Page 40 of Redstone
“Beloved, it’s all a matter of perspective; we’ll just have to agree to disagree,” Pence said. “Now let’s survey your spoils, shall we? Food bars from Klia’s side of the fence—I hadn’t thought you did much business with her; she must really be desperate to get on your good side now,” he noted. “A bucket of water, pre-soaped from this morning’s ablutions courtesy of Rory. That was quite fucking heavy, by the way, my dove. It almost broke my back with its splish-splashing about.”
“Yet you persevered,” Isidore said dryly.
“Well, it’s rather a precious resource, isn’t it? I couldn’t very well spill it and let it go to waste. Speaking of spilling, there’s a canteen of drinking water in there as well, and some prodigious inventor even included a vial of what I can only suppose is …” Pence unscrewed the top of the medicine vial, took one sniff, and promptly started coughing. “A bloody fucking paralytic,” he managed around his coughs. “Dear heart, take it before I spill it everywhere.”
Kyle got there before Isidore. He sniffed it, smiled, and took a sip. Isidore could smell the pungent odor of the rotgut from five feet away; he could only imagine how absolutely foul it had to taste. “How can you possibly drink that?”
Kyle shrugged. “I went to prep school. Alcohol on site was forbidden, so we had to brew our own in secret. Meal bars were a good way to do it, actually; there’s lots of sugar in them. I got drunk off this stuff for the first time when I was fourteen.” He sipped again. “This is better than most of what I got back then, actually.”
“I never thought of prep school as such a dangerous place,” Pence said once he’d caught his breath. “Honestly, drinking that must be like getting kicked in the testicles if your testicles reside in your throat. You’re a masochist of the first order, little lamb.” He cast a sly sidelong glance at Isidore. “My understanding of your preferences has just grown by leaps and bounds, petal. I’d let you hurt me if it truly made you happy.” He pointed at the half-full vial. “But not with that. Bind me, whip me, make me call you ‘papa’ while you bugger me senseless, but leave that vile chemistry out of it.”
“Are you done?” Isidore demanded. “Because if that’s all, you can go.”
Pence frowned. “What, don’t I get a smidgeon of praise for bringing your gifts all this way? Can’t you spare me a soupçon of your regard and, possibly, your largesse for my efforts?”
“You can’t honestly tell me that you haven’t already lifted a meal bar or three from the stash you brought me.”
Pence grinned unrepentantly. “You know me so well, my dove! But only two because I’m not a fool. Much more than that and someone would sniff me out. Still, I’d happily accept a kiss in exchange for my services.”
“You remind me of an old fairy tale,” Kyle said suddenly. “The frog prince. Only in this case, you’re bringing your own golden ball to the princess and demanding that she take it in exchange for a kiss.”
“I like how you so easily cast your mentor in the role of princess. It speaks volumes about your level of comfort together,” Pence remarked. “And I think I’d rather be thought of as … Puss in Boots.”
Isidore wasn’t following, but whatever that meant made Kyle smile. “I can see that.”
“You’re a well-educated man,” Pence congratulated him before returning his attention to Isidore. “Now, darling. Please.”
Whether it was because Pence begged with such blatant insincerity, or because he could make Kyle grin, Isidore decided to be generous. Besides, it had been a long time since he’d seen this much water himself. “How about a hot bath?”
Pence’s eyes went wide. “Petal, don’t tease.”
“I’m serious. Face, hands, underarms, and groin only; this water has to last for all three of us. And don’t even think about getting naked.”
“But you want me to verythoroughlyclean my groin, don’t you?”
“Be as thorough as you like, just stay decent.” Isidore got his welding tool out and opened up the container of slightly gray water. A three-second blast should do it before too much of it went up in steam … He lowered the tip into the water and then turned on the heat.
There was steam by the time he was done, thin, enticing tendrils floating off the top of the water, but almost none of the water was wasted. Pence and Kyle both moved in and dipped their fingertips simultaneously. Kyle seemed pleased, but the look of rapture on Pence’s face verged on orgasmic.
“Hot water,” he breathed. “I haven’t felt hot water since the last time I was forced into the showers. Two years ago now,” he added absently, missing or ignoring the look that Isidore and Kyle shared. “What bliss.”
Isidore sighed. Being nice probably wasn’t going to pay off in the long run, but he couldn’t help it. “You two go first. Don’t use it all.”
“Oh, darling.” The smile Pence turned on him was the most genuine expression he’d ever seen on the man. “You might have to tie me up to stop me, but I’ll try to be good. Thank you.”
Isidore nodded. “You’re welcome.”
Chapter twenty
Today was the day. Wyl was nervous, not a strange reaction to the beginning of what he hoped would be the end, but he was feeling it more than he had thought he would.
It would all come down to timing, every piece of the puzzle having to snap into place at just the right time. There was a little leeway in a few places: as long as Wyl got to the infirmary before Tamara, he could plant the data chip in the drop spot for her. Then she’d need to get to it before anyone else found it, or it was cleared away, but she seemed confident that she could. The chip was smaller than a fingernail and completely transparent, so the odds of someone else finding it when they weren’t actively looking weren’t good. So, they had some breathing room there.
After that it was up to Tamara. She was the one who’d been spending time in the administrative wing, so she had the best idea of when to open all the vents and trigger the gas so that the fewest people would be between her and Warden Harrison. Once the gas was set off, people would fall where they stood andbe out for a good half an hour, or at least that was what Robbie thought.
There were uncertainties there as well. The supply of gas was finite, and it would be dispersed throughout a wider portion of the prison than usual, so it was entirely possible that it would be less potent than the data suggested. Half an hour wasn’t much time for Tamara to break into Harrison’s office, steal the data she needed, and wipe the cameras. Less time than that meant her success would be a toss-up.
If it all went well, then they’d get hard evidence of malfeasance to Garrett by the end of the day and be off this fucking rock in another forty-eight hours. If it didn’t … well, Wyl didn’t care to think about that. He didn’t have time to think about it either. It was time to get this caper started, and that meant getting hit in the face. ThankfuckRobbie was on shift right now.
