Seth’s brow furrowed as he shook his head. “Bullshit. Chapman would never get involved with something like that. He’s the cornerstone of this establishment.”
He brushed past Jenkins, heading for the door.
“Damn right he is. That’s why he wanted us to chat with you, bring you on board, so we can expand our little enterprise. We can’t be here every day and neither can you but together… well… the sky’s the limit.”
Seth turned back to them both. “These people are in here because they have issues.”
“Don’t we all.”
“You’re not helping. That shit only makes things worse. I didn’t take this job to make lives worse. I’m here to help. Now I’m willing to turn a blind eye to this but I don’t want to see you selling that shit again or even mentioning it to me.”
As he approached the door, Porter stood in his way.
“Move,” Seth said in an aggressive tone.
Jenkins wandered over. “Like I told you, Seth. This doesn’t go beyond this room. Now you are either in or you are out.”
“Then I’m out. And Chapman will hear about this. Now get the fuck out of my way,” he said trying to forcefully push Porter to one side.
“That’s unfortunate, I had a feeling you would say that.”
Before he had a chance to see it coming, Jenkins clubbed him in the face with a baton. Seth went down hard, his head bounced off the tiled floor. Jenkins loomed over him blocking out the fluorescent light. “Now I’m gonna give you one last chance. This isn’t a question. You are going to distribute or—”
Before Jenkins could finish, Seth reacted, driving his foot into his knee, then kicking him in the face. He scrambled to his feet only to be tackled by Porter who drove him into the lockers. Their bodies slammed against the metal nearly causing an entire row to topple over. Porter drove a knee into his gut, making him heave. A sharp blow to the right side of his face rocked him and sent him down. He tried to reach his bag which had his tag inside. If he could pull that, the alarm system would go off and hospital cops and staff would come to his aid. Crawling across the floor, blood trickling down his face, he felt a hard blow to his back, this time from Jenkins who was back up and even more angry than before.
He stomped him multiple times before kicking him in the head.
Porter sat on his legs while Jenkins continued his brutal attack, pounding his skull against the hard floor until he lost consciousness.
When he came to, his head was throbbing, he couldn’t see out of one eye as it had swollen shut and he was being dragged across the floor. “That’s it, bring him over here,” Jenkins said. Seth groaned and wanted to fight back but he no longer had it in him. Every few seconds he would black out, then come to and hear them talking. An argument ensued between Jenkins and Porter over what to do with him. What he heard next terrified him. He clawed forward, blood smearing the tiles in one final attempt to escape.
His hand extended out only to be crushed by the steel-toe boot of Jenkins.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Seth managed to summon the strength to look up one last time before the other size twelve boot slammed into his jaw ending his pain.
Jack and the others were in the middle of a card game on Edgar’s bed, Cowboy was accusing Albert of cheating. Laughter erupted before an ear-splitting siren blared and the strobe lights flashed. The sound of boots pounding the corridors could be heard cutting through the noise. “Oh what now,” Edgar said bouncing off the bed and approaching the door. Before he reached it he was thrust backward by staff and they were told to stay in their rooms.
“Probably Sutton again. Guy has no off switch.”
Edgar returned to the bed that was covered in a pile of cards. They were playing for commissary items. Cowboy was keeping score on a small pad of paper with the smallest pencil he’d ever laid eyes on. Apparently the facility didn’t give out pens unless they were the soft bendable ones, or pencils that were too short to be used as a weapon.
The sound of distant police sirens could be heard.
Any second now, Jack thought.
The echo of German shepherd dogs barking put all of them on alert. It was always the same. A team of muscular police, geared up in Kevlar and helmets, stormed the facility bringing with them a couple of large German shepherds, each one wearing a padded harness to protect them. They were often used to find drugs.
Someone could be heard yelling, “Get in your rooms.”
Three officers entered the room and bellowed for everyone to get up against the wall. Hesitation wasn’t an option. With their batons out, the threat was very real. The hospital cops didn’t mess around and wouldn’t hesitate to strike them if they encountered any resistance. After being shoved and quickly frisked they were told to stay up against the wall while more cops streamed in and began upending beds, emptying out drawers, searching crevices, light fixtures and…
“Here we go,” Porter said.
Jack turned his head and saw him drop a sharpened bloody hinge into a bag.
“Take him in!” they yelled, grabbing Edgar.
Edgars nostrils flared. “Jack? Jack.”
Jack turned. “What did he do?”
“Face the wall!” a cop said.
“I didn’t put that there,” Edgar said as they cuffed him and led him out of the room.
“Come on. Let him go!” Cowboy yelled.
“Jack. Jack!” Edgar screamed at the top of his voice. “I didn’t do anything.”
A lot of yelling ensued as Cowboy, Jack and Albert came to Edgar’s defense. They demanded to know what had happened and why they were taking him. Then Jenkins appeared in the doorway. He ushered out the cops and took control of the situation. “It’s okay. I’ll handle this.” As
