Jane quickly turned around and struggled to keep her voice down. “What the hell happened?”
Danny shook his head. “The guy just kept telling me that he had to kill him. I guess Marty was fighting back too hard.”
Jane took a few steps as the twilight hours provided just enough glimpse for Jane to see the several bloodstains along Marty’s stomach. The man was drenched in blood, and Jane doubted that this was an act of self-defense.”
“He must’ve been stabbed a dozen times,” Jane said.
Jane struggled to collect her thoughts, but she knew she needed to come up with something quickly. She realized that if Marty were here alone, it meant the girls hadn’t been here, and because no one else had raised an alarm, they still have time to go enact their plan.
“We need to bring the prisoner here,” Jane said.
“You mean we’re still going through with this?” Lester asked.
“Nothing has changed,” Jane answered. “So our guy got a little too overzealous. We can still salvage this. If we bring Abe here and then sound an alarm like we stumbled upon this, then it will be his word against ours. And nobody except for maybe the Rikers will believe what happened.”
“Jane,” Lester said, his eyes skeptical, “that’s a bit of a stretch.”
“We don’t have any other options,” Jane said. She turned to Danny. “Get Cole away from the prisoner, and then we’ll go in and bust him out and bring him here. You’ve got five minutes. Go.”
Danny didn’t hesitate as he hurried out of Marty’s portable. Jane ducked outside one more time to make sure they were still alone and then motioned for Lester to join her. But he remained frozen inside.
“Lester, we need to go,” Jane said.
Lester couldn’t tear his eyes away from Marty’s body. He looked mesmerized by what he’d seen. “This is how it’s going to be with him. It’s always going to be extreme measures.” He turned around to face his wife.
“Lester, let’s go,” Jane said, adding even more urgency.
“It’s not too late for us to get out of this,” Lester said. “We could leave here. You, me, and Danny and Gray. We could start over anywhere. I know we can.”
It was a sweet sentiment, but Jane knew that Lester wasn’t thinking logically. Everything they needed to survive was here. All they had to do now was hold on for the next ten minutes, and they could find themselves at the helm of this place.
“We’re staying,” Jane said. “We are all in now.”
Lester was still hesitant, but he offered no more objections. He nodded and then followed Jane out of the portable. So far, it didn’t seem as though anyone had seen them. And the fading light made it difficult to know who was who walking around.
The pair headed toward the main building and around the edge, making sure they could see the exit where Cole would be leaving with Danny. Jane became anxious the longer they went without seeing anyone, but she knew she had to keep her cool, so Lester remained calm.
Eventually, Jane watched as Cole hurried out of the main building. Whatever Danny had told Cole had worked, and then Jane and Lester hurried inside.
Once they were certain nobody else was inside the building, Jane and Lester hurried toward where the prisoner was being held. The keys were always nearby, and Jane grabbed them from the wall as they headed toward the prisoner's cell.
The door was open, as it usually was, and Jane saw the man lying on his cot. At first, she thought maybe he was sleeping, but when she stepped inside, he propped himself up on his elbows.
Jane wasn’t sure who the prisoner hoped it would be to come and visit him, but the smile vanished from his face when he saw it was her.
“What do you want?” Abe asked.
Jane said nothing and knew they needed to act quickly if they were going to pull this off. She and Lester walked with authority toward Abe’s cot. Lester kept the man still while Jane removed his handcuffs and left them dangling against the wall where they were connected.
“What’s going on?” Abe asked, growing more concerned.
“Liz Riker wants to see you,” Jane answered. “Let’s go.”
Lester was much bigger than Abe and was able to manhandle the prisoner as they walked out of the building.
“Why didn’t she just come to see me?” Abe asked.
“You’re not in a position to be asking questions,” Jane answered.
They moved at a quick pace, Jane not wanting to stop to draw any attention to themselves. She knew that taking him out like this was a risk, but Buford’s man had forced their hand.
When they neared Marty’s portable, Jane was the first one up the steps and then opened the door as Lester shoved Abe inside.
The man tripped when he entered, falling headfirst into Marty’s body. Abe freaked out for a minute and then stood up, now covered in Marty’s blood.
“What the hell is this?” Abe asked.
Jane already had her weapon drawn and then tossed the bloodied knife that Buford’s man had used to kill Marty at Abe’s feet.
Abe stared down at the blade, then stared at Marty, and then finally realized what was happening. He shook his head. “I didn’t do this.”
“Maybe,” Jane said. “Maybe not. We’ll let the court of opinion handle that.”
Abe clenched his fists at his side. “I doubt I’ll be around to defend myself.”
“No,” Jane said, placing her finger on the trigger, “you won’t.” Jane was about to pull the trigger when she heard footsteps and a voice behind her.
“Marty? I know tonight was a setback, but—” Wendy Sutton stepped into the doorway and froze when she saw the scene unfolding in front of her. She stared at Marty’s body the longest and then looked to Jane and Lester. “Oh my God.”
Jane knew she needed
