Cade Creek 23
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Nathan Collins just wanted to finish his prison
sentence and then find some little place to hide from the world. He was done
dealing with idiots or people who thought he owed them simply because he was
breathing the same air. He did not expect to get pulled into a crime by one of
the guards or to escape from prison with him.
Norton Beck had been undercover long enough to know
he needed a break. Maybe it was because he'd spent too much time dealing with
hostile inmates or ignorant co-workers. Whatever it was, he needed to finish
this case so he could go home.
That was easier said than done, especially when the
entire case blows up in his face and he's forced to escape with one of the
inmates. Luckily for him, it was the one inmate he wouldn't mind getting to
know a little better.
Forced to go on the run, they head to Cade Creek,
the one place they might have a chance of proving they aren't the bad guys, but
first they have to avoid a state wide manhunt, deal with a bullet wound, and
accept their growing desire for each other.
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Story
Excerpt
"Open cell eighteen."
Nathan Collins stood to his feet and
moved to stand against the wall. He knew the drill. He had no idea why one of
the guards was coming into his cell, but he'd long ago given up being incensed
over the lack of privacy granted him in prison.
There just wasn't any.
"Face the wall, Collins."
Collins turned to face the wall, making
sure he kept his hands in plain sight. That was something else he'd learned.
Guards tended to get jumpy around him as if they expected him to jump them at
any second.
As if.
Losing his temper and jumping someone as
what had sent him to hell in the first place, and River Ridge Correctional
Facility was the biggest
example of hell he'd ever been in, barring the time he'd spend in the Middle
east during the his stint in the service.
Nothing beat that hell.
Collins stiffened when he felt a
presence at his back. Thing number three he'd learned. Just not here. He never
trusted having anyone at his back, but he'd learned that as a kid. His sperm
donor had been a little too free and easy with his fists. Collins had known by
the time he was six years old never to turn his back on the guy.
"You got anything on you, Collins,"
the guard called out, but he called out a little louder than Collins thought
was needed.
What did he know?
"No, sir."
He almost chuckled, wondering if the
guard could hear the insult in his voice. Calling him sir was Collins' secret
way of telling the guy to go fuck himself. He'd done the same in the service.
Very few times had he truly meant it with respect.
Hot breath blew out across the back of
his neck.
"Rawley made it to Cade
Creek," the guard murmured in a tone so low, Collins almost couldn't understand
him. "He's safe with Yuval."
Collins jerked when he realized what he
was being told. "They're okay?"
"They're good. Had a little trouble
with the father of the kid Yuval killed, but he'll be joining you here in club
med pretty soon."
Collins grinned. "You don't
say."
Yuval Zev was a young man who never
should have been sent to prison. He'd accidently killed the guy who had beaten
up his father and tried to rape his mother. The justice system made a mistake
when they sent Yuval here. He never belonged here and Collins had been very
glad when his conviction had been overturned and he'd been sent home.
Rawley Davis had been Yuval's cellmate.
He'd been in prison for murder as well, and for almost the same reason. He'd
killed the guy who had tried to rape his sister. The different between Yuval
and Rawley was that Yuval regretted what he'd done. Rawley did not.
Rawley had gotten an early release after
Yuval hired an attorney to look into his case. He'd left a couple of months
previous. I hadn't heard a word about either of them until now. While I was
glad to know the two men were finally free and together, I didn't understand
why the guard was telling me.
Norton had proven to be one of the good
guys. He didn't meet out unwarranted punishments. He didn't fuck with the
prisoners just because he could, and he certainly didn't partake of the cruelty
the other guards seemed to thrive on.
Still, he was a guard which meant he
couldn't be trusted.
"Stay clear of him, Collins,"
the guard warned. "He has friends in high places."
Well, fuck.
"I won't go looking for
trouble." He had a little over two years left on his sentence. He just
wanted to do his time and then get the hell out of there.
"Just keep your nose clean. This
isn't the place to get noticed."
Again, Collins was struck by the fact
that he was being warned by a guard. That didn't make any sense to him. Not in
this place.
Still, it didn't pay to argue,
especially since the man was right. Prison was not the place to get noticed.
This prison specifically. The evil in this place went all the way to the core.
The guards were just as bad, if not worse, than the convicts.
"I hear you."
Without another word, the guard turned
and walked out of the cell. "Close cell eighteen."
Collins didn't turned away from the wall
until he heard the cell door close and then he walked to the bars and watched
as Norton stopped at the cell next to him.
"Open cell seventeen."
Norton turned and caught his eyes before
stepping into the cell and disappearing from sight. Collins watched for another
moment and then walked back over to stretch out on the bottom bunk. He stared
at the bunk above him, his arm curled under his head.
He had been lucky so far in the fact
that he'd had a cell to himself since he'd arrived at the facility. He wasn't
sure if the powers that be were afraid to put someone in his cell with him or
if they just hadn't done it, but he was glad he didn't have to share.
Collins laid there and pondered the
things Norton had said to him until he heard the dinner buzzer go off. He
climbed out of his bunk and walked to the cell bars and waited until they
opened and then stepped out into line.
He was glad to hear Rawley had made it
to Cade Creek and hooked up with Yuval. Despite living in hell, and suffering
more than anyone should ever have to suffer, Yuval had fallen for Rawley. He
hadn't been sure if Rawley had fallen for Yuval, but he couldn't stand to see
the little man's heart be broken and had encouraged Rawley to go after him.
It felt good to know he'd been right.
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