Page 79 of Byte

“I’m not either,” he admitted. “I think it’s safe to assume she’s the one who gave him your phone number.”

“Do you think he knew what she was doing?” I asked.

“I really don’t know,” he said and paused for a few beats. “I can probably find out if you want.”

“No, I don’t think I do.” It didn’t matter if he knew or not. It wouldn’t change anything as far as I was concerned. Maybe if he had warned me before she tried to kill me, and that was a big maybe, but definitely not after the fact.

Byte nodded in understanding. “Well, my afternoon’s free. What about yours?”

“You’re lucky I can’t hit you right now.”

“You know you love me,” he grinned and gave me a quick kiss. “How about we spend the rest of the day watching movies and eating junk food?”

“Yes, please.”

The next morning,I was woken up far earlier than was acceptable by my ringing phone. It took me longer than usual to answer due to my sleepiness coupled with my bandaged hands. “Hello,” I finally croaked.

“Hey,” my sister said. “Sorry for waking you.”

I was wide awake at the sound of her voice. I knew she wouldn’t call and risk waking me for something trivial. She reminded me frequently that I needed to rest. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Well, not exactly. I have news. It’s not good news, but it might not be bad news either,” she rambled.

“Just tell me,” I said and waved away Byte’s hand that was reaching for my phone.

She exhaled heavily. “Luke Johnson called a few minutes ago. Lawrence was stabbed by another inmate last night. He’s in the hospital, but they’re not sure if he’s going to make it.”

“He called me yesterday,” I said quietly.

“What?” she yelled, causing me to move the phone away from my ear for a few seconds. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I was going to mention it when I saw you later today, but there isn’t much to tell. He called several times in a row. I didn’t answer, and he didn’t leave a message, so I don’t know why he was calling.”

“Do you want me to find out?” she offered.

“No, but thank you. Byte asked the same thing, but I don’t want to know.”

“Tell her about Lauren,” Byte said.

“What about her?” Keegan asked.

“Byte checked Lawrence’s visitation records. She’s been visiting him about once a month for the last year,” I told her.

“What the hell?”

“That’s exactly what I said,” I laughed. My sister and I were a lot alike and often said the same thing at the same time or had the same reactions.

“I don’t like this,” Keegan said.

“I don’t think I care one way or the other.”

“Come on, Gabby,” she said. “You can’t tell me these events aren’t connected. Lauren tries to kill you. Lawrence calls youmultiple times out of the blue, and then he’s stabbed by an inmate. Wait. How did he get your phone number?”

“That’s actually why Byte decided to look at his visitation records. We’re assuming Lauren gave it to him.”

“Who else was visiting him?” she asked.

“Hang on,” I said and moved the phone away from my mouth. “Who else was visiting Lawrence?” I asked Byte.

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