them didn’t actually understand the explanation; they merely accepted it because they’d known me for so long.
“It’s not like I have anything to give her anyway,” I commented purely out of nervousness. “They had me put everything I own in a locker when they searched me out front.”
“Then that should make this relatively easy. Raise your arms and hold them out to the side, sir,” the officer instructed.
“I just told you they searched me out front,” I said, somewhat confused.
“Yes, and I’m going to search you again, Mister Grant. It’s procedure when dealing with this type of inmate visit.”
“Gant.”
“Excuse me?”
“My name is Gant. G-A-N-T. No R.”
“Sorry. Raise your arms and hold them out to your sides, Mister Gant,” he replied, stressing the pronunciation of my name this time.
Without further objection, I did as I was told, and he began to pat me down. This second search was no less thorough than the one to which I’d been subjected upon my arrival. In fact, it may have been even more comprehensive, which took some doing since I was literally walking in with nothing more than the clothes on my back and the shoes on my feet. Still, given the intense level of scrutiny, I couldn’t have felt more naked even if it had been a full-out strip search.
“Turn toward the wall,” he said and then continued to pat me down once I’d complied.
“I thought this place was less a prison and more of a medical facility,” I ventured.
“It’s a medical facility for federal inmates,” he answered without missing a beat. “Patients here are convicts, plain and simple. That makes it a prison.”
“Minimum security though, right?”
“Medium, with a few exceptions that lean toward maximum.”
“Yeah, I think I’m starting to get that.”
“Good,” he replied in a matter-of-fact tone. “It’s not something you want to lose sight of while you’re inside, especially if you’re a visitor. Okay, all done. You can relax and turn around now.”
I let my arms drop to my sides and shuffled around in place as I added, “I’ll keep that in mind. The prison thing, I mean.”
“You’d better. This may be a medium-security installation for the most part, but we have our problem children, and you’re here to see the worst of them all. Considering her history, your life could depend on staying alert and sticking to procedures.”
“I guess that’s why I had to spend almost thirty-minutes reading and signing release forms, huh?”
“That all? Thirty-minutes is nothing. Either way, like I said, this one’s not your normal inmate. I’ll be honest; we’re not really set up for her type. If you ask me she belongs in a supermax, but when they’re crazy, sometimes they send ‘em here. Either way, she’s bad enough that there’s a whole special set of rules just for her,” he explained. “She’ll be staying in restraints for the duration of the visit, and as I mentioned before, an officer will be stationed in the interview room with you at all times, so I don’t anticipate there’ll be any problems. Still, I cannot stress to you enough, Mister Gant, just exactly how dangerous this prisoner is.”
I glanced at his name badge and let out a half chuckle. “No offense intended, Officer Baker, I know why she’s in here, but isn’t that overkill? I mean, so far everyone has been making her out to sound like that serial killer from those movies who ate his victims with fava beans and Chianti.”
“She’s close enough in my book,” he replied. Then he regarded me with a skewed stare before asking, “They didn’t tell you, did they?”
“Tell me what?”
“A couple of months ago she went monkey-shit crazy during a one-on-one therapy session. Then, when the doc called for help she really lost it. Clawed the living shit out of an officer’s face. Ended up taking five of us to restrain the bitch, and pepper spray didn’t even faze her. Neither did the needle full of sedative they hit her with once she was in restraints.
“Worst part is that before we could pull her off she somehow managed to break the officer’s jaw, gouge out one of his eyes, and bite off most of his right ear. But unlike our friend from the movies, she spit the ear back out.” He stopped talking and stared at me for a moment then added, “And that, Mister Gant, is why she has her own special set of rules. Still think it’s overkill?”
I can’t say that Annalise having done this came as a great shock. Still, only just now hearing about it blindsided me quite a bit, and I felt like an ass for making the comparison. I paused briefly then answered him with noticeable hesitation in my voice, “No…they…didn’t tell me about that.”
“Yeah, well it’s not exactly something we publicize,” he told me. “If all that wasn’t enough, when we finally pried her off him she was moaning like a twenty-dollar whore. Crazy bitch rolled around in her cell for the rest of the day and more than half the night acting like she was gettin’ laid, and I mean hard, if you know what I’m saying.”
“I do.” I nodded and then offered. “Actually, I doubt she was acting though.”
“What makes you say that?”
“She’s a sexual sadist. She literally derives carnal pleasure from inflicting pain. What she did to the officer most likely brought her to a very real and very physical orgasm, which she then perpetuated by reliving the event in her mind. That’s actually part of her signature where her kills are concerned. Beyond that…well…it starts to get a little weird.”
“Like that isn’t weird enough?” he asked then issued a thoughtful grunt before adding, “Like I said, crazy ass bitch.”
“That’s one way to put it,” I agreed. “So…how is the officer doing? The one she attacked.”
“Learning to live with a glass eye and spending a lot of time with a plastic surgeon and a shrink.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Yeah, me too,” he grunted. “On the bright side they finally unwired his jaw and let him start back on solid food about a week ago.”
I wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that, so I continued with my apology. “I’m sorry about the movie reference too. I didn’t mean…”
“Don’t worry about it.” He cut me off, underscoring the words with a shake of his head. “You aren’t the first one to make it, and I doubt you’ll be the last. What it comes down to is that I’m simply trying to warn you, Mister Gant. This woman isn’t one of the run-of-the-mill head cases we get around here. She’s psycho bitch insane.” He wagged his finger in a spiraling loop next to his own head. “Insane inmates are unpredictable, and unpredictable inmates are the worst kind of dangerous.”
I restrained myself from pointing out that Annalise Devereaux was even more dangerous than he imagined- but in a completely different fashion and for reasons he wouldn’t begin to believe. Nobody on this planet knew that better than I.
Instead, I replied, “I appreciate the heads up,” and left it at that.
“You’re welcome,” he said, his expression stoic. “Don’t take it personal, but I’m just doing my job. I don’t know you from Adam, so your problems are yours, not mine. But, you get hurt or killed while you’re in there on my watch, then it is my problem. Doesn’t matter what they had you sign, it’s on me. And, I’ve still got seven more years before I can start collecting a pension, so I don’t need a dead civilian on my hands fuckin’ that up.”
“I understand.”
“Good.”
In the wake of his comment he looked me over, one eyebrow cocked upward in a questioning arch. With a quick thrust of his chin toward me he said, “I have to admit I’m a bit curious about this whole square dance though. The way they fast-tracked you isn’t exactly what we consider normal around here, if you get my meaning. Especially for an inmate like Devereaux.”
I nodded. “I think I probably do.”
“Rumor is you just flew here from Saint Louis a few hours ago.”
“Well, rumor is correct. I did.”
“Must have been an early flight.”
