Chapter 31

Jack

I was somewhere far away. Around me was an endless blanket of quiet, of solitude. There was no distant yelling, no metallic groaning, and no echoing sounds of footfalls against cement. Those were the sounds of the prison. I wasn't in prison. At least in my mind, I wasn't. Sprawled on the threadbare mattress of my top bunk, I closed my eyes and tried to enjoy every last second of my last night before being shipped off to federal.

It wouldn't be this quiet there, and I wouldn't be so at ease. Worse still, I would be even further from Sadie and Melissa. Life wasn't fair sometimes, I supposed, but this was the kind of thing I'd been preparing for since I first started fighting. Every dog had its day, and every reward had its risk.

My only regret was that I hadn't spent more time with Melissa. It was a cruel twist of fate, letting me get so close to her just before I was locked away for god knows how long. And Sadie, poor Sadie. At least she was out on her own now. I would have never forgiven myself if she got put into foster care because of my stupidity.

The sounds of the prison filtered back into my consciousness. I could only ever hold them at bay for a little while. I sighed and turned on my bunk, letting my feet dangle over the edge while I stared at the opposite wall. My cellmate, a tightly wound Puerto Rican with a jovial sense of humor, was out playing cards with one of his friends. I wondered if I should join him.

A loud metallic clang drew my attention to my cell door, where a guard was rattling his baton against the bars.

"Paxton," he barked. "It's your lucky day."

The way he said it made it sound like it wasn't even in the same week as my lucky day. I slowly lowered myself to the floor and approached the open door, hanging just inside the cell while I assessed the situation.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

He gestured toward the front of the prison with his head. "You're out."

"Out where?"

The guard rolled his eyes and turned on his heel, walking off in the direction he'd gestured. "Come on, Paxton. I ain't got all day."

I walked after him, conscious of the curious stares that followed us down the prison block. My heart hammered with trepidation. Was there some Beringer influence inside the prison too? It didn't seem likely since most of the people here had never even heard of Cannon, but I didn't know how else to explain what was going on. I could only assume that wherever this guy was leading me, I wasn't going to like it. Unfortunately, I wasn't in any position to resist.

"What's going on?" I asked when we reached the secured door leading out of the prison block.

"Exactly what I said," he replied, clearly irritated. "You're being released, meathead."

My jaw fell open in surprise, and I staggered behind him through the door as it opened, then through the next set of doors, until we finally stepped out into the booking area of the prison.

I ran through the motions of my release in a fog. I was still so in shock that it didn't seem real. I kept expecting someone to jump out with a camera crew and tell me I was being pranked. It would be a cruel prank, but it seemed so much more likely that all this was fake than it did that I was a free man.

And then I stepped out onto the dusty front steps of the prison and took my first breath of free air.

Sadie and Melissa were waiting for me by the road, both of their mouths set in wide grins. Sadie ran for me, tackling me in a flying hug and cackling like a madwoman as I spun her around a few times.

"You're free!" she cried. "I can't believe it! Oh my god!" She pulled back and looked up at my face, wrinkling her nose. "You stink."

I rolled my eyes and cuffed her on the shoulder lightly. "I'm afraid the weekend spa outing was canceled this week, so I am inadequately perfumed."

Sadie laughed and backed away, leaving an open path between Melissa and me. She was still a few feet away, probably wanting to stay out of Sadie's way. Our eyes locked.

"Fuck, you're even more beautiful than you are in my dreams, sweetheart." I strode toward her, wrapping a handful of her silky caramel hair in my fist and using it to tip her head back. "You can't be real."

My other arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her tight against my chest until I could feel her tits squeeze against my chest. My cock stirred, coming back to life after what had been a long couple of weeks. For now, I stared at the lines of her face, the curve of her cupid bow's mouth, the roundness of her creamy cheeks. Her eyes were bright and alive, almost like the color of her irises undulated just beneath the surface.

"I missed you," she murmured. "And for the record, I don't think you smell."

I laughed. "Good."

I brushed my lips across Melissa's, still trying to process my incredible luck. She sighed and lifted up her heels to kiss me.

I pulled her even tighter as our kiss bloomed into something fiery and sweet. It tasted of fear and desperation, of need and want and desire so fierce I thought my knees would buckle from the force of it. She sighed into my mouth, and I nibbled on her bottom lip. It was so good to have her in my arms again. It took a significant effort to pull away long enough to catch my breath, then I dove in again and slipped my tongue between her lips ,eliciting a groan of pleasure from my perfect, wonderful girl.

"I worried that I would never get to kiss you again," she murmured.

I let go of her hair and ran my thumb lovingly down her cheek as we gazed deep into each other’s eyes. "I'm here now, and I promise you I am never going to leave you again."

She smiled and looked down. "God, I hope you're right."

"Sweetheart, look at me."

She did as instructed, her long eyelashes fluttering up from her cheeks. The expression was so demure and innocent that I wondered if I would even make it to the car without sliding a hand in her jeans to see if she was just as wet as I was hard. I already knew she would be.

"Never," I said. "I am never leaving you."

She smiled, and I swear I saw her eyes mist with tears. Sadie interrupted us before we could say anything further.

"Not that I don't love prisons as much as the next chick, but would you mind if we got out of here?"

Melissa laughed and grabbed my hand, leading me out toward the parking lot while Sadie filled me in on the details of what had gone on since I last saw them.

"So Donnie is a piece of shit, as we all know, but he really one-upped himself this time. Apparently the night you got arrested he got shitfaced and was bragging to everyone who would listen at the Alibi that bad things happened to people who crossed his family, and how he didn't bend the rules so much as he created them, yadda yadda." She took a breath. "Well anyway, he said similar things to Melissa, and even though they didn't have enough evidence to say he set you up or anything like that, it was enough to get a judge to look into the arrest process. The judge ruled the evidence inadmissible due to the conflict of interest and the lack of proper arrest procedure, and here we are." She raised her hands demonstratively just as we reached Melissa's car. I gave the little beater a tap on the roof, happy to see it again.

"Only thing is..." Melissa piped up, squeezing my hand. "I had to spend the rest of our savings on a fancy lawyer. Your attorney was useless. Sorry babe."

The financial blow sucked, but at least it was better than spending the next several years in prison. I had my life back. I had my girl back. I had a second chance.

"I understand," I said. "You did what you needed to do."

Melissa parted from my side and slipped into the driver's seat. Sadie gestured for me to take the passenger seat and climbed into the back, scooting over until she was in the middle. She popped her head between the two front seats.

"I never thought I'd say this," I said, "but I'm excited to get back to Cannon."

Melissa laughed. "Me too."

We stopped for some food at a greasy burger joint just off the freeway but otherwise drove straight back to Cannon without even stopping for gas. I was glad we didn't make any other detours. I wouldn’t have even wanted to stop for food if I wasn't starving and if prison food wasn't so damn unpalatable. My first real meal was nothing special, but it tasted fucking divine to me.

The motel parking lot was just as I remembered it. I wasn't sure what I expected, considering Cannon was the least likely place to change in the whole country, but I still felt like I should should see things through different eyes. It was almost alarming how easy it was to pretend that the past couple of weeks hadn't happened. It was like I'd been on vacation.

Sadie hopped out of the car first, already pulling her car keys out of her purse.

I rose from the car and rubbed the bank of my arm over my forehead to swipe away the sweat already beading there. It was a hot day. At least I would get to spend the rest of it inside in the air conditioning, rather than out in the yard with a bunch of sweaty guys. Again, I wondered how I could be so fortunate.

I glanced over at Sadie, wondering if she was going to stick around for a while.

"I was going to stay tonight, but I figure you guys probably have some catching up to do," she explained when she saw me looking.

Oh, did we ever. I loved my little sister.

"I'm going to visit next weekend," she continued. "And the three of us are going to celebrate properly."

Melissa came to my side and wrapped her arm around my waist, snuggling in next to me. "Thanks for all your help, Sadie. I could not have gotten through this without you."

"Pfft." Sadie waved her off. "As if you couldn't have. You're a stone, girl."

"I mean it."

Sadie's expression softened, and she bared her teeth in a grin. "I wouldn't have made it without you either. We can buy each other tequila shots next weekend as thanks."

"Deal."

I broke away from Melissa and pulled Sadie into a hug. She squirmed, muttering something about "prison stank", but I didn't let go until I was good and ready. Sadie might pretend like this whole experience was no skin off her back now that it was over, but I knew her better than that. We'd both lost so much in life. Before Melissa came along, each other was all we had.

"Thank you, sis." I kissed the top of her head and let her go. "I can't wait to see you next weekend."

Sadie waved and got into her car. Melissa snuck back under my arm as we watched my sister leave, neither one of us saying anything until her car rumbled out of sight on the long stretch of desert highway.