Page 47 of Rat

“So that’s how you smuggle stuff in?”

Sebastian huffed. “All prisons do it differently, but I’ve been running this for years. Normally one rat a week but sometimes two if demand for contraband is high.”

“Is that why… Is that why you’ve got power on the wing?”

“One of the reasons. I haven’t been caught, and it’s preferable to getting drugs from some guy’s back passage.”

Rory twitched his nose. “Because it’s so much more appealing getting drugs from a rat’s stomach.”

Sebastian laughed. “Exactly, and that’s not all.”

“What do you mean?”

“The governor is so convinced of this rat problem he bribes me with phone cards to keep the inmates quiet. Ten cards a month, and I keep the rat problem hush-hush when the health inspector comes. I’m pretty much paid to smuggle stuff in.”

A silence grew between them, and Rory picked obsessively at his nails. “It… It’s really clever.”

The bed shifted, and Sebastian stood up. He crossed his forearms on Rory’s bed and leaned closer. The glow of the floodlight shone on his face, and his blue eyes sparkled. His silver hair caught the light too and highlighted the etchings of age on his face. Rory hated to admit he thought he was handsome, but he couldn’t deny it in that moment. Thefloodlight shone a spotlight on Sebastian, and Rory liked what he saw.

“You think so?”

Rory glanced at Sebastian’s lips. He couldn’t stop looking at them, and they lifted into a smile under his gaze.

“Yeah…”

“Good to know.” Sebastian smirked. “But if the officers suddenly get wise, I’ll know who to blame.”

“I won’t say anything, I swear.”

Sebastian climbed underneath the bed, out of Rory’s view.

“Night, Rory.”

Rory wiped his hand down his face and inwardly cursed his reaction. Finding Sebastian attractive would only cause problems.

“Night…Sebastian.”

9

During the first week,the hardest part about being inside had been the fear. The fear that he’d get found out, the fear that Pauly would corner him. The fear someone would hurt him. The latter had come true, but he didn’t feel fear anymore. Pauly still shot him interested looks, Sebastian still scared him sometimes, but the fear had gone.

Instead, it was the boredom that drove Rory crazy.

Most of the inmates busied themselves with a job, like laundry, servery, kitchen, and washing. It got the inmates pay to spend in the weekly canteen. Association happened for a total of four hours each day, at breakfast, lunch and two at dinner.

Rory tried to train with Captain after dinner, but after ten minutes, he was out of breath and pain throbbed in his side. Captain patted his shoulder, then went to help Zeke lift weights.

Rory ended up limping back to the wing and collapsing on the same uncomfortable chair he had sat in day after day. He read books, he ate, he talked to Captain and Ollie, and hewatched the half-hour allowance of TV, all in the same spine-aching plastic chair.

Then Sebastian would come over with the chessboard, and for whatever time of association they had left, they would play. His boredom vanished, his back stopped aching, and it was all about beating the man in front of him.

Rory hated to admit it, but he enjoyed their matches.

He would sit on the wing, eagerly hoping Sebastian would have time for him, before sagging in disappointment on the days he didn’t.

It was a worrying development.

He shouldn’t have craved attention from Sebastian Claw, but he did.

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