Page 83 of Hard Heart

Oh.

“Then you should leave.”

“Sure,” Sera said, and she still sounded pissed. “We can head back to Richmond and see if the person who put a tracking device in Raelene’s suitcase follows.”

Levi sat up straighter, then regretted it as red-hot needles shot through his abdomen. “What?”

“Maybe it was just a coincidence?”

He groaned as he leaned back against the pillow, and it wasn’t due to the pain. “Fuck.”

“If you’re trying to send us away, then you obviously don’t believe in coincidences either.”

“I don’t believe in coincidences because one of the assholes who shanked me told me it was revenge for Sera asking questions.”

He expected shock, but what he got was gritted teeth and clenched fists.

“Which means we’re definitely on the right track. I thought there was no way, and yet…” Then her determination collapsed in on itself. “You could have died,” she whispered.

“Yeah, and I don’t want you to.”

“So that’s it? You’re just going to give up and stay in prison forever? You’re going to let them win?”

“I hate to tell you this, but if we’re both six feet under, they still win.”

“I have two bullheaded bikers escorting me everywhere again, thanks to Duke.”

“What if they escalate? What if a lunatic shows up with a gun? Duke’s men can’t protect you from a bullet.”

“What if, what if, what if… What if I get hit by a bus tomorrow?”

“What if you look both ways before crossing the street?”

Raelene raised a hand. “Is this a private fight, or can anyone join in?”

Levi and Sera both paused to stare at her.

“Uh…” Sera began.

“Before I got married, before I worked at the Justice Project, I was a prosecutor in New York, and I specialised in organised crime. I’ve been up against the Mafia, drug cartels, and human traffickers and survived. These people want to hide in the dark. The only way to beat them is to force them into the light.”

“But Sera is in danger,” Levi said at the same time as Sera said, “But Levi is in danger.”

“Yes, I know. The staff at Redding’s Hill messed up, and the warden probably won’t lose much sleep if an inmate gets fatally injured in an altercation. But he isn’t in charge. The Attorney General is. And do you know which two things the AG hates the most?”

Levi shook his head.

“Bad publicity and getting sued. Next year’s an election year, and if it comes out that not only are you innocent but he let you die in prison too, then he’s toast.”

Levi digested her words, and more than anything, he realised this was a woman he wanted in his corner. She wasn’t slick like his last lawyer, but she was scrappy and she was sharp. And even if the warden at Redding’s Hill was a lazy fucker, the staff were on his side. Jim had already asked when he’d be well enough to start drawing again.

“If it helps, I don’t think Sera’s going to give up, no matter what you say,” Raelene added. “She reminds me of myself twenty years ago.”

“I’ll have to find out if Duke has enough men to provide you both with a security detail.”

“I’m married to a former Marine, and Virginia has a ‘stand your ground’ law.”

Levi would have to eat in his cell, and he wouldn’t be going to the yard with anyone but Diesel. But if the COs wanted him to paint, they could damn well provide room service and make sure nobody poisoned his food. Jim knocked on the open door and tapped his watch. Time was up.