The Cage (Book 2)

Jailhouse Lawyer

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Jailhouse Lawyer

The sirens started blaring again.

"For the love of God, we're trying to nap here!"

"What the fuck is going on?"

"I heard Cade's back."

"Cade's back!"

I sighed in exasperation and slipped the frayed bookmark between the yellowed pages, slamming the book shut. I placed it back on the pile sitting on the table and waited on the bed for the inevitable.

I didn't wait long.

The hulk was on the loose again.

Chaos ensued. Cries and shouts ricocheted off the concrete walls. The inmates worked themselves into a frenzy; they always did like a show. Guards raced past the cell in the direction of the threat, egged on by the inmates. Some things just never changed.

Five minutes later, I heard the heavy bounding of a heavy man on the catwalk, and knew the guards had failed to stop him. Not that I ever expected them to succeed.

"Holy shit, is that...!"

A face red from exertion appeared in front of my cell. "There you are," he grunted, slightly out of breath.

He was back in the orange prison uniform. He should have looked familiar, but all I saw was a stranger standing outside my cell.

"What do you want?"

"You changed your cell. I had a hard time finding you. Thought you'd be in your old cell." Cade said, scanning the cell. He'd sounded surprised, and there was a hint of reproach in his tone that sparked my ire.

I didn't say a thing. I had no obligation to explain myself to him, nor anyone else.

As if I could stay in that cell a minute longer. By the time I'd left solitary, it had become torturously clear that Schneider wasn't coming back. I spent the next three months after that doing everything in my power to leave 'our' cell.

"Open the door. We need to talk."

"What do you want?" I repeated the question. I was surprised I sounded calm, patient even, when inside I was a burning mess of anxiety and frustration. And questions. So many unanswered questions.

I held that damn book open for all of two hours and the printed words eluded me.

Instead, my overthinking mind did its thing. All I could think about was Schneider, why Cade was back, and what he had to say to me.

I could have gone to Cade's solitary cell to ask my questions at any time I wanted, but I wasn't ready.

I still wasn't ready.

Yet he was already here, demanding to be heard.

What if what he had to say...

What if Schneider was gone?

No! The rejection of the mere notion welled from the deepest recesses of my mind.

Sensing my train of thoughts, Cade said, "I have news about him."

I nearly jumped out of the bed, but I controlled myself. With incredible self-restraint, I slowly slid out of bed and stood.

Our eyes met. I saw that he was telling the truth in his eyes, but I also saw urgency; that I wasn't going to like what he had to say.

As if I had the choice to not hear him out.

As if I could turn him away.

As if I hadn't suffered every day for over a half.

As if I wasn't literally dying to know what happened to Schneider, and why he never came back to me. Why he left me here all by myself after all his promises.

An obsession. That was what I really suffered from. I was obsessed with a man who no longer seemed to be obsessed with me.

Unless...

Unless I had it all wrong.

I clenched my teeth so tightly, my jaw popped.

Damn it all to Hell! I still had hope? What kind of a fool was I?

Feelings willed up inside me, threatening to spill. In truth, I was slave to misbegotten hope.

I signaled to the camera and the door buzzed open.

Cade stepped into my cell. His herculean figure dwarfed the slightly-bigger-than-average cell. I felt miniscule for the briefest of moments, that I was back to being a nobody convict at the mercy of ganglords.

It took effort to remind myself that I wasn't anymore. I was needed, which made me valued. A gang boss was the same.

Moments later, the guards who'd been chasing Cade came racing to my cell. I dismissed them and the sirens finally quieted.

"Finally!" My neighbor exclaimed.

Cade picked up the book I'd been reading, rifling through it quickly, nearly dropping the bookmark. He put it back on the table and scanned my cell. "Nice cell," he commented, and I wasn't sure if he was sincere.

"Thanks."

"What's with all the law books?"

"Pro bono work."

Cade arched an eyebrow in skepticism. "They let you practice law as a convict?"

"I'm working in an advisory capacity. Assisting." I explained briefly. I didn't want to get into details with him. I was rather more interested in what he had to say.

"So you're a jailhouse lawyer." Cade actually sounded impressed.

"Had to pass the time some way with both of you gone." I didn't like how bitter I sounded.

I was bitter, but I didn't want him knowing that and revealing to him just how affected I was.

"It's not what you think."

I held my breath.

Cade looked like he had a hard time articulating his words.

It was all I could do not to demand he speak already.

"Schneider has been taken." 

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

Did you expect it to be Cade?

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