Page 4 of Hidden By the Convicts
“Wh-where are we going?”
“You can’t stay here. The guards could come back any minute. I’m taking you to our quarters.”
She pulled away. “The prisoners’ quarters is close to the guards’ barracks.”
“We built a house on the other side of the compound. Just past it actually, in the thick of the jungle where it’s private.”
He motioned her to follow him. As they exited the back of the greenhouse, he tossed a large jacket on her, along with a netted hat. The combination made her look like a child in an adult’s clothing, or a scrawny male at best, but not a woman. She still had no shoes, so the disguise was far from foolproof.
Ever vigilant of their surroundings, Bowen walked at a brisk pace, one hand on her upper arm, as if he expected her to flee. She debated doing so several times, but this was her best option. For now.
True to his word, Bowen led her away from the direction of the guards’ barracks and hurried her toward the jungle.
She expected him to ask her to demonstrate her worth before taking on the risk and monumental task of hiding her from the guards. She even prepared herself for the possibility he’d fuck her and then say she wasn’t worth the risk of protecting her. And it was a risk. If the guards caught him and his unit harboring her, they could throw them in the cage. Or worse.
She had no clue how Bowen would keep her hidden from the guards, but sleeping with three men who she believed would treat her better than the guards was worth the price. Anything was better than being held down, beaten, and used against her will.
Chapter Two
GAVIN
Gavin lowered the water bottle to Harlis. They had moved Bowen’s bed, the middle of three, away from the wall and torn up the floorboards in a two-foot by two-foot section before starting to dig. Harlis had dug four feet deep, piling the dirt on a blanket by the hole in the floor.
“Is that enough?” Harlis asked.
“A few more feet in length. Enough for her to lay down.”
“I feel like I’m digging a grave.”
“Just the opposite.”
They still had several feet of dirt to remove before there would be enough room for the woman.
Their house, a simple one-story construct, had been built in the jungle, south of East Side’s compound where the greenhouse, chem lab, water substation, rail lines, and maintenance pool were located. To the north of the compound lay the guards’ barracks and most of the other prisoners who worked in East Side.
The fields dominated miles of territory to the east, where the jungle had been cleared of trees for farming. When Gavin and Bowen had built the house four years ago, they’d gone as far from the guards as possible while still being able to connect to the water lines from the water sub-station. At the time, the thirty-minute walk from the guards’ barracks gave them a sense of freedom. Now that they’d be hiding a woman, that distance seemed exceedingly close.
“We’re lucky the guards don’t have any dogs to track her scent.”
Harlis wiped the sweat from his brow. “You mean she’s lucky. Why are we going to all this trouble if we can’t screw her?”
“Keep digging,” Gavin growled, getting ready to use the shovel on the kid’s head.
Kid. Fuck. Harlis was twenty-seven, a grown man, and if Gavin couldn’t reign him in soon, he’d end up dead. The guards would only tolerate so much before they blasted a hole in him. Hell, Bowen would only tolerate so much.
“Not until you answer my question,” Harlis pushed back.
“She’s aperson, Harlis, not a pet dog you train to obey you. I know you’ve only been on Narkos a year, but how have you already forgotten something so basic as what it means to be human?”
“I didn’t forget. But as you said, we’re onNarkos. A damn penal colony. I’m going to be stuck here for five years—”
“Longer.”
Harlis glared at him. “Fine, possibly up to ten if I don’t behave.”
The kid still didn’t get it. Dresden and his managers, which included Cragin on East Side, had all the power on Narkos. Not The Company and certainly not the prisoners.
“Company rules don’t apply here. Only Dresden’s rules,” Harlis said.
