The Cage (Book 2) ✔️

Fishing

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Fishing

"He didn't leave you if that's what you think. We left cause we had a job to do and it turned out to be fucking trap. We were ambushed by a bunch of cowards and Schneider gave himself up so I could escape and come back for him later, but I haven't been able to-"

"I'm going fishing."

Cade blinked multiple times as if dust had flown into his eyes and then stared long and hard at me. Finally, he demanded, "What?"

I glanced at the small clock sitting on the desk. This time of day was perfect for fishing.

I crouched down and pulled out from under the bed the roll of fishing line and the transparent plastic bag I kept the hooks and scissors in. I'd pass by the kitchen to get some live bait. The fish around these parts went crazy for it.

It seemed my little announcement had left Cade astounded. He'd actually gone speechless.

I signaled to the camera and my cell's door buzzed open.

Cade didn't follow me out of my cell.

I went to the kitchen and got the bait. The staff dumped diced fish into the plastic bag, and off I went to the cliff overlooking the sea.

The salty ocean breeze hit my face like a collapsing wall of bricks as soon as I stepped outside of the prison. My nostrils flared as I struggled to inhale, to breathe.

Keep it together.

I barely heard the guard greeting me as I passed him. He opened the gate for me, and to the cliffside I went.

The gravel marking the path crunched beneath my shoes.

Once I arrived, I sat down at the very edge of the cliff with my feet dangling over air. The palms of my hands scraped the dirt and rough stone as I adjusted my sitting position, which felt startlingly real.

This was all really happening to me.

Swallowing for my throat had gone very dry, I reached into the plastic bag without looked and-

"Ah." The hook pricked my finger. A drop of blood welled at the tip almost immediately. How unsanitary.

I wiped the blood on my clothes and decidedly ignored the small wound. It was doubtful I'd lose a finger over it.

I moved mechanically, my muscle memory taking over. Hook the fish bait, tie the hook to the line, and then throw the line as far out into the ocean as possible. I'd done this a hundred times before.

The hook sank into the still ocean in a ripple of water. Distracted, I watched the ripples expanding away from the center until the water relatively stilled again.

No ships dotted the horizon, and the clouds in the sky were sparse and far between. A cool breeze fanned my face and whipped my hair left and right. A beautiful day by all accounts.

Yet I was in no condition to relish in its beauty. Inside, a ferocious storm waged, and not even one of my favorite pastimes could dissipate it. I'd practically fled here to escape it, but who was I fooling? There was no running away from my own mind.

Cade's somber words echoed in my head, "Schneider has been taken."

My grip on the thin line tightened until it cut into the delicate skin of my palm.

Taken! Taken where?

And by whom?

And, most importantly-