My cheeks puffed out with a huff of air.Let’s get this over with.

I took a step then stopped and eyed Atlee. “Aren’t you gonna give them your phone?”

“He’s fine.” The guy sitting behind the desk said.

What did he mean he was fine? “His phone is right there.”

Anyone could see it in his pocket. And still no one asked him to hand it over. They didn’t even acknowledge my statement.

Atlee shot me a grin, “I told you, I’m not everyone,” and headed down the hall.

God I hated him. He was so not getting any of my truck cookies.

The claustrophobic feeling of the prison walls closed in on me as I walked down the hall. My feet felt like they weighed a hundred pounds and every step I took echoed off the cement walls. It felt like I was walking down one of those never ending hallways in horror movies, where dread was around every corner.

I was so on edge that I almost screamed when the guard leading us stopped and nodded to a door on the left.

“You have ten minutes.”

My mouth was so dry it took a second to speak. “This isn’t the visiting area?”

I wasn’t entirely sure if this part of the prison was even used. It was oddly empty and quiet.

“Where did you think we were going to go?” Atlee asked.

“The normal room.” The one with various tables and chairs, and other people should I need a witness.

“That would be fine if it wasn’t Friday.”

“What’s wrong with Friday?” Did Atlee have a grudge with Friday, because, personally, if I was going to hate a day of the week, I’d pick Sunday when I had to get up at the crack of dawn and go to church. Day of rest my ass.

“Visiting hours are on weekends, Nova.”

Crap. Why didn’t I remember that?

Damnit, Kato was going to know something was up now. Then again, maybe he wouldn’t? He did say that the days blurred together in here, and I didn’t see any calendars around. So, he might not know what day it was. The change in location might be a bit difficult to explain, but I did convince Maw Maw that a squirrel broke in and stole her cookies last week.

“Do you want to see the inmate or not?” The guard huffed impatiently.

“His name is Kato, not inmate.” Prisoners were people too.

“Everyone’s name in here is inmate.” He hissed back.

I had enough nervousness, without this guy pissing me off. “Well, maybe if you treated the inmates with a little respect, then you wouldn’t have to walk around with a stick up your ass.”

“I don’t respect criminals.”

“My brother’s not a criminal.” He was a little overzealous in protecting Veda, that was all. “People make mistakes.”

“Your brother is the same as every other piece of shit in this place.”

I didn’t care if this guy was a foot taller than me and armed, I’d still kick him in the nuts. “Listen here…”

“Okay,” Atlee cut me off and grabbed my arm before I could jab my finger in the guard’s chest. “How about we leave the nice guard alone…”

“Pfft. Nice.” There was a snort worthy statement.

“Your brother is waiting, you can tell this idiot off after.”