Page 36 of Diamond in the Rough

“No, Billy, if that is his real name, is alive, and Tom and Amber are trying to find him.” Carl shook the steering wheel. “This is it, Jake, the end game. We’ve found our man.”

“But Maddox is still in prison.”

“We sort this, then we think about how to get him out. Legal loophole, forced confession, or breaking him out with my bare hands. We’ll get him out.” Carl flashed Jake a glance, and his manic eyes reminded him of Ian, minutes before his life was snuffed out by Maddox’s shot.

Carl’s gleeful expression sagged. “What?”

“Nothing.”

“For someone who needs danger for excitement, you’re not very enthusiastic about this development.”

His heart rate had picked up, but his body didn’t buzz with adrenaline; he felt ice in his veins. Jake frowned, then licked his lips. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this…”

“Well, keep it to yourself. I’m feeling pretty good.”

Chapter 7

Maddox lay on the top bunk, admiring the bruises to his knuckles. He prodded the purple skin, letting the pain surface, then easing off until it faded before pushing down again.

It was only 20:30, and the prison guards were ushering inmates back to their cells for lockdown. No shot of whiskey, no smoke of an expensive cigar or luxury bed to sink into. Maddox’s bulky frame covered the mattress, and the sheet he’d been given smelled stale. Ernie kept the room as dark as possible, adding to the stuffiness, and the toilet trickled constantly unless Maddox filled it with tissue.

He’d been locked up for two weeks in a concrete coffin. He regularly resisted the urge to trash the place and run at the security gates like a Neanderthal. He looked at the other inmates, could tell some of them liked being inside, but the thought of spending a life sentence in GalleyHead kept him awake at night.

Breakfast was at six-thirty, lunch at twelve, and dinner at half five. At six, the inmates gathered around the TV and watched the evening news. Nothing riled them up more than reported violence and murder.

The door opened a crack, and Gavin poked his head inside.

“Shouldn’t you be in your cell?” Maddox asked.

“Got a delivery…”

Maddox heaved himself up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. “Come in.”

Gavin looked over his shoulder, then edged inside. “Here.”

Maddox took the phone and shoved it under his pillow. “How did you get it?”

“You don’t wanna know, but I gave it a really good clean.”

Maddox withheld his shudder. “Well…thanks.”

“Thanks for sorting out Mickey and Zac for me.”

“It was my pleasure.”

Maddox’s knuckles throbbed, but it wasn’t unpleasant. The pain added a distraction, one he welcomed. Throwing punches at a couple of assholes had felt good, and fewer eyes had followed him around the prison since. There were still a few that lingered too close and looked at him too long, but they fled when he approached them.

Maddox shooed Gavin out the door, and he disappeared with a big smile on his face.

Ernie announced his arrival with a big gulp of oxygen and the wild swing of the door.

Maddox dodged out the way and narrowed his eyes at the old man. “Got your pills?”

“Yeah, I got them. I saw Gavin scurrying away. Did the kid deliver?”

Maddox nodded. “He did, and I’ll be making a few calls tonight.”

“Sorting out affairs.”

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