Page 6 of Framed

“Aren’t you coming in?” I asked Athena as she leaned over to knock softly on the door.

“Boss said he needs to see you alone.” Athena attempted to shrug noncommittally but a slight hint of worry snuck through her tone.

“Athena,” I pleaded in a whisper. Panic threatened to seize and take over my body. “I can’t go in the hole.”

“Come in,” Briggs’ deep voice called out from behind the thick door.

Athena opened the door and lifted a hand, silently waving me inside.

I eyed her warily, not budging. It felt as if I was staring down a very steep cliff. One so steep that I couldn’t see the bottom. The last time I went into a situation this blind, I was framed for my ex-best friend’s murder.

Literally.

But somehow, I managed to make my feet work. I tore my gaze from Athena’s worried, sympathetic one, and crossed the threshold into Briggs’s world.

“Have a seat, Miss Rose,” he said. I resisted the urge to cringe at how his southern twang drawled out the word “miss.” Anytime he said it, his thick dark mustache curled up, and it made me a little bit nauseous.

As predicted, that mustache was the first thing I saw as I entered the room. Briggs sat behind his dark brown wooden desk. He had a cowboy hat on, as per usual. His fingers were pinched together, twirling the end of his mustache. He didn’t need to take his hat off for me to know that his inky jet-black hair would be slicked back with an insane amount of hair gel.

Sometimes I wondered if he knew he wasn’t really an extra in the Western movies he’d sometimes made us watch in the communal area.

“That’ll be all, Deputy Williams, thank you.” He called to Athena. We locked eyes then. From the ominous look in his, I knew that whatever this was about, it wasn’t good.

“Briggs—” Athena started to protest, but a loud slam caught both her and me off-guard.

We both jumped at the impact of Briggs’ fist against the desk, startled by the sudden movement. “I said that’ll beall, Deputy.”

Athena’s impassive stony face from earlier was replaced by one etched with worry. She studied me for a long, quiet moment. That look made the warning bells that were already going off in my head rise to a shrieking volume. The sound I imagined seemed so piercing, almost unbearable. I wouldn’t be surprised if blood started to trickle out of my ear.

“I quite like you, Deputy. Let’s keep it that way.” The threat was clear and evident in his tone.

Athena shuffled, moving back a step as her eyes glazed over. She was obviously conflicted. She wanted to stay and make sure I was safe, but she also didn’t want to piss Briggs off.

She was the only guard we could rely on here. I couldn’t allow Athena to get in trouble for me. So I did the only thing I could think of to get her out of there. I forced my unsteady legs to work and took a seat in the chair in front of his. I didn’t take my eyes off Briggs as I said, “It’s okay. I’ll be fine, Athena.”

A beat of silence passed, until she finally nodded. I could feel her eyes painted on me as she exited, leaving us alone in his office.

“You know,” Briggs started, the second his office door closed with a soft click, “I always wondered what a pretty little lady like yourself was doing inmyhouse.”

Repulsion crawled down my spine at those words. I ignored it and steeled my face expressionless. I wouldn’t let him get to me. I met his leer head-on. “Didn’t you hear? I’m a murderer.”

Briggs preyed on insecurities and fear. If I played his game right, I could probably walk out of here and not land myself a month in the hole.

He chuckled, but there was no humor in the sound. “I heard, Miss Rose. I also heard you pissed off a lot of people in that little town of yours. A lot of the same people who donated a hefty sum to keep you in here.”

Shock paralyzed my body as the realization sunk in.

That was why I was here. That was why the new evidence my lawyers had uncovered couldn’t be used. ‘Tampered with’ my ass.

Someonepaidto keep me locked up.

“Whoa there, little lady.” Briggs held up his hands in mock surrender. “While I’m not impartial to taking bribes,” (of course, he wasn’t), “I actually took a liking to you. You remind me of someone I used to know when I lived in that town of yours.”

I couldn’t help myself. I rose to his obvious bait. “Youlived in Tuscaloosa?”

His brown eyes sparkled with mischief and the ends of his lips tipped up. “Born and raised. Blue Devils for life.”

West State College was a famous athletic school located in the heart of Tuscaloosa. The Blue Devils were their mascot and also a very recognizable symbol of the school. It was believed that the Blue Devils brought luck to the school, so there was one at every sporting event. The symbol quickly became a beacon of hope for the entire town, which eventually got the phrase “Blue Devils for life” coined.

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