Page 42 of Hard Heart

“You’re not going to get that?” Heidi asked.

“She only wants to know whether the Sera/Rudd reunion is on track yet, and it’s easier to ignore her than to disappoint her.”

“Anything from the dreamboat in question yet?”

“He messaged me yesterday,” I admitted. “Asked how I was doing.”

“And did you reply?”

Eventually. “Yup.”

I turned my phone around so Heidi could read my one-word response.

Me

Fine.

“Ooh, blunt. I like it.”

“Think he’ll get the hint?”

“Absolutely not. Maybe there’s trouble in paradise? I’m gonna check BuzzHub.”

“I don’t want to know.”

“Knowledge is power, baby. Knowledge is power.”

CHAPTER 15

SERAFINA

My second visit with Levi Sykes, and I was almost as apprehensive as the first time I’d walked into Redding’s Hill. Navigating the prison environment was still a daunting task, and then there was my relationship with Sykes, if you could call it that. I felt more comfortable than I should have around him, which unsettled me.

The same guard as last week, Jim, led me into the same room, and a few minutes later, Sykes shuffled in wearing his ankle bracelets. This week, nobody bothered to lock him to the floor, and I had a feeling he’d only reminded the guard to do so on my previous visit for my comfort rather than due to any rules.

“Coffee?” Jim asked.

“Black for me, please.”

Sykes nodded. “The usual.” Then, once Jim had departed, “Was the drive okay?”

“Depends. If you class eight hours crawling along in the pissing rain followed by four hours of sleep as okay, then yes, it was peachy.”

“Fuck, I’m sorry. You should have called the visit coordinator and postponed.”

“I said I’d come, so I’m here. How long have you got today?”

“About the same as last time.”

“Another possum?”

“No, an alpaca.” Sykes sighed. “Ruby always wanted an alpaca, and I was like, what the fuck are you going to do with an alpaca? And it turns out you can’t even keep one alpaca, you need to get at least two of them.”

“What did she want to do with the alpaca?”

“I never got a straight answer on that. I think she just wanted a little buddy to chill in the yard with her.” He nodded towards my legal pad. “You came with an agenda this time?”

“Got to make the most of our time together.”