Inside

They had no reason to wait. But the noises she’d heard were all wrong. There wasn’t just one person moving around. There were two.

She broke into a cold sweat. Jimmy would never invite someone in during the night, especially without telling her. He wasn’t even from this area. Like her, he didn’t know a single soul.

Her lungs burned from lack of oxygen as she held her breath again and listened. What was that? It sounded like whispering….

Adrenaline hit her, making it hard to get up, but she managed to climb out of bed, creep across the room and open the door slightly so she could peer out. It was too dark to see anything. But she heard a man cursing about getting blood all over him. Then her legs nearly turned to rubber.

Blood? Whose blood? But in her heart she knew. She wasn’t sure what had happened to the marshal, but she was fairly certain he wouldn’t be able to help her.

If he was dead, or even incapacitated, she had mere seconds. Did she spend those seconds trying to call the police? Or did she get her children out of the house?

Ultimately, she had no choice. She had to go for the children. They’d have a much better chance of survival if she attended to them immediately. And they were what she cared about most.

Wishing she had the marshal’s gun or some other weapon to defend herself, she closed the door and locked it as quietly as possible. Then she woke Jake with a warning not to say a word. But of course, he did. He was too sleepy and confused to understand, let alone obey.

“What’s the matter, Mommy?”

At least he’d followed her lead and whispered. “Don’t talk,” she breathed in his ear. “There are strangers in the house and they might be dangerous. Just do exactly as I say. I’m going to help you through the window. Run next door and ring the bell until someone answers. Tell them to call the police. Then stay there until I come for you.”

Worry pinched his small face. “What about Mia?”

Mia was beginning to stir.

“She’s going with you. Hold her hand the whole way and keep her safe. But you first.”

He got up as bravely as any man and put on his shoes and coat without her having to ask.

Footsteps came down the hall as she cranked open the window. Then the doorknob turned. Click, click…click, click.

Oh, God…

A man’s voice carried to their ears, even though he was talking to someone else. “I don’t give a rat’s ass. Kick it in.”

Fortunately, the screen gave her no trouble. It was warped, barely hanging on to begin with. She shoved it out, but the old pane would swing open only so far. Would Jake fit through?

“Come on,” she whispered.

As he climbed onto the bed, Mia sat up and rubbed her eyes. “Where are you going?”

Laurel put a finger to her lips. “Shh.”

Her daughter’s eyebrows bunched together. “Why do I have to be quiet?”

“You’re going outside with your brother, okay?” She pulled Mia into her arms. “Stay with him. I’ll be there in a minute.”

“But it’s cold outside!”

“Be quiet!” Laurel snapped.

Someone hit the door at the same time, frightening Mia into silence. Eyes huge, she threw her arms around Laurel and clung tight.

Another blow to the door seemed to shake the whole house. Laurel had no idea what these men would do once they managed to get in, but she didn’t want her children to be there when it happened.

She gestured to her son, who was standing on the bed, staring at her in a terrified trance. “Hurry! Let’s go, Jake.”

Praying that he’d be able to fit, she guided his feet through the opening. Once he was halfway out, she realized he was going to make it, but that brought little relief. She couldn’t tell how much longer the door would hold.

She hung on to Jake until he dropped to the grass. “Mia, now you.” Her cell phone lay tantalizingly close, just beyond her daughter on the bed. She’d call for help just as soon as Mia was out, even though she knew there was almost no chance the police could arrive in time….

“What about you, Mommy?” Mia asked, refusing to let go.

“I’m coming. Go with Jake.”

“No! I want you!”

There was no time to be gentle. Yanking her daughter’s locked hands from around her neck, she grabbed her face. “Yes, go! Now!”

The shock of her response caused Mia to cry.

“Don’t!” Laurel gasped. “They’ll kill you!”

Tears slipped down the girl’s round cheeks, but she made no sound.

“Open this door or you’re dead!” someone screamed from the hallway.

Laurel felt certain it was the man with all the tattoos who’d threatened her before: Ink. The Crew had found her.

“Mommy?” Mia whispered in panic.

Safety. That was all that mattered. She pushed her daughter through the window and, fortunately, Mia didn’t put up a fight.

Laurel watched her children only long enough to see Mia’s feet touch the ground and Jake clasp her hand. Then she closed the window. She didn’t want Ink to know she’d let them into the yard. She hoped he’d be so focused on her he wouldn’t notice their absence until after they got away.

Because of her terror, she lacked the physical strength to close the window tightly enough to latch it. But she did the best she could so they wouldn’t guess it’d been opened. Then she dove for her phone.

She had it in her hand, was already punching in 9-1-1, when the door splintered and crashed against the inside wall.

“He what?” Peyton gaped at Regina Murray, the nurse who’d replaced Belinda Rogers at the shift change.

Regina’s size and mannerisms had always reminded Peyton of the nurse in Stephen King’s Misery. But hard as Regina was to like, Peyton tried to treat her as cordially as possible. “The dumb cluck insisted on being taken back to his cell,” she said, and gestured toward the empty room where Peyton had seen Virgil earlier.

Apparently he’d left shortly after she did, because the room was already clean and ready for the next occupant. “But it’s only been a couple of hours since he was here.”

Regina hugged the chart she held. “I know. I can’t quite figure it out. Most guys will say they’re sick when they’re not just to get in here. It gives them a break from the tedium and a little female attention.”

It wasn’t female attention they wanted as much as prescription painkillers. And Regina was no attraction. Instead of whistling or admiring her, like they did with Belinda, they made unkind comments. I’d rather sleep with my own grandmother….

Peyton was infinitely glad Regina didn’t seem to pick up on that behavior, since there was no way to stop it. At least she tried, by denying privileges to the men who persisted. When she’d first started as a C.O. there was one inmate who’d masturbate in front of her at every opportunity without fear of reprisal because the warden refused to punish him. That’s what you’re gonna get inside a maximum security prison, he’d tell her. Prison officials weren’t quite as accommodating of women sixteen years ago. Most believed they had no place in corrections. There were some who still felt that way.

“But…this fella didn’t want to stay,” Regina was saying. “He claimed to feel just fine.” What he said didn’t matter. Virgil needed the rest, the safety. “Why was he so set on leaving?”

“Who knows? As soon as the doctor stitched him up and X-rayed his hand, he hopped off the table and that was it. We don’t make them stay here against their wishes, not unless it’s imperative to their health.”