Page 43 of White Rabbit

“I heard that!” Beans grumbles, as he tries to eat his own horrible food. “And I’ve been clean for like, a whole year.”

Glancing over at him, I consider the other Ace in my deck. He’s still scrawny, but thanks to the snacks Foxx brings in, he’s started filling out. His meerkat face is less narrow and sunken these days.

Beans had dirt on every fucker here and knew the ins and outs of a duck's ass. If he didn’t know or know where he could get more information about it, it wasn’t worth knowing.

Nudging him gently with my shoulder, I say, “If you stay clean for the next two, then I’ll give you a job when you get outta here.”

Beans scoffs, “Nah, man. I’m done dealing. Look where it got me.”

“I own a security firm, Benny.” Using his name feels strange, but I want him to understand that if he wants to work for me, he doesn’t have to be Beans the dealer anymore.

“Oh.” He nods. “So, like bodyguarding?”

“That’s one part of it,” I chuckle. After ten minutes of pushing the mush around on my plate, I shove my tray aside. I can’t eat this shit.

My mind keeps ticking over this afternoon. The truths that fell from her lips as she rode my cock.

What was the deal with the brother? There’s something not right with the entire situation, but it’s like a wisp of smoke as I try to latch on to the thought.

Why didn’t I know Judge Walters had a son?

Georgina Walters had clearly done a great job hiding her children from the public eye and over the years, they’d obviously been overlooked and forgotten.

If the inmates hadn’t been gossiping about it, I wouldn’t have thought about Walter's offspring at all. I wonder if Georgina’s death played a part in their resurfacing in Newtown society? But the brother…who the fuck was he?

Moving closer to Beans, I slip the balls in his pocket. “Beans, give these to Kal for me. I have a call to make.”

The kid nods with a grin. It makes him feel important when I give him tasks.

“Woah, what the fuck happened to Officer Bishop?” His eyes go wide as Ava enters the hall and stands near the serving line, supervising. “She looks like she was mauled by a bear.”

Ava rubs her neck self-consciously, and even with her hair loose, she can’t hide the mess I’ve made with my mouth. A few of the inmates’ wolf whistle, slamming their hands down on the table cheering, which makes her burn a delicious shade of red as she tries to settle them.

“Pack it in!” Officer Foxx bellows, grabbing his baton off his belt and slamming it down on a nearby table. “Settle!”

After a few rings, the call connects, and a familiar voice drawls, “Oh. look. If it isn’t a phone call from my favorite convict.”

I laugh, knowing that Cato’s bite was always worse than their bite. “Cato! My favorite little non-binary terror! I’ve missed you.”

“Fuck off, Creed. We’re not best friends. We’re merely colleagues.” They tut, and if eye rolls were audible, I’m sure I would have heard that down the line too. “And you don’t have to work non-binary into everything just because you finally learned something new.”

“Hmmmm, I disagree on both fronts.” I wasn’t a bigot. I didn’t give a shit how people choose to live their lives unless it affected mine. Cato was Cato. They could identify as a treefrog and ask me to call them Ribbit and I’d do it. Because it’s basic manners and none of my fucking business. “Is that waste of space still gone from her life?”

The last report I’d read put Chad still in hiding, but you never knew when a snaky cunt like that was going to slither back out from underneath their rock. I planned to be waiting, ready to pour hot oil on that fucker like some feudal king. On my course, I’d read that it was likely a myth that they poured boiling oil off the battlements in medieval England, but it was too late. I’d already added it to my ideas list for the KC.

Cato sighs, and I hear a soft whining noise somewhere in the background. “You already know he is. After all, you threatened to slice him up like sashimi.”

I shrug in reply, even though Cato can’t see me. It wasn’t my fault that Chad the chump needed a little incentive to realize that he wasn’t worthy of her. “If he loved her, he would stay.”

There’s a moment of silence before Cato softly says, “And if you loved her…you wouldn’t rig the game.”

“It’s because I love her.” I clamp my mouth shut. Why did I say that?

A musical chuckle reaches my ears. “Ohhhhh, there it is. Rosie bet me a weekend on their yacht that you wouldn’t say it.”

“You fucker. You tricked me.”

“Into what? Being honest for once in your life?”

---