Tucker and Pete worked over Troy. "What are we missing?" Even with ibuprofen, acetaminophen, ice, cold IV fluids and now irrigating his bladder, Troy's temperature hovered around 104.2. "I'm givin' the lab five more minutes before I go down there and run the tests myself. Let's go through this again." Tucker opened Troy's medical record. The two PAs searched through every medication Troy was on and listed what it covered.
Walking in with Trask, Elizabeth appeared distraught. "How's he doing?"
Pete shared their thoughts on changing up some meds. "Let Julian take you home, Beth. You need to rest. If his condition changes, we’ll call you."
Elizabeth shook her head. "Lola will be better off with Joyce and Ruth right now. I won't be able to rest until Marty is safe. There’s a possibility if I stay here, I'll be able to help Troy. Repeat the CT scan."
Pete patted the lounge chair. "Would you at least put your feet up?"
Trask observed each of them. "We need to focus on Troy. If something happens to you while I'm in charge of your safety, I won't be able to live with myself. Does Martin know?" He cocked his head.
"Know what?" Her brow arched.
Trask folded his arms as if he were carrying a baby.
"Who told you? Julian? Patrick? Pete?" she snapped.
"My wife and I are parents of six beautiful kids. I can spot a pregnant woman from a mile away. Sit, feet up." His tone was stern and his eyes soft.
Martin hung by his wrists from a thick chain dangling from the warehouse ceiling, his ankles tethered to posts in the floor, preventing him from kicking. Hailey Ullman sat at a table painting her nails. Vernon and Boyd sat with her, playing cards. After taunting and beating Martin, Clay, Beck, and Trip left the room.
Martin sighed, "Hailey, you remind me of a mantis shrimp."
"Do I look like I care?"
"They're remarkable creatures. They are very colorful and are voracious predators. Plus, the speed of the attack of their claw is like a .22 caliber bullet. Kind of like you with a needle."
She chuckled. "Quite a comedy act you've got going on, especially since you’re close to the end of your rope—or should I say chain?"
Another CO Martin recognized as Keene Jensen walked in. "Where's Clay?"
"He's working out some details with Beck and Trip," Boyd said.
"We need to go," Keene said. “Clay killed Tim, after first pounding Brynn Hackman's head into the wall and killing her. Before Tim died, he ID'd Clay as his killer, not Bailey, in front of a room full of people. We are all in trouble."
"Yeah, you are. Your boss took a metal chair and beat him with it. He wanted the investigators to think I did it. My guess is Tim wanted to clear his conscience before he met his maker.” Martin rattled the chains. “You three, it started out as a little bit of extra cash? Help pay some bills? Take a vacation? Buy a car? When did you start to notice where the money came from? Did you see your boss, the Director of the Silverton Department of Corrections, sodomize a man until he was unrecognizable, or what he did to other kids and that little girl? Are either of you fathers? How many did he kill? The little one who survived—she is four years old." Martin was trying to divide and conquer his captors.
Boyd punched Martin hard just beneath his ribs. "Shut up. Keene, we need to talk to Alden."
"Chase Security and the Feds are making arrests—they got Alden. The state took over the PD and the jail. They got Hillinger at his office. If Hillinger talks..." Keene paced.
"You think Clay will protect you? Everything is falling apart. It's going to be all men and women for themselves,” Martin warned.
Keene stood and slammed the end of his flashlight into Martin's gut.
Martin groaned in pain. "Hailey, you kept those Post-it notes for a reason. Keeping track of something? You aren't well liked. I have to tell you, Krystal Slater had a lot to say about you, that you get around. Perhaps you should be examined for diseases. Do you know your male partners raped prisoners while unprotected?" He caught the small facial tic—he was getting under her skin. "Then Elizabeth. It didn't take long for the doctors to figure out the drug and who gave it to her. How many other times did you and your buddies try to murder her and epically fail?"
Hailey started to squirm. "You know nothing about me."
"Tell me, Hailey. Why would you gravitate to an animal like Clay? Don't you see what he likes to do? Who got you to come back? You escaped. We had no idea where you were. Hailey, you do understand, he's going to kill you when he's done with you, right?"
"That's not true; he needs me. Hillinger brought me in to control Randy. The moron didn't realize I started the first day of my internship. Why else would I want to be part of an understaffed, over-demanding facility? Hillinger was worried Knox's appetite for screwing staff might expose our secrets," Hailey's voice rose.
"Well, I guess you’re the last one to find out Knox was sleeping with Krystal, and he told me he was sleeping with Elizabeth. You didn't do a good job of controlling him. Boyd, was he fucking you too?"
Boyd grasped Martin by the throat. Keene and Gafford dragged him off.
Martin choked out, "Do you really believe you’re going to end up with Clay? You bat for the wrong team. He executed Brynn. He will destroy Elizabeth the first chance he gets. And then he will destroy you."
