Page 72 of Scarlett Thief (Criminal Underground 2)

Epilogue

Scarlett

Deswood Correctional Facility

2 months later…

“Do you have any weapons or contraband on you?”

I shook my head, handing over my ID for the guard to scan. He looked at the face of my driver’s license and the visitation log before nodding and handing it back. “Here you go. I’ll need you to put your jacket and bag through the scanner and walk through the metal detector, and the officer on the other side will escort you to the visitation station.”

“Thank you.” I flashed him a friendly smile before slipping my ID back in my pocket and following his instructions.

Once I was through the metal detector, I didn’t have to wait long to collect my jacket and follow the officer waving for me to do so. The facility was a solid concrete structure. The scent of dirty socks, body odor, and greasy food filled the hallways. I grimaced, fighting back the urge to gag. It was a good thing I’d never ended up on the wrong side of the prison bars—I didn’t think my nose could handle it for an extended stay.

I reached the small room with a plexiglass partition. There was a metal stool bolted to the floor, a metal table at the base of the window, and black plastic phones attached to the wall on either side of the see-through divide.

With a quiet thank you to the escorting officer, I took a seat and waited. Scanning the other side of the visitation booth, I looked over the inmate side on the top level of the housing unit. The inmates down in the dayroom sat at similar metal tables and chairs bolted to the ground, playing card games, talking, or watching one of the TVs hung high off the ground in the far corners.

Perfect,I thought.I’ll be able to see almost everything from right here.

Jaxson appeared a few moments later, his scrubs a dingy beige. The second he saw me, his eyes narrowed, suspicion glimmering in the dark depths as he took his seat opposite me and picked up the phone.

“Hello, Scarlett,” he said coolly—but even he couldn’t completely hide the rage simmering under the surface. “What brings you here?”

“I just wanted to see you…” I said before pausing. I watched as the suspicion in his face changed, transforming quickly from calm to angry, before finally settling on his usual cool cocky arrogance. “In a place where you truly belong,” I finally finished, loving how the smile fell into a harsh scowl.

“Oh, I’m sure it won’t be the last time we see each other, love. I don’t expect I’ll be in a place like this for long.”

I laughed and shook my head. “Jaxson, you don’t think you’re getting out of this, do you?”

“For something as petty as stealing a necklace—nice switch, by the way,” he said sarcastically as his scowl deepened. “Didn’t think you’d have the balls to pull that off.”

“No, you probably expected to come back into my life, slap me around a bit to remind me of my place, and then use me again,” I deadpanned.

“You’re pussy, darling,” Jaxson replied, not denying it. “It’s what you were made for.”

I’d expected him to say as much. “Well, guess you forgot,” I said. “Pussies have claws. And I’ve ensured that you won’t be walking out from behind those bars ever again.”

He scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Of course I will. Or have you forgotten my skills and resources? You may have some new friends, but they can’t keep me in here.”

I shrugged. “I never said they would,” I replied with a smile.

Jaxson stared at me, frowning in confusion, and when he realized I wasn’t going to say anything more, he stood and chuckled.

“I think we’re done here,” he said. “Just know you’ll be seeing me again soon enough, love. You can bet on that.” With a loud thud, he slammed the phone down and strode away.

I stood as well, returning my phone gently to the cradle. The officer behind me said something, but my eyes were locked on the partition as Jaxson turned and walked back the way he’d come. Another inmate with a shaved head and neck tattoo got up from his table, his eyes never leaving Jaxson as he descended the metal grate stairs.

There’s more than me now to protect,I told myself. There was Miranda and Hadrian and Wolf. My family. I wasn’t going to feel guilty for what I’d set in motion asking for Gaven’s help. So when the inmate got close enough to Jaxson as he made it out onto the main floor and lunged at him, I didn’t flinch.

I watched every single second.

Five swift jabs with a homemade shiv to vital parts of Jaxson’s neck and torso, followed by a final blow to his dick. Blood sprayed the floor and walls and the officer made a radio call that I couldn’t hear over the shouting of other inmates, all of them staring at what was happening until finally, a thundering of footsteps filled the room and a crowd of officers entered the unit.

The men and women in uniform wrestled the weapon-wielding inmate, but I didn’t look anywhere except at Jaxson as he lay on the ground, choking on his own blood. Even from up here, I could see the stark realization transform his bloody features.

He’ll never walk out from behind bars ever again.That’s what I’d said, and I’d meant it—just not in the way he thought. His eyes lifted to mine, wide and horrified.

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