Page 87 of Evil Queen

Deon

Gunshots ricocheted off the wall as I bolted for the door. My ribcage wanted to give out. I still hadn’t fully tended to it since my last gunfight ended in disaster, but that didn’t matter for now. I had to keep running. If I didn’t, they were going to kill me.

I turned the corner and saw a nice little couple on their summer vacation who were pulling out their card key to get into their hotel room. Either they hadn’t heard the gunshots or thought they were something else, but I didn’t have time to consider it. I raced toward them, yanked the card from the man’s hand, scanned the door, and pushed us all into the room, slamming the door behind them.

They were just opening their mouths to scream, and as much as I hated to do it, I lifted my gun and pointed it at them, putting my finger to my mouth to tell them to keep quiet. Tears slid down the woman’s face, and I didn’t stop her when she curled against her partner. He wrapped his arms around her, and I took a step toward them, motioning for them to move over so that I could look through the peephole out into the hallway.

“Shit! Where could he have gone that fast?” Briscoe asked. “He was just right fucking here.”

“You idiot,” Dante snapped. “How could you let him get past you? All we had to do was keep him here one more day, and then we were moving him.”

I gave the couple a quick look. My gun was still outstretched, and I set my finger to my lips again, begging them to keep quiet. They both nodded that they understood, so I pulled my gun down. Eventually, Briscoe and Dante walked past the room, and I slid out of the sight of the peephole just in case. I stepped back from the doorway so that the shadows of my feet wouldn’t show beneath the threshold of the door. We stood in silence for a few minutes until the sounds of their footsteps had fallen completely out of earshot.

I turned around and looked at the couple, motioning for them to walk further into the hotel room. They did as I told them to, and I followed, flipping the brass door latch as an extra measure of security, just in case. The woman started to cry a bit harder at this, so I walked over and held up my hands.

“Shh, I’m not going to hurt you, okay? I am not going to hurt either of you. I don’t want to. I just need your help, okay?” I asked.

They both nodded their heads, and the man dared to ask, “Were those guys looking for you?”

I nodded. “I know I don’t look like it, but I’m only eighteen, and those men had kidnapped me. I’m just trying to escape. Do you have a car? A rental? Anything?”

The man and woman exchanged looks, and then the woman slowly stood up and walked over to the safe. She entered the code and pulled out a purse, out of which she pulled a set of keys. She pulled off an electronic key fob and then handed it to me, saying, “It’s a keyless start.” She walked toward the window, and I walked over as well, keeping the guy in my eyeline to be safe. She pressed the unlock button, and an army-green SUV down in the parking lot beeped a few times. “It’s a rental. We have insurance.”

“I’ll try not to total it. You can report it missing in three days. I’ll have ditched it by then,” I said. I took the key fob from her. “Thank you. I understand that you may completely turn around and call the cops, and I wouldn’t blame you, but you just saved my life.”

With the key fob in one hand and the gun in the other, I slid open the sliding glass doors of the balcony and slipped outside into the night. I looked around, making sure no one was looking. Then as quickly and as quietly as I could, I made my way down the fire escape. I rushed over to the SUV once I got to the parking lot and jumped into the vehicle, immediately pressing the button to start it. I was grateful for the hybrid, which had a near-silent engine and a built-in navigation system, and it seemed my luck was finally turning around.

I waited until I was free of the parking lot to press the button to initiate the navigation. “Where would you like to go?” it asked in a robotic tone.

“Emmesk Penitentiary,” I said out loud, and the navigation immediately hopped to attention, calculating the directions. I was about two hours away, but that was fine. Putting that distance between my babysitters and me would ease my tension bit by bit.

Traveling back into Maine put a knot in the pit of my stomach. I imagined the bright red At Large stamp next to my mugshot in the Maine Offender Database and knew that if I got caught by so much as a mall security guard, I’d be going back to prison for the rest of my life. If I had any other choice, I wouldn’t be doing this, but it was the only option I had left. Briscoe and Dante had taken everything from me, and I ripped up my contact list to keep them from getting it.

The only number I had memorized was Cherri’s, but she didn’t answer when I got the chance to call, not that I could blame her. She thought I was dead, so it probably just looked like a solicitor call to her.

I made my way further and further upstate until I was driving into the parking lot of Emmesk Penitentiary, the place that had been my home for the past couple of years. I swore on my life that I wouldn’t come back to this place, and I wished to any god listening that I had another choice. The only person who was bound to be more upset with me for being back here than I was upset with myself was the one person who I promised would never see me again.

Hopefully, he’d forgive me.

My heart pounded as I walked up to the front door of the building. Everything about it felt wrong, but I also knew that I was entering a sphere of influence that might keep me safe for a little bit longer. Still, I threw up my hood and kept my head down as I entered.

Inside, the place was as cold and unwelcoming as I remembered. It gave me a sense of dread, just standing in the lobby, and my anxiety was through the roof, knowing that if I made one wrong move, they would drag me back to a cell. Yet, I walked with confidence, right up to the front desk.

“Good afternoon, welcome to Emmesk Peni—” The man at the desk looked up, and his jaw dropped. “Deon.”

“Hey, Lupe,” I replied. “I need to talk to Venom.”

“He’s going to rip your throat out if he sees you here,” Lupe responded. “You’re on my fucking wanted list. What kind of balls do you have, man?”

“Do you think I’m here to take a walk down memory fucking lane?” I hissed. “It’s important.”

Lupe let out a deep sigh. “Fuck. You’re gonna cost me my job.”

“No, Venom will look out for you. Just bring me back.”

He stood up and motioned me toward the metal detectors. I held out the key fob. I didn’t have anything else on me or to my name. Lupe murmured a few words to the guards who were handling the metal detectors, and then one of them motioned me through. I passed through the metal detectors, and only after getting a thorough pat-down was I eventually ushered through the heavy, concrete doors. When they slammed behind me, my stomach lurched, and my head started to hurt. The murmur of prisoners and the tension of the guards settled around me, and I felt like I was going to be sick. It was familiar in the worst kind of way.

Eventually, though, I got to the visiting room. Lupe knocked on the door, and a guard opened it and looked out at me. He rolled his eyes, whispered, “Shit,” and then yelled into the room. “All right! Visiting hours are over. Say your goodbyes!”

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