’t matter much, anyway. Sleep is a waste of time; time I don’t have.
As Lace sleeps, I hold the toothbrush I’ve been working on between my fingers, rolling it from side-to-side, pensive. It’s just a toothbrush, that’s all it is, but even a plastic toothbrush when whittled right can become a beautiful weapon, and I push my thumb against the pointed part of the plastic, wincing. It’s sharp. Sharp enough to do the job.
Lace shifts in her sleep, and I lean over and shove the shiv back under my mattress. I take a deep breath and close my eyes, fighting the exhaustion that I know is overtaking me. It doesn’t matter how tired I am, I feel like I might not sleep well ever again.
My cell is dark, pleasantly dark, and the only light that comes in is through the tiny plexiglass window. The soft amber glow of the moon highlights the pin board hanging on the wall above the side of my bed. My eyes focus on the photo of Julie and me, smiling so bright, arms around one another. We’d never necessarily had happy days, but certainly better ones. As I stare at my sister’s smiling face, I make a mental note to take the photo down and get rid of it tomorrow.
