Page 161 of After Anna

Noah regained consciousness as he was half-walked and half-dragged down the hallway by COs Evesham and Stanislavsky. Pain arced through his skull. His ribs ached with every step. Blood ran down his forehead, warm and wet. He blinked to clear his eyes.

“You’re not going to get away with this,” Noah said hoarsely.

CO Evesham sniffed. “You refused to cuff up. You threatened my personal safety. You resisted in a dangerous manner. We’re writing you up for misconduct.”

“Everybody knows what you’re up to, Evesham. I told them you were the CO who took me to my cell. You left the door open for Jeremy Black. You’re going down for that.”

“I locked the door. I had nothing to do with the door’s being open. Must’ve been another CO who came after me.”

“You’re a liar.”

“Wrong. The matter’s been investigated and resolved. Officially.” They reached the stairwell to the ACU, but instead of going up the stairs, they took a right down another hallway.

“Where we going?” Noah could barely hold himself up. Blood poured into his eyes. “You’d better be taking me to the infirmary.”

“The RHU. You’ll get my write-up later. You got Class I charges.Threatening a CO with bodily harm, resisting arrest, and insubordination.” They reached a maroon-metal door that read RHU, CO Evesham unlocked it, and they hustled Noah into a long hallway that had doors like the ACU isolation cells.

Noah thought about running. He was in too much pain. There was nowhere to run. He had no choice but to let them throw him in a cell. At least he would be safe.

CO Stanislavsky went to the first cell door and unlocked it. Noah stood aside. Blood ran down his face.

“Get in.” CO Evesham opened the door, but the cell wasn’t empty.

Inside was John Drover.

And in his hand was a homemade shank.

Chapter Eighty-two

Maggie, After

Maggie, Kathy, and Caleb sat in the small waiting room of the homey Tipton police station, having finished giving their statements to a group of federal, state, and local law enforcement. Wooden chairs matched a table that held back issues ofPeoplemagazine, and the air smelled like stale coffee. Maggie was waiting to find out about Anna. The authorities were still interviewing Connie, and she’d been told that he was making a complete statement in return for a plea deal.

The waiting area was separated from the office by an old-fashioned wooden door with a glass pane, and Maggie keep checking to see what was going on. Uniformed local police, assistant U.S. attorneys, local assistant district attorneys, and FBI agents flooded the small room, which held only a few wooden desks with outdated computers. Atop a line of battered gray file cabinets sat an old TV playing The Weather Channel on mute, next to stacked case files and a clutter of New England Patriots and Red Sox paraphernalia, including a David Ortiz bobblehead.

Maggie felt pure dread that the worst that happened to Anna, but she told herself to keep the faith, and she worried about Caleb, since the horrific scene at Elma Tenderly’s. She was still amazed that he’d had the presence of mind to run out the back door and call 911 when Connie and Roy had burst into the house. She hadn’t had a chanceto talk with him about what had happened, and it had to have been traumatic. He seemed okay under the circumstances, sitting next to her with his phone in his lap. During the interview, he’d absorbed everything with wide-eyed interest. She would help him process it later, and he could talk about it in therapy, too, when they got home.

“How you doing, sweetie?” Maggie asked him, ruffling his hair.

“I’m okay.” Caleb nodded with a smile.

“You must be tired.” Maggie checked the wall clock. It was almost one o’clock in the morning.

“No, I’m fine.”

Maggie touched his hand. “That was scary at the house, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m so proud of you, Caleb. You saved our lives, do you realize that?”

“Yes.” Caleb grinned.

“I love you very much.” Maggie gave him a hug and a kiss.

“I love you, too, Mag.” Caleb looked up with a smile. “And I saidemergency!”

“You sure did!” Maggie smiled, proud of him.

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