Inside

she said she wouldn’t. He’d just threatened to walk out of the hospital if she didn’t return immediately. But she’d already planned to go back there as soon as she’d cleared off her desk.

Stifling a yawn, she glanced at the clock on the dash. Not quite five. She’d managed to get away early, which was good. She didn’t want to miss dinner with Virgil and still had to stop by her house to change. She also needed to pack an overnight bag, since she’d be spending the night. Fortunately, she’d have tomorrow to recover lost sleep. Her vacation started immediately.

Maybe she’d go with Virgil when he left Crescent City, at least until her vacation ended. Two weeks might tell them both what they needed to know….

Turning up the music, she began to sing along. On the whole, life was looking up. There’d been no incidents at the hospital today to make her fear The Crew would try to reach Virgil before they could get him away. Nothing of note had happened at the prison, either. Virgil would be well soon and then he’d go somewhere his past would never catch up with him.

And, for two weeks, they’d be together.

With that happy thought in mind, she turned into her drive, left her purse in the passenger seat since she was coming right back and hurried up to pack and change.

“Now’s our chance,” Shady said. They’d parked down the street on a dirt road off the highway, but they’d already passed the cabin where the woman they’d been following had turned in and knew where it was.

“I’ll wait here, keep a lookout,” Meeks said as Shady got out.

Shady jerked around to face him. “What’d you say?”

“This is your deal, man. I’ll help you kill Skin, and I’ll help you kill Pretty Boy. They broke their oath to the gang, and they deserve to be punished. I’ll even get your back while you’re inside. But I don’t do women.”

What was this? More pussy talk like, Have some patience…calm down…let’s think about it? He’d been right when he said Meeks had lost his edge. The guy was as weak and pathetic as those Hells Fury fuck-ups who’d ruined their opportunity to finish Skin off. But why argue? If he was going to do this, he might as well do it while he had a good buzz going.

“Fine. I don’t need you.”

Meeks called him back. “What about this?” He held out one of the guns they’d hidden under the seat. But Shady didn’t plan on using a gun. A gun made it too fast and easy on the victim. This was for Virgil, which meant it had to be special.

“Everything I need is right here,” he said, and took the knife from the sheath he kept strapped to one calf.

“But there’s no one out here to hear the shot. You could use a gun, no problem.”

“I’d rather slit her throat.”

It wasn’t easy to climb the stairs to the chief deputy warden’s door without making any noise. The deck had a tendency to creak, but the wind was blowing, which set her wind chimes dancing. He took each step slowly, listening for any sounds beyond the tinkle of those chimes, and knew she hadn’t noticed anything wrong when he found the door slightly ajar.

A wall of windows made it plain that she wasn’t in the central kitchen, dining or living room area. She’d probably gone to her bedroom to change.

If that was the case, he figured he might as well let her know there wasn’t any reason to get dressed.

Every minute seemed like an hour while Virgil was waiting for Peyton. Although he’d spent the day sleeping, too out of it to think much about anything, ever since she’d called to tell him she was on her way, and he knew she was leaving the protection of the prison, he’d been nervous. She didn’t understand what The Crew was capable of, how determined Shady would be….

Adjusting his bed so he could reach the phone, he called her cell. But she didn’t pick up.

When she didn’t answer his second attempt or his third, he began to worry even more. She knew how concerned he was. Why wasn’t she answering?

Was it because she couldn’t?

Just the thought of Shady getting his hands on her sent terror charging through him. He didn’t want to cause the destruction of the one beautiful thing he’d found in his life. That was the reason he’d been so hesitant to get involved with her. He didn’t want to taint who or what she was, didn’t want to drag her down with him if The Crew ever found him.

He was about to call the police and ask them to look for her, or try to send the officers at his door, when the phone on the table beside him rang. Assuming it had to be her, he relaxed and answered, but the person on the other end of the line wasn’t Peyton.

“Skin?”

Pretty Boy. Virgil couldn’t believe it. When he’d left Florence, he’d prepared himself never to hear from his best friend again. But he should’ve known it couldn’t end that way. “Hey, man. How are you?”

“I’m surviving. You?”

“I’m still around.”

“I hear you’re in a bad way.”

“Not so bad anymore. Where are you?”

“Here in Crescent City.” He groaned. “Only you could make me drive those winding roads for hours on end. I had to pull over and throw up twice.”

“What a kid,” he teased.

“I came to help. I’m not sure what I can do, but when the damn warden wouldn’t take my calls I just kept driving. Next thing I knew…here I was. I figured maybe I’d show up on his doorstep, make the bastard listen. But everything went down before I could get here.”

“It was close there for a second. So…how’d you find me? How’d you learn I was in the hospital?”

“The whole town knows you’re in the hospital. What happened at the prison is on the front page of the Daily Triplicate. Article says you, going by the name ‘Simeon Bennett,’ and a C.O. were in an ‘altercation’ last night and that you’re now in intensive care under armed guard. Intensive care,” he repeated. “I read that shit and I thought maybe you weren’t going to make it.”

“So you just called me up.”

“I wasn’t sure what name you were admitted under, so I told the operator, ‘That guy who almost got killed at the prison last night.’”

“And she put you through?” Virgil asked with a laugh.

“I told her I was your brother.”

Until now, Virgil hadn’t realized how badly he’d missed Rex. God, it was great to hear his voice, to feel his support. Rex had pulled him through those early years in prison. Their friendship had made the past fourteen years worth living. “I owe you for what you did for Laurel and her kids.”

“Don’t mention it. I never liked Ink, anyway.”

But he’d liked Pointblank. He was trying to shrug it off, but Virgil knew what protecting Laurel had cost him. His entire life had changed. “You gonna be okay without The Crew?”

“I don’t need The Crew. I’ve got you, right?”

Virgil grinned. “Yeah, you got me.”

“Good. Then it won’t be so fuckin’ lonely anymore. I’d come see ya right now, but those armed guards sound a bit off-putting. I wouldn’t want to have to kill them, you know? That wouldn’t be in keeping with my new stand-up life.”

“No need to get yourself in trouble. I’ll be out of here soon enough. We’ll catch up then.” His thoughts returned to Peyton and the worry simmering in his gut. “But could you do me a favor while you’re here?”

“Anything.”

“You got a car, right?” He had to have some type of transportation; he’d mentioned driving. “I have borrowed a vehicle, yes, Mr. Skinner.”

Virgil couldn’t help laughing. Stealing a car was a hell of a way to go legit, but he knew Rex didn’t have many options, and if he gave the car back when he was done with it, maybe they wouldn’t add that to the list of charges against him if he was caught. What he’d done at the safe house had been done to protect a woman and two children. If he wasn’t the one who killed the marshal, he could probably clear up his legal troubles without having to serve too much time.