Something to Die For by Kaye Blue

Seven

Lucas

I staredat the cuff on my wrist, the weight of it there more familiar than its absence.

Then I looked at hers, thick but still feminine, the metal bracelet looking ugly, heavy, out of place on it.

“First time you’re in handcuffs?” I asked.

“No,” she responded surprisingly, even though, after all that had happened today, my capacity for surprise should have been gone.

“Where’s the key?”

“I don’t know. But if I were to guess, I’d say in the warden’s office or the security closet.”

“You mean the warden’s office or security closet at the other end of this block?” I asked.

“That would be the one.”

Her expression was calm, but I didn’t miss how heavy her breathing was.

Couldn’t, not with the rapid rise and fall of her breasts capturing my attention even in this moment, one where my mind should have been on anything but that.

“I should saw your fucking hand off with that saw.”

She shrugged. “You can try, but it’s not as easy as they make it look on TV.”

“I know, and the twenty minutes it would take for me to get through the bone is time I don’t have.”

If she was surprised by my familiarity with dismemberment, she didn’t let it show.

“Sounds like we agree, so we should get moving,” she said with a quick nod.

“That was so fucking stupid. I don’t know what you’re think you’re doing,” I said, my voice low, intimidating, not that it got to her.

“You didn’t seem inclined to escort me out. So just think of it as me appealing to your better nature,” she said.

“I don’t have one of those.”

I glared at her, shook my head, and then refocused.

I didn’t necessarily want to leave her to whatever horrible fate she would have been risking, but this was a complication I didn’t need.

Something was happening, something bad, and if I played my cards right, I could be a ghost before anyone thought to look for me. Which meant I didn’t have time to play the good guy for the first time in my life.

She had taken that choice away from me, something that made me want to choke the shit out of her and at the same time increased my admiration for her.

Not that I would ever tell her so.

Instead, I leveled her with the most intimidating stare I could muster and held her gaze until I was certain I had her full attention.

“I don’t know what’s on the other side of those bars. Do what I say, when I say. Once I get you to the other side of this block, your cars and cash are mine,” I said.

“Deal,” she responded.

The readiness with which she agreed told me that I should have pressed harder, but I didn’t belabor the point.

Instead, I watched as she pulled the scalpel out of her pocket, clenching it tight in the hand that wasn’t cuffed to mine, and then looked at me expectantly.

“Let’s go,” I said, for the first time feeling the need to whisper.

My heart was racing, adrenaline running through me, but I let a deep breath out and felt myself calm.

I didn’t know what was out there, but I knew this was as close to freedom as I was ever going to get.

I wouldn’t waste the opportunity.