Page 12 of Justice

Justice checks the attention of the nurse, who now has a compact out and is refreshing her lipstick in the reflection of the mirror.

Leaning over, she takes a breath to ask her friend what the fuck is going on when a loud shout, followed by several thuds, sounds from the main hall.

“You lied to me!”

Justice stands from her chair, craning her neck around Molly, to see what is going on. Olson has Deidre pinned against the wall in the cell block below. With the news Justice heard from Molly, the scene before them made her heart rate pick up and piqued her interest.

“There was no lawyer to represent me, no money for protecting you from the warden!”

Justice caught the reflection of the blade in Beth’s hand a second before she plunged it into Deidre’s throat, a crimson river flowing down the fading tan skin at her neck. Deidre reaches for her throat, but Beth is far from finished as she pulls the knife back, stabbing her repeatedly. Deidre slumps to the floor, eyes wide as death creeps over her.

“I told you, no one leaves unless I say so.” Came the chilling voice of the warden beside them. Slowly, Justice turns her gaze from the wild scene before her, to the cocky smile on the woman who had appeared without warning. “Clean it up, gentlemen.” She orders into the hand-held radio, a satisfied look on her face as she turns and leaves through the infirmary doors.

Officers come from every direction as the alarm sounds from the speakers on the wall. Stone is first to arrive, tasers Olson as she continues to stab the lifeless body on the floor. Sanchez moves in, making room for Dr. Hanson, who is shoving his hands into a pair of blue gloves, to see to Deidre. Placing his hand on her carotid, he holds for a few seconds, taking inventory with his eyes the multitude of stab wounds covering her body, and then shakes his head.

Stone has a still screaming Olson in handcuffs, her face covered in Deidre’s blood, her angry shouts of rotting in hell directed at Deidre as he pushes her down the hall.

Justice turns from the scene, sitting back in her chair as if to wait her turn with the doctor.

“You knew?” She lets the question hang in the air, honesty between the friends never an issue in the past.

“No, but I suspected,” Molly admits, filling Justice in on the conversation with Sanchez and the request he made.

“I have to admit, what happened out there makes me nervous.”

“Of what?” Molly demanded, aggravation in her voice. “Nobody is stupid enough to mess with her meal ticket, or they would have the same fate as Deidre.”

“Hear me out,” Justice pleaded, checking over her shoulder to see if the nurse had resumed her post. “Olson had a metal blade, not one of the homemade shanks she keeps in the library. What she did wasn’t for retaliation of being lied to. Olson didn’t need an attorney, she had a clean record and glowing recommendations. This shit,” pointing to the spot where Deidre’s body was being placed in a black bag, “has the warden’s name written all over it. What if she found out Olson is looking into System-One for my name?”

Molly didn’t get a chance to answer, as the nurse came back into the room, sitting behind the desk as if nothing had happened. The pair sat in silence as the hall outside was cleared and cleaned. Officers passed by with stories on their lips, each recalling what they had done a moment prior to the alarm going off.

Justice watched absently as the program on the television changed from the news to a popular morning game show. Her mind drifting back to the smile on the warden’s face, how her eyes danced in delight as Olson took the life of a woman who defied her. How much longer did this have to continue? How many more women out there would face a sentence more severe than the courts had ordered?

“One dollar, you idiot. That fat bastard has overbid!” Molly shouts at the television, as Justice snickers at her friend, and then closes her eyes, trying to forget the shit-storm brewing around her.

“Here we go,” the nurse behind the desk announces, causing Justice to jerk in her seat, looking around slightly disoriented. The chair beside her was now empty as Molly and the nurse stood to watch the television screen, the nurse pointing the remote increasing the volume.

“Bet the bastard resigns now,” the nurse huffs, clear disdain for whomever they are watching. Justice blinks her eyes several times in an attempt to clear the sleep. When her eyes focus, she too is on her feet and beside the pair, as Senator Graham stands behind a podium, with cameras flashing the Senator begins to read from note cards in his hands.

“The people of the great state of Georgia elected me to represent them inside the walls of the White House, voicing their concerns to the waiting ears of the President. While I have done what was expected of me, making laws for those folks, I also betrayed their trust in staining the office they elected me to occupy with the blood of the innocent. I have allowed my office, and the staff which assists me, to be influenced and purchased by those with interests which do not speak for the voters. I have participated in a number of regrettable things, however none viler than allowing the heinous acts directed by Veronica Howard, Warden of the Georgia Women's Correctional Facility.”

CHAPTERNINE

Veronica Howard wasa smart woman who had done a laundry list of things to make it to the top. She started fresh out of high school as a secretary for the county jail, attending night school to obtain her degree in Criminal Justice and went to work for the State Prison system in the main office. She listened and watched, cataloging secrets, and made up a few lies as she set her sights on the job of warden.

When a prison riot created an opening, Veronica pulled out her file of secrets and went about cashing them in on the board who would recommend her. Once appointed, she seized an opportunity to turn the burdens on society, who the state paid thousands to house into money in her, and a few politicians, pockets.

In a male-dominated profession, Veronica had to work twice as hard as her peers, willing to do just about anything to find a balance between what the bleeding-heart critics demanded the inmates receive, and the harsh reality of what she openly gave them. College classes had taught her human theory and how it evolves. Watching the inmate population taught her the truth; how it functioned, trusted, and dealt with the weak and powerless. She used it all to her advantage, building an empire on the backs of the women society forgot.

The most valuable lesson she learned, however, wasn’t from the gang in the yard, or the not-so-subtle tactics inmates invented to get the contraband they craved. It came as she watched Molly befriend the women who didn’t fit into the established clicks, the ones who chose to sit in corners alone, watching and listening as the others traded secrets, planned escapes, and stole affection in the dark of the night. Molly offered them what the others didn’t, a friend with the ability to get them what they needed, in exchange for the things they heard. Veronica used the principle behind it, changing it to meet her needs, by creating addiction in the women who tried to resist her.

She knew the prisoners had a built-in hierarchy, much like the syndicate Family’s on the outside; there were women at the top, who controlled the general population. In Veronica’s case, this was Justice Hart, a small-town girl with too much fire in her belly, a raging inferno Veronica had to control.

Justice had made Veronica a rich woman. Watching the man she had partnered with all those years ago, tell the world what they had done, made her gut clench. They had made a pact to keep the guilty behind bars, and more money in both of their pockets As she heard her name fall from Graham's lips, she knew the world she had fought to build would be in ruins by the end of the day.

“I have requested the State Police be dispatched to the prison as we speak, with special instructions on where to find a number of bodies, disposed of by Warden Howard and her staff.”

Veronica turned to look out her office window as the yard of her prison was littered with official vehicles. SWAT teams were assembled, with guns directed at the doors and windows of the prison she built from nothing.

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