“I also heard from the CO out front that you quit your kitchen job? To become an orderly?”
“I prefer to think of it as a lateral career move.”
“Jesus.” He folded his arms. “Care to explain why the most feared inmate at Coldwater is suddenly playing janitor?”
“There’s a new prison employee. She needs protection.”
“An employee? Female?” Ryker repeated slowly, testing the word like it might mean something other than its literal definition. “Was this employee why you got in that first fight? The one that left you with split knuckles?”
I didn’t deny it.
“And you decided the best way to protect her was to become her personal custodian?”
“Orderly.” I shifted in my chair. The hard plastic dug into my spine. Fourteen years, and I still hadn’t gotten used to the way everything in this place was designed to be uncomfortable.
Ryker stared at me.
I stared back.
“This is about more than just playing hero, isn’t it?” He paused. “Is she why you wanted thatgiftfrom Axel?”
I licked my teeth. Said nothing.
“Jesus, Knox.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “You ever stop to wonder if maybe the reason you’re constantly trying to help other people is to atone for your guilt?”
My guilt.
Something dark twisted in my gut.
“Because I know you, Knox. You’re a good guy. And deep down, it has to eat at you that you took a life.”
This shit again.
I chewed the inside of my cheek, biting back the words I wanted to say. That I didn’t regret it. That I’d do it again. That some people deserved to stop breathing and the man I killed was one of them.
“You don’t need to step in and play savior to everybody,” Ryker continued. “If you do, you’re risking your freedom.”
“She needed my help.” The words came out harder than I intended. “She doesn’t belong in a place like this.”
Ryker went still.
Evaluated me again.
His posture shifted. Subtle. The kind of change a civilian wouldn’t notice. But I’d spent years reading body language like my life depended on it. Because sometimes it did.
“This is more than just a savior complex,” he said slowly.
I pressed my tongue to the inside of my cheek.
Ryker’s eyes widened. “Fucking hell, Knox. Do you have a crush?”
“A crush?” I snorted. “What are we, twelve?”
“Do you like her?”
“I don’t know her that well.”
“But you’ve been working beside her for how long?”
