Page 98 of Things We Hide from the Light
“Fuck,” I muttered and shoved away from my desk.
I was too restless to hide from the world. I needed to do something that felt productive.
I grabbed my jacket and belt off the hook and headed out into the bullpen.
“Headed out,” I said to the room in general. “I’ll bring back lunch from Dino’s if y’all text me your orders. My treat.”
There was a flutter of excitement that all cops got at the thought of free food.
I paused at Nolan’s desk. “Feel like takin’ a ride?”
“Depends. You gonna take me out to the woods and leave me for the banjos?”
“Probably not today. Thinkin’ about paying an inmate a visit.”
“I’ll get my coat.”
“What’swith the change of heart?” Nolan asked as I hit the highway.
“Maybe I just want to save the environment by carpooling.”
“Or maybe you’re in the mood to have a chat with Tina Witt and you don’t want to get any of your officers in trouble with the feds.”
“You’re not as dumb as that mustache makes you look,” I said.
“My wife—ex-wife—was really intoTop Gun,” he said, running his finger and thumb over the ’stache.
“The things we do for women.”
“Speaking of—”
“You mention Lina’s name and I will leave you for the banjos,” I warned.
“Noted. What about her friend? The blond librarian?”
“Sloane?” I asked.
“She single?”
I thought about Lucian this morning at breakfast. A slow, vengeful smile spread over my face. “You should ask her out.”
We rode in silence until I took the exit for the prison.
“Those kids yesterday,” Nolan said. “You talked the manager out of pressing charges.”
“I did.”
“Then you kicked the ass of Officer Fuckhead.”
“You got a point rattlin’ around in there somewhere, Graham?”
He shrugged. “Just saying you don’t suck at your job. Some local lawmen would have thrown the book at the kids and let that officer slide.”
“My town saw enough of the good ol’ boy style of leadership. They deserve better.”
“Guess you’re smarter than those bullet holes make you look.”
The Bannion Women’sCorrectional Facility was typical for a medium-security prison. Out in the middle of nowhere, the perimeter was protected by tall fences, miles of barbed wire, and guard towers.
