Page 10 of Victorious: Part I

For a moment, genuine joy lights up her face. “You’re kidding? That’s—” She stops herself, glancing around the room again. “That’s amazing, Noah. I’m proud of you. Of Bea and Haven, of the club.”

But the tension doesn’t leave her shoulders, and her eyes keep darting to a group of women sitting at a table across the room.

My eyes follow her line of sight, and then I glance back at her. “Mom…” I lean forward. “What’s going on? And don’t tell menothing.It’s obvious something’s wrong.”

She sighs, scrubbing her hands over her face. “It’s just prison politics. Nothing for you to worry about, sweetheart.”

“Rhonda mentioned new transfers, tension in the yard. Said you’ve been…busy.”

Mom’s eyes flash with annoyance. “Rhonda talks too much.”

“Maybe she’s concerned? Hell, I am, too, now that I am here.” I reach across the table, but she subtly shifts her hands to her lap. Something she never does. We always break the rules here and hold hands across the table when I visit.

This tells me something isvery, very wrong.

She doesn’t want the women in here to know how important I am to her.

This is bad.

Real fucking bad.

My concerned eyes meet hers. “Mom, if there’s something going on in here—”

“Noah,” she interrupts, her voice firm. “I’ve survived in this shithole for seven years. I know how to handle myself—”

“Is it connected to Atlas? The shit he was organizing in here before we…” I avoid finishing the sentence, just in case any of his left-over minions are in here, while I watch her carefully.

Her reaction is immediate—a slight widening of the eyes, a tightening of the jaw. “Why would you ask that?”

“Just a feeling. Before we took him out, along with the Cartel, he said you were making waves in here, that you needed to stop. Remember that?”

She glances around once more, then leans in, her voice barely above a whisper, “Before Atlasleft us,he established connections in here. Women loyal to him and whatever he was building. We thought once he was gone, the drug gang he was connected to would disband, but they’ve been causing problems. Recruiting others.”

Inhaling sharply, I hesitate, my pulse kicking up as unease coils in my gut. I don’t want to ask. I already know I won’t like the answer, but I push forward anyway. “Whatkindof organization?”

She exhales, a flicker of hesitation in her eyes. “I don’t know all the details, but they’ve got a hierarchy. A code. And they all have the same mark, a small tattoo behind their ear. A series of dots in a V-formation.”

My throat dries. A chill slides down my spine, slow and insidious. A V-formation. Something about it jabs me, but my brain refuses to piece it together.

She absently touches her own ear. “They’re trying to establish a foothold, and I’ve beenresistant.”

My jaw tightens. A dull pounding starts behind my eyes. The air feels thinner, harder to pull into my lungs. The knot in my stomach twists, sharp and unrelenting.

I swallow hard. “Mom, are you in danger?”

She gives me a sad smile. “Sweetheart, I’m in prison. Danger’s part of the package.”

“This is different, and you know it. If these women are connected to Atlas—”

“I have people watching my back,” she insists. “There’s a group of us standing together. We outnumber them for now.”

“For now?”I blurt out.

She hesitates. “The new transfers, they’re all marked. It’s like they’re being deliberately placed here.”

A cold dread spreads through me, and my veins instantly freeze. “Why? What’s the endgame?”

“I’m not sure yet. But they’ve been talking about some big move coming, something that’s going tochange everything.Their words, not mine.” She reaches across the table,finallytaking my hand. “Noah, Ineedyou to be careful. Whatever’s happening in here might notstayin here.”

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