Honestly, he’s better off dead. Because killing Governor Russo’s niece sounds like something that would earn you a first-class ticket to…
I blink hard. A forceful shiver rushes up my spine.
Shit…
I can feel my throat closing as the world around me spins.
Killed by police… when they attempted to take him into custody…
Soundsawfullyfamiliar. Like the same story spun for all the sorry sacks of shit they send…here. To Alabaster fucking Pen.
Dash is dead…
Dead, as indead…?
Or dead, as in… better off dead?
Suddenly, I’m sick to my stomach. I feel like I could puke, my vision blurring as the most bizarre sensations coil around my insides until I’m cramping.
Could he be… coming here?
Could Dash be alive, in custody… and on his way to this island??
I can’t handle that. Jesus fucking Christ, I don’t want that!
Or do I…?
Forcing my feet to move, I’m on a hasty mission. Moving on instinct, in a haze and needing answers. I need toknowso I can breathe, because this is seriouslyfucked.
I barely even know what I’m doing as I race out of solitary, toward general population.I need details…
And there’s only one man who can give them to me.
In gen-pop, I’m not paying attention to where I’m running, and unfortunately, I run right into someone.
“Oh, shit! Slow down, bro. You’ll take someone’s head off,” Peters chuckles, steadying me with hands on my shoulders. He must take one look at my face and realize I’m manic, because his forehead lines in concern. “You alright?”
“Um…” I glance around, then at him, hanging on by a damn thread. “No. Not really.”
Gusting out a breath, I rake fingers through my hair.
Peters pulls me off to the side. “What’s up?”
I stare at him for a moment before murmuring, “Have you heard anything about a… new inmate? Coming in?”
“No…” His brow cocks. “Why? Have you?”
“I think…” My voice shifts to a whisper. “I think we’re getting someone. I just saw something…” He gapes at me, impatient gaze awaiting a tea-spill. “There’s this kid from Brooklyn… He’s a bank robber. His name is Dascha Reznikov… and he killed Governor Russo’s niece. Allegedly.”
“What?!” Peters gasps, and I shush him. He looks around again. “Sorry. But what do you mean he killed the governor’s niece??”
“He killed her.” I shrug, launching into some pacing in front of him. “I don’t know how, but she was shot during this robbery that went wrong. And you know what that means…”
Peters swallows visibly. I can read it on his face…
He knows as well as I do that accident or not, anyone who harms a member of the Russo family is either dead, or as good as dead.
“How do you know all this?” He asks after a beat.
