That’s how I felt in his arms, like I could achieve anything with him at my side. But that was only going to trap me into serving a death sentence.
And I knew it.
Yet, I couldn’t stop myself.
Kane Garrick would be my undoing, and I would be his.
Kane
The bars opened with a loud clang, reminding me just what a horrible fate it was to be locked up here. I’d put so many criminals in here over the years, and worse, my former partner and friend Henry was locked up in here.
He still had two years on his sentence, but I’d known it had taken its toll already. I sat in the room waiting for him to be brought in. He was a non-violent offender, which meant he wasn’t in cuffs when they brought him in. He was only here because he went too far with a politician and that guy had friends in high places. It was a warning to the rest of us to keep ourselves behind that thin blue line or end up in the one place you could be killed and no one would care.
The door opened and I saw Henry walk in, his stubble was graying faster than I thought possible, and the streaks of gray over his ears and peppered through the back of his longer hair was startling. The bags under his eyes was another feature I wasn’t expecting. His eyes lit up when they saw me.
“Garrick,” he said, his voice tight with emotion. When was the last time I'd come by?
“Come on, Hen,” I said, recalling the name I’d always called him even though he hated it. “Let’s sit.”
He moved over to the chair and sat down, his hands on the steel surface of the table. His nails were cut back short, and his fingertips were red and worn. Working in the prison was hard work, and I could see the loneliness of protective custody was getting to him.
“What brings you here?” he asked. “You don’t need to come and see me.”
“I should come more often,” I admitted to him. “I’m sorry.”
“You’re busy,” he smiled, half-heartedly. “I understand. You shouldn’t feel the need to come by.”
“I need to ask you something,” I said, trying to find the right way to ask him.
“Sure.”
“You knew pursuing Bellamy was dangerous,” I said. “You’d been warned, you knew what could happen but it didn’t stop you…why?”
He sat back in his chair, his hands moving to his lap, as he looked at me, almost as if he were trying to figure out why I would be asking, and why now.
“He was corrupt,” he said, as if that answered my question.
“I know, but you knew nothing good would come of it.”
“No?” he responded. “I may have lost my liberty, but he lost everything, and the people know what he did.”
He was right. Bellamy had been removed from office, lost his family, and been indicted on multiple felonies. Henry had done that.
“Someone has you here asking these questions,” he said, leaning forward. “Who is it?”
“I may have my own pickle I’ve landed myself in,” I admitted to him. “I’m lost on what to do.”
“Tell me.”
As I recounted my dilemma, Henry listened and waited for me to finish before he let out a deep breath.
“That sure is a dilemma,” he said. “Especially after you’ve fallen for her.”
“What?” I scoffed. “That’s not what happened.”
“You’re lying to yourself because you know it’s true,” he replied. “I know you just as much as you know yourself. You wouldn’t be this caught up unless you loved her.”
The admission hit me in the chest so hard I was struggling to find the right way to breathe. If I loved her…then I was in trouble.
