Page 82 of Broken Promises

“Yeah. My dad lives in New York. I’m going to stay and visit with him this weekend. I’ll be back Monday.”

“The band is going to be down here any minute if you want to meet them.”

“I’d love to, but I’m already running late, and my dad is a stickler for punctuality.” He waves and jogs to the door that leads to the parking lot.

I head back to the locker room and shower quickly so I can hold my wife without sweating all over her.

THIRTY-NINE

wolfe

I watchthe time tick down on my watch. I was surprised they allowed me to keep it in here, but then I realized why. They want me to watch the last minutes of my life countdown.Shewants me to know my time is at an end.

I frantically write down everything I can into the palm sized notebook I’ve managed to keep hidden. Maverick is coming to visit me today, and I need to give him as much information as I can to keep him safe. He needs to know what I’ve done to get the power I have. Had. And what I’ve done to keep him safe fromher.

I’ve been writing in this book every chance I get, but only when I’m alone. I know there are eyes on me everywhere. My cellmate pays too close attention to me not to be reporting back on all my movements. He’s in state mandated therapy right now and shouldn’t be back until after I meet with Maverick.

I hear the loud steps of heavy boots coming my way.

A guard.

It’s time.

Frantically, I write every last thing I can think of and shove the small notebook into the waistband of my pants. Standing, I wait for the guard to take me to my son.

“Ready?” I look up to see Peters. At least I got one of the nice guards. Holding my hands out, I let him cuff me and lead me to the visitor’s area. The walk there is unusually quiet. Like the rest of the prison knows, this is the end for me.Sheowns the prison, just like she owns everything else. Me included. But she doesn’t own Maverick, and I’m giving my last breath to make sure it stays that way.

I see him, my son, sitting at the table in the rundown old room, waiting for a man he despises. His shoulders are back, and his eyes find mine, a wariness in them that’s always been there when he looks at me. But this time there’s a fire too.

Peters takes my cuffs off, and I take the seat next to Maverick instead of the one across from him. His eyebrows shoot up at my proximity, but he quickly schools his features.

“What did you want that couldn’t be discussed over the phone?” he asks me, keeping a chill to his tone.

I look at Peters, who looks at the camera above my head, then back to me and nods. He turns away to give me a moment of privacy.

“I had one favor left, and I called it in,” I tell Maverick, the look of confusion back on his face. I grab the small book from my waistband and shove it into his hand. “Put this in your pocket and read it once you’re safely back home. It’s the best I could do.” I hug him quickly and kiss his temple before standing and making my way back to Peters.

“What? Dad?”

I look over my shoulder and see him shove the book into his pocket and make like he’s going to follow me, but I shake my head.

“We’re supposed to get twenty minutes.”

“I’m sorry, son. I don’t have that kind of time left.”

Maverick frowns and looks at Peters, who takes the cuffs back out and secures them around my wrists.

“I love you, Maverick.”

“Dad!” I hear him call after me, but I don’t look back. Peters leads me back through the door and to my cell.

“The debt has been paid. Goodbye Senator,” Peters says and locks the cell behind him. My cellmate is back, and he’s not alone.

“Sorry, Jim,” Aaron says. He’s been my cellmate since I was brought here after my arrest. “He’ll make it quick.” He pulls my arms behind my back with a grip that’s bruising, but I don’t fight them.

The other man pulls out a large hunting knife and quicker than I can follow, slices it across my throat. It’s not until I look into the eyes of my killer than I realize I recognize him. Panic fills me, not from the pain or my quickly approaching death, but the knowledge that my son is even less safe than I thought he was and there’s nothing I can do about it.

The taste of my own blood fills my mouth at the same time it leaves my body. Within seconds I’m on the floor, choking on it, cold seeping into my skin. The edges of my vision blur and soon everything is black.

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