Page 26 of Diamond in the Rough

“Don’t you dare lie to me, Maddox.”

“You look like death.”

Ernie grinned. “I’d say I wasn’t far off.”

He patted the bed, and Maddox sat down next to him. Ernie had always been a big man, wide and tall, but he stooped beside Maddox, looking fragile.

“You’ll have to have the top bunk. No chance of me climbing up.”

“What’s wrong with you?”

“Cancer of the lungs,” Ernie mumbled, lifting the oxygen tank.

“Shouldn’t you be in a hospital?”

“They said about that, but as depressing as these four walls are, they’ve been my home for twenty years. I know some of the guys out there and don’t wanna end up in a hospital bed, knowing no one, but enough about me. I wanna know about you.”

Maddox turned away and looked towards the small window. “I’ve got myself in a situation.”

“No shit. You really took one of your guys to Ashdown Forest to execute them?”

“It didn’t quite happen like that.”

“You got lazy.”

“You can talk. You were caught burying bodies, broad daylight.”

Ernie grumbled. “Well, yeah, I flipped. My ma’s death got me hard, and I got a bit too relaxed when it came to disposal.”

“You got caught.”

“Well, if I’d had my gun, I would’ve popped that police officer right there and then, but I didn’t. What’s your excuse?”

“Some asshole called the cops on me before I could get rid of the body.”

“What about dear old Richie Black?”

“Someone grassed.”

Ernie chuckled. “No shit, someone grassed on Mad Dog Maddox?”

Maddox turned back to Ernie and glared.

Ernie lifted his hand up in surrender. “Easy, don’t go savage on me and tear me apart.”

Maddox smirked and shook his head. “It’s a good job you’re old and sick.”

Ernie gulped at his oxygen. “Isn’t it just.”

“I’ve got to get out of here, Ernie.”

“No chance of that. No one’s even got passed the first gate.”

Maddox rubbed his temples. “I will. I’m gonna walk out of this prison, pass through every gate, right under the guards’ nose.”

“I think I’ll do it before you.”

“How?”

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