Page 328 of Dirty Discipline, Vol. 2

His shirt smelled like hand soap, and though his hand slid down off her shoulder, sneaking in under her arm to cop a feel of side-boob, this was the first time she’d been hugged since before her arrest.

She dared not relax, but her eyes closed as she buried her face into his shirt and pretending with all her might that she was with someone—anyone—else. The unwelcome mental image of the sheriff popped into her mind and refused to be dislodged.

She retreated into her mind, trying to find a time when she viewed police as the ultimate protectors. The sheriff was anything but someone to call for help, but there was a reluctant comfort to be had in imagining it was his strong, authoritative arms and not Eli’s boyishly skinny ones around her.

Not that she dared be seen seeking company from—or even just being seen talking to—Jeff. Travis had made his point clear on that last night. The unfolding morning was simply adding emphasis to what she already knew: she was not in a good place.

And this was even before she reached the farm.

Chapter Five

She smelled the marijuana leaves long before she saw them, and as the smell grew stronger, she couldn't help but lift her head off Eli's shoulder and look around. The bus had been going uphill for sometime, in gradual increments that nevertheless had her ears popping each time she swallowed. But it wasn't until she opened her eyes that she realized they had left desert scrub and grassland well behind them. A thick forest of the evergreens that dominated the mountain canyons grew higher up in the mountains. This was elk and deer country, with the bear and cougars that fed on them never that far behind.

It was through the dense curtain of trees that she caught her first glimpse of light green smothering what might have been a clearing if only she could see deeper in past the trees.

That couldn't possibly be what she was smelling. What parole officer would send his charges out on work detail at a pot farm?

Yet, the smell was unmistakable.

She turned to Eli, who took one look at her face and shrugged. "Don't take so much as a leaf. They check you. They also don't give second chances."

"That's not the farm that we're... we're supposed to..."

"Yup," he drawled. "Twelve hours a day, six days a week. Two breaks. No holidays. Pays daily, though."

"If they let you keep it," the red-head muttered from two seats ahead. She was sitting upright now, watching through the window as the forest thinned and finally pulled back enough to reveal not just farm fields but a half-dozen outbuildings and the two-story, hundred-year-old farmhouse that crowned it all. "You're new. You'll be lucky if they let you keep five bucks a day."

Her companion snorted and nodded. A few others laughed.

Tabitha looked out the window, her panic growing cold inside her. "This is right off the road. Cops could find this place easily!"

"They haven't yet," Eli soothed.

"We'll all get arrested. We'll go back to prison," she insisted.

"Not if we keep our mouths shut." A guy halfway down the aisle turned in his seat to give her a pointed look.

The bus pulled into the dirt driveway, then turned right and slowly traveled the length of what looked like two well-worn tire tracks through the brush, past the soy crop growing near the house and back toward the unmistakable smell of marijuana.

She shook her head, panic growing colder underneath her heart. "I-I can't do this."

She was not a drug dealer, grower, or user. She'd never even seen the stuff, and to the best of her knowledge, neither had any of her childhood friends. Of course, she never would have guessed her best friend would steal a car and take her on a joyride either. But it didn't matter, she was not about to end up in jail again, this time for drug related charges.

Laughing, the red-head turned around, her mouth twisting in a disbelieving smirk. "Like you think you have a choice? Bitch, you think we had one? You ain't nothing special, you got that. You aren't better than we are either, so just shut your mouth and don't make trouble. Got it?"

Tabitha shook her head. She didn't want to be here. She didn't want to do this. "But we can't," she said again. Her voice was small. She sounded stupid, even to her own ears, but it was the only thing she could think to say. It was the only thought in her head, repeating itself over and over again. She couldn't do this. She couldn't risk getting into more trouble. She couldn't do this!

"She's going to get us into trouble," muttered an unknown man from further up.

The red-head's companion turned around in his seat for the first time, long enough to give Eli a look. "You gonna get your bitch back in line? Because if any of her shit rolls back on me, I'm coming after you. That's a promise."

Looking from him to Tabitha, Eli sighed and in an instant, his entire demeanor changed. Vaulting up sideways on the seat, he grabbed Tabitha by the neck and shoved her up against the bus window. She gasped, barely biting back a shriek as she threw up her arm to keep from getting punched.

Not that Eli swung one. He shook her once, shoving her hard up against the metal and glass, and very softly hissed in her ear. "I don't want to hurt you, baby girl, but I will drop your ass in a heartbeat if you cause problems. Okay? You can't cause problems, because we all get in trouble if you do. You don't run. You don't talk unless they tell you to. You don't steal, and if you don't work, they will beat you, dock your pay and then dock all the rest of us. You hear me? We didn't get a choice, neither do you. So just keep your head down and do what they say." He drew back his fist when she didn't respond. "Do I gotta hit you before you listen?"

"No!" she gasped. He had her shoved so far up against the window that the side of her face felt crushed against it. Her cheek was aching.

“Please don’t!” She stared up at him with big eyes, knowing in her soul he meant what he said. He didn’t want to hit her, but he would. There were rules here, and they were every bit as bad as they were in prison.

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