My arm wrapped around his neck with enough force to yank him backwards, struggling against my tightening grip. Before slipping on the wet tile, he drove his elbow deep into my ribs, knocking me back. He caught himself on the wall, cursing as he tried to find breath, but I didn’t give him a chance to get to his feet.
He spun, just in time to see my fist coming.
The crack of bone meeting my knuckles echoed loudly. His lip split open instantly, blood mixing with the water running downhis chin. He tried to swing back, wild and uncoordinated, a futile attempt to hold me off as he staggered to his feet. My anger blinded me as I drove my shoulder into his gut and sent him crashing into the nearest sink. His head hit hard. A sickening thud. His knees buckled, legs folding like paper. I saw his eyes roll back for a second. But it wasn’t enough to satisfy the desire to damage him.
“Still think you’re funny, Nate?” I growled, stepping over him and grabbing a clump of damp hair in my hand.
I dragged him up and slammed his face again into the porcelain edge. Not once, or twice, my blind rage losing count until I saw blood spatter and teeth on tile. Until the water couldn’t wash it away fast enough.
My thirst to see his blood was animalistic. But I had to stop. If I killed him, the whole jail would get put on lockdown, and with everything that happened between us, I would be their number one suspect. So, I would have to settle for rearranging his face and leaving him to bleed out. Guess I could get away with calling it anaccident.
Oh no, he slipped and fell. The voice inside rattled with a mocking laughter as I watched him squirm on the floor.
He was coughing, choking on the blood now pooling in his mouth, but I didn’t let go. I leaned in, breathing heavy, my own fists shaking from adrenaline and fury.
“Next time you chat shit about me. Will be the last time I allow you to keep breathing. Understand?”
He tried to speak, but nothing came out. Just a gurgle. His face was a mess, nose bent wrong, lips split, one eye already swelling shut. I dropped him beside the sink in a pile of steam and red water, unmoving.
I planted my boot into his ribs one last time for good measure as blood splattered from his mouth across the tile floor. My shirt clung to my back as I left the showers. Damp with a mix ofsteam and sweat. I’d just rounded the corner when the beam of a flashlight sliced across the corridor.
“McCabe!”
Shit! I froze on instinct, like a deer caught in headlights. The voice belonged to Darnell; who was looking like one doughnut away from a cardiac arrest as his eyes narrowed towards me.
“What the hell are you doing outta your cell?” I paused, masking the rush of blood behind a lazy shrug.
“I needed the bathroom,” Keeping my tone as neutral as possible. His eyes dropped to my clothes, damp and decorated with splatters of Nate’s blood. “I was just coming to alert someone. Something’s wrong with Nate. He’s on the floor. Looked pretty bad.” Darnell eyed me for a long moment, my blatant deception written all over me.
“Uh-huh,” he said slowly. “You just … walked in.”
I casually nodded. Darnell had been watching me since day one. He never stopped me when I moved contraband between other inmates. As long as there weren’t any knives or overdoses involved, he didn’t care. I think he just liked watching the wolves rip each other apart. Either way, I was glad it was him; if it had been any of the others, I would have been done for. Straight back to solitary for me.
He didn’t say anything for a beat. Then, with a sigh, he jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “Stay here.”
I leaned back against the wall, hands in my pockets like I hadn’t just rearranged someone’s skull. “Sure,” I said.
He disappeared into the steam-fogged shower room, and five seconds later, his voice boomed out:
“Medic! Get a medic in here, now!”
Chaos. Shouts echoed down the corridor. Boots on concrete. The sharp buzz of radios. I watched as more guards entered the showers.
Darnell appeared, glancing my way as a small smirk touched my lips, “Nasty accident,” he said finally, voice low. “Kid must’ve slipped.”
I met his gaze.
“Yeah,” I huffed. “Wet floors. They’re a bitch.” He smirked faintly, just a twitch of the lip. Then he stepped closer.
“You know I can’t protect you if you get sloppy,” he said. Another long beat of silence stretched between us, filled only by distant footsteps and Nate’s gurney being wheeled away.
“Get to your room, McCabe,” Darnell muttered. “Before I remember, I don’t like you.” I gave him a slight nod, then turned down the hallway. My heart finally started to slow. My smile widened as the sweet taste of payback filled my mind.
CHAPTER 11
The next morning, a shadow appeared in the doorway of my cell. The old Guard Taylor, ushering me out of my concrete box.
“The shrink requests your attendance. So, shift yourself.” I let out a drawn-out audible sigh as I dragged myself from my bunk. I wasn’t in the mood to hold hands and talk about my feelings today, but I knew they would draw out my release date if I didn’t stick to the session schedule after my stint in solitary.
