Grizz
1990, Prison, North Florida
Grizz stood over the sink in his cell and watched the blood trickle down the drain. The metallic smell was even more obvious as he realized some of Robert Ringer’s blood had also settled itself in his beard.
A quick glance in the mirror—an item that definitely shouldn’t have been in a death row inmate’s cell—told him he was right. He grabbed the bar of soap and scrubbed away the last evidence of what he’d done. Not that it mattered. He wouldn’t be interrogated. The guard who’d looked the other way after unlocking Ringer’s cell would be taking his family on a very nice vacation with the money that would show up in his bank account. Money that, if questioned, would look like a reimbursement from his mortgage company for a major miscalculation in his escrow fund. That is, if anybody even bothered to look. That same guard would make sure Grizz’s bloody clothes would be tossed in the prison’s furnace.
After hearing Kit gave birth to a son, Grunt’s son, Grizz needed to find an outlet for his fury. He decided on the prison’s most famous and despised serial killer, Bobby Ringer. Unfortunately, to Grizz’s disappointment, Ringer didn’t put up a fight. He went down too quickly, not giving Grizz the time he needed to burn off his anger. Grizz looked down at his blood-free hands and realized he hadn’t even bruised his knuckles. Fucking milquetoast.
He lay down on his bed and laced his fingers behind his head. He glanced at the ceiling and thought about her. Kit. He thought about being in the delivery room for the birth of their daughter. Even though it was a beautiful memory, a good memory, it made his chest feel heavy, and his soul feel empty.
Another memory found its way into his thoughts. This one not so good.
He stiffened when he remembered the look in Kit’s eyes when he’d refused to see Mimi when Kit had brought their newborn to the jail. He’d had no choice. They watched him closely back then. He wanted Kit and Mimi as far away from him as possible. He’d caved a few times, letting Kit see him first in jail and then prison. But after Grunt’s visit, telling him how much she was suffering and him knowing he was being selfish and putting her in potential danger, he’d finally told her to stay away. To have her life with Grunt. That it was okay if she loved Grunt.
His jaw clenched at the pain that memory invoked.
He’d had a face to face with Grunt when her pregnancy had gotten back to him. The pregnancy was painful to hear about, but he was able to tuck it away. But then, hearing she’d actually given birth to Grunt’s child sent him over the edge and faded any hope, even false hope, that they’d be together again.
And how could he even let himself hope when, as far as she was concerned, he was being put to death? Hell. Maybe he was going to be put to death. Maybe they didn’t care if what he had on them went public. They’d been fucking with him for five years now.
The worst part was they knew she’d moved on with her life. They knew it was probably torturing him, and they were reveling in it. They were enjoying his pain.
Or maybe they weren’t. Maybe they didn’t give a shit. Maybe what he’d found all those years ago was no longer important. He wouldn’t know because they ignored every attempt he’d made to set up a meeting. Motherfuckers.
He swiped his hand over his face and tugged on his beard. He would now need to get a message to Carter to make sure the guard was compensated appropriately. He smiled as he thought about how well the communication system he’d set up with Carter through her inmate/canine rehabilitation program was working. He remembered summoning Carter almost five years ago to the county jail while he was awaiting trial.
“You said to let you know if you could ever do anything for me,” he’d said to her. They were sitting in the same room Kit had been shown into weeks earlier, when he’d suggested a middle name if their baby was a girl. Ruth, his little sister’s name.
Carter had looked at him wide-eyed and tried to put on a brave front, but Grizz could tell she was nervous. A dank and mildew-laced room in the county jail with an alleged murderer was obviously outside of her comfort zone. He tried to put her mind at ease.
“First, thank you for staying with her. I know she won’t let Grunt live there, and it’s not good for her to be alone. Especially with a baby on the way.”
She visibly relaxed and gave him a smile. She tucked some of her chin-length brown hair behind an ear and told him, “You’re welcome, and it’s easy being there. I love Kit more than I could love a sister, and it’s working out for me, too. I’ve been taking home some of the animals from the shelter and, well—”
She caught herself. She had no way of knowing if he approved of her using their land to foster abandoned pets.
“I know what you’ve been doing with the animals, and it’s okay,” he quietly told her. “As a matter of fact, that’s what I want to talk to you about today. If anybody asks, though, we’re talking about Kit and how you’re there to make her life easier. Got it?”
Carter nodded her understanding. They continued their discussion in hushed tones. He’d just finished telling her what he wanted her to do when there was a quick knock on the door, and the guard came in.
“Five minutes, Talbot.” He shut the door without waiting for Grizz’s reply.
It was then that Grizz asked Carter for another favor.
“I need to tell you about the blue bandana hanging on my bike in the garage.”
Carter listened to what he told her, nodding before the guard returned to escort Grizz back to his cell.
Now, Grizz sighed as he continued to stare at his ceiling. He was relieved Kit hadn’t worn the blue bandana. He was also disappointed. She didn’t need him. It was to be expected, and it wasn’t like he could’ve personally come to her rescue. He could’ve arranged it, but he couldn’t be the one to physically execute it.
Execute. What an appropriate word.
Lying on his bed now, he crossed his legs and thought about how flawlessly the dog ministry was working. It wasn’t his only means of communicating with the outside world, but it was a major one. He knew the warden and guards looked the other way as the inmates took on the responsibility of cleaning up after the dogs. Grizz made sure they put on a show of whisking the dog’s shit to a private place to bag it up for the incinerator. Everyone looked the other way as they surmised the inmates sorted through the fecal matter for tiny rubber balloons filled with contraband.
Grizz chuckled to himself. There were no rubber balloons. Yes, Grizz had drugs brought into the prison, but not through the dogs like the prison brass thought. It was a decoy for what he was really doing. Sending coded messages through tiny compartments sewn into the dog’s collars.
Each dog had a collar that represented their stage of training. A blue collar represented a brand new dog that had been brought to the prison and sometimes carried a message from Carter. Yellow meant they were halfway through their training. Red meant they were close to graduating from the program, and black meant they were ready to leave the prison and be placed with someone that had special needs.
It was arranged so every dog with a black collar had to go back to Carter’s organization in Fort Lauderdale. The black collars were removed, and they were given new ones. The collars were then sent to Carter for recycling.
Carter checked the collars for any messages and discreetly and anonymously had the cryptic notes sent to the intended recipients. Sometimes the recipients were inmates in different facilities throughout the State of Florida. He didn’t use the system very often, but it was in place for some of Grizz’s more important business. If anyone suspected Kit’s friend was helping him move drugs or communicate through the various prison systems, they looked the other way or just didn’t care.
Some dogs would be graduating soon, Grizz thought, and he needed Carter to get a message to Bill to make sure the guard who gave him access to Ringer’s cell was compensated. Bill would handle it electronically. Grizz smiled as he thought how that would be one message that wouldn’t need to be delivered anonymously. He had no way of knowing his casual suggestion to Bill—William Petty—to seek out Carter for a job would turn into love. Just like Bill had told him back in 1988, he’d managed to get released early.
Grizz had known Bill had a soft spot for animals, and he’d suggested maybe he could work with Carter on the very real and legitimate side of her rescue organizations. Apparently, their mutual love for animals turned into a real romance. They’d quickly married and were now living in Grizz’s house at Shady Ranches.
He did have one request, though. He didn’t want Kit to have any knowledge Bill had known Grizz from prison. That seemed like one part of Bill’s past he was only too willing not to share, and the three agreed to keep it to themselves.
As Bill and Carter’s marriage flourished, Bill continued to stay somewhat involved with her animal charities, but Grizz knew he’d found legitimate employment within his field of expertise—computers. Not the programming or software side of computers. He’d continued to keep his hacking skills to himself. No, Bill thrived in computer hardware sales. Apparently, he could sell garlic to a vampire, and his sales commissions were impressive. Nobody ever suspected he was a freaking genius when it came to infiltrating computer systems.
Thinking about Bill and Carter and the home he’d shared with Kit caused his mind to drift even more. He thought about happier times. He thought about that house. How it was not just a house, but a home. The only real home he’d ever known. Of course, anywhere with Kit would be a real home. He remembered how he’d made good on his declaration to her when it was being built that he would make love to her in every room of that house.
The memory was so real he could smell her hair and feel her warm, sweet breath on his neck. He let the memory swallow him whole as his hand reached inside his pants and roughly pulled out his cock.
He let his mind drift to a time when they’d just finished making love and were lying side by side, Kit nestled in his arms. They were talking about whether or not they’d just made a baby.
“I feel like I’m pregnant,” she’d said, and the expectation in her voice was heartwarming.
He’d chuckled and pulled her closer to kiss the top of her head.
“Kitten, I barely just pulled my dick out of you. How could you feel like you’re knocked up?”
She leaned up on her elbow to look at him. “Why does every sentence in your vocabulary have to be so crude?”
He raised an eyebrow and gave her a serious look.
“You’re right, sweetheart. You’ve asked me to watch my mouth before. How about this? Kitten, I barely just withdrew my penis from inside of you. How could you feel like I’ve impregnated you so soon?” Before she could comment, he added, “Or would you prefer ‘throbbing member’ or maybe ‘rod of love’ instead of penis?”
She’d started laughing then. “I get it. For some reason, crude does sound more natural coming from you.”
“And just to show you I don’t mean to be crude when our first son is born, we’ll name him Richard and call him Dick. That way you’ll never associate that word with my throbbing member.”
“You are such a butthead, Grizz. I’m not calling our first son, Dick, especially when your intention is the opposite. I’ll never call our son that name without thinking of your penis.” She looked heavenward. “Which was probably your intention all along, right? For me to always be thinking about your rod of love?”
He remembered thinking how much he loved her innocence. How she responded in his arms with the passion of a woman that rivaled his own desires, but her teasing and use of names like butthead endeared her to him even more. He’d only ever known hard women before falling in love with Kit. Women who’d liked trying to shock him with their filthy language and boldness in the bedroom. Their willingness to do anything. He’d thought he liked it, too. He’d been wrong.
She reached for a pillow that had been tossed aside and swung it at his head, but he blocked it and grabbed her wrist, pulling her up on top of him. He gently grabbed the back of her head with his free hand and pulled her face down to his.
The kiss started slow and became more heated as she felt his hardness beneath her. She pulled away and looked down at him.
“Again? Already?”
“Yes, again, Kit. You want to make that baby don’t you?” he teased.
He took the break in their kiss as an opportunity to sit up straight pulling her with him. With his back against the headboard, he tenderly lowered her onto his hardness.
Now, on his prison cot, he closed his eyes, letting the memory of her tight warmness envelop him. He remembered breathing deeply to catch the scent of her that floated up between them. The heady mixture that was uniquely Kit’s always caused him to get hard. Then, when he’d actually experienced it, and now, just remembering it.
She’d started to slowly glide up and down on him. Her pace was quickening, and he moved his hand to where he could gently massage her with his thumb, knowing the exact rhythm that would bring her to orgasm. He realized he was going to come quickly, too, but he didn’t want to. Not yet. He wanted to savor her just a bit longer.
“Stop, Kit. Slow down, baby.”
She stopped and looked at him.
Taking her face in his hands, he brought his mouth down to hers. “I want to kiss on you for a few minutes. I can’t do that if you’re bouncing up and down.”
He remembered kissing her then, slowly making his way down her neck, stopping to ask her to kneel up so he could take one of her full, beautiful breasts into his mouth. He mourned the loss of her warm tightness as she raised herself off of him, but quickly reveled in the taste and feel of her nipple as it hardened beneath his tongue. He remembered.
A loud knock on his cell door jolted him from the memory. He barely had time to shove his dick back into his pants when the door swung open.
The guard stood there with a shit-eating grin on his face. He’d obviously peeked through the slot and knew what he’d interrupted. The murderous look Grizz gave him caused his smile to fade, and his discomfort became obvious.
“Errr ... someone here to see you. Maybe she can help you finish what you started?” He gulped and tugged at his collar. It suddenly felt tight around his neck.
The guard stepped aside, and a woman that Grizz didn’t know breezed inside the cell like she owned the place.
“Lighten up, Grizz. I told him to make sure we weren’t interrupting anything.”
She glanced at the tented area of Grizz’s pants and raised an eyebrow. Cocking her hip to one side and hooking her well-manicured fingers through the loop in her jeans, she said in a voice that Grizz recognized immediately.
“Looks like I got here just in time, honey.”