Dark Destiny by Avelyn Paige
Delilah
“Here we go again,”I mutter as I pull into the tiny parking lot outside of the Travis County State Jail. Finding a spot near the front, I park my van and slump back into the seat. My heart hums inside my chest with the twisting nerves churning in my belly. You’d think after working at the state prison all these years, a county jail wouldn’t bother me too much. But the last time I was here, it was under much different circumstances. The program was barely off the ground, and I made so many mistakes in setting it up. Mistakes that nearly cost me my life. Mistakes that I would never forget or allow to occur again now that I’m back. That’s why I have my rules.
Rule one of working with inmates? Anything can be used against you. If they want it, they’ll make it, take it, or smuggle it in. Protecting myself is, above all else, priority number one. While the prison is more likely to have a riot or rampant violence, the jail is still a dangerous place, even with a lower level of security.
Pulling the visor down in the van, I double check my reflection. My long, dark hair is pulled tightly around the crown of my head in a bun. My gaze then falls down to my outfit. I straighten out my Austin Animal Rescue T-shirt and tuck the hem tightly back into the waistband of my jeans. Feeling around the console, I find my ID from the rescue and clip it to my jeans pocket.
Satisfied, I grab the file with Ashley’s notes and step out of the van into the hot Texas heat. It beats down from above against the blacktop, and it doesn’t take long before a bead of sweat drips down my brow. It takes a special person to like the Texas heat, and days like today make me question if warm, snow free winters are worth living here.
A few visitors loiter around the front entrance when I approach. None of them look happy to be here—not a single one. Visiting hours are normally in the mornings, so if I had to make a guess, these folks are either here for new inmates or picking them up. With a polite nod and a smile, I slide past the older woman leaning next to the buzzer for the front doors and press the button. A loud voice immediately booms out from the speaker box.
“Name?”
“Delilah Walker, Austin Animal Rescue. I’m here to meet, um…” I fumble with my file and find the name of the guard. “Jessica Roscoe?”
“One minute,” the man huffs out. A few minutes tick by, and a lot more sweat drips from my forehead before a loud buzzing comes from the door to my left. “Walker, report to the front desk.”
“Thank you!” I call out, grabbing the door handle. The light shines off the dark cement floor as I make my way to a male guard sitting behind a desk.
At my approach, he looks up and asks, “You the new dog lady?”
“Yes. Owner, actually.”
“What happened to the other one?”
“She moved out of town.”
He frowns. “Shame. She always brought us cookies. You bake?”
“No, sir, I don’t.” I laugh. “I’m not much of a cook, let alone a baker. I wouldn’t subject y’all to that kind of thing.” Truth be told, I mostly ate takeout vegan meals from a local Mom-and-Pop shop down the street. Years back, their son was looking for a volunteer job for his college applications, and I helped him out, so they always give me a discount. With the hours I keep, it just makes things easier. I can’t remember the last time I actually made something that didn’t come pre-made or out of a can.
“Too bad,” he chuckles. “Roscoe will be with you in a few minutes. She’s finishing up her rounds in the women’s unit.” He points to the left of the main area. “Feel free to head on over to our break room if you’d like to wait there. Might be some donuts left over from the carry-in this morning if you’re hungry.”
“Thanks.” Pivoting, I head off toward the room and push through the cracked door. Thankfully, no one’s inside. The man at the front desk was right about the donuts, but I opt for a cup of coffee instead. Being vegan definitely makes finding things on the go harder, but it is what it is. Coffee in hand, I plop down at a smaller table near the back end of the room.
While I wait, I pull out Ashley’s notes and review them again. There are thirteen participants currently enrolled in the program, down from fifteen, which is normally our max. The inmates are mostly older men incarcerated for theft or drug-related charges. The youngest man was newly accepted into the program, and had developmental disabilities. Ashley had made special notes in his file about needing to find him the right fit for his new canine companion. She left me a list of a few possibilities, but it normally works best to see which animal connects with the person first. Once I met him, I’d have a better idea of which of our available dogs I should bring with me next time for a trial run.
“Miss Walker?”
I nearly jump out of my skin when I hear my name being called. My coffee tips over onto my papers and soaks them. Springing into action, I grab a stack of paper towels from the counter next to me and furiously attempt to clean up my mess. Get it together, Delilah. Rule number two? Know your surroundings.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” She stifles a laugh at my expense. “I hope I didn’t ruin anything important.”
“No, no, this is my fault. I should’ve been paying more attention.” Finally, wiping away the last of my coffee from the table, I toss the soaked paper towels into the trash can, rub my palms on my jeans to dry them off, and extend my hand out to her. “I’m Delilah.”
She reaches out and shakes it. “Please, call me Jessica.” She’s more petite than I expected. Not that I’m tall by any means, but for her line of work, I would’ve expected someone… well, bigger. “Ready to see the kennels? I have about twenty minutes before I need to relieve someone for their break, so I hope you don’t mind walking and talking.”
“Not a problem at all. Makes things easier for me, to be honest.”
“This way, then.” She ushers me out of the break room and down a hallway.
“How long has it been since you’ve been here?”
“Years. Once we got the program off to a good start, Ashley took over so that I could establish the program at the state prison.”
“Ah. So before the expansion.”
“Yes. When we first started the program here, the jail had been much smaller than it is now.”
“It’ll take some getting used to, but I’ll be here to help navigate until you get your GPS set for the layout.” We stop at a large intersection of the hallway, and she zips left. As fast as she walks, it’s hard to get a feel for the direction we’re going.
“Are there other guards that help with the program?”
“Just a few. We’ve had some personnel shifts over the last few weeks, and we’re a bit short-staffed. The new kennel area is heavily monitored, of course, as is most of the building, but I would suggest making sure a guard is with you at all times. Working at the prison, you’re probably used to a whole team of them helping out, huh?”
“I wouldn’t say a ‘team,’ but they have dedicated personnel to support the program.”
“Wish I could say the same for here, but prisons have bigger budgets than we do. You know how that goes.” Unfortunately, I do. AAR lived on donations for care of the animals and our expenses, whereas jails had to rely on tax money from local residents. At least their funds were guaranteed, where ours wavered from month-to-month. Some are better than others.
We twist and turn down a few more hallways before hitting a dead-end with a large monitored door. Swiping her badge, she ushers me into a large open room that erupts with barking dogs the second we step inside, and gains us everyone’s attention.
“Listen up, guys. This here is Miss Walker.” She waves her hand in my direction. With a smile, I give a small wave to the audience in the room. “She’s taking over for Miss Ashley. You’ll treat her with respect, you hear me?”
“Yes, ma’am,” a few of them mutter back. One of the older men gives me a smile and wink as we move closer to the kennels, filled with happy, wagging tails. They look spirited and healthy, thriving in a more settled environment, instead of being cooped up inside the rescue in cages. Seeing the success of our hard work with this program fills me with pride.
A bulldog presses his snout into my leg as I pass by the first kennel. He takes in a big whiff and yips. Leaning down, I scratch his ears. “Hey, Diesel. How are you doing, buddy?” He licks my hand and wags his tail like a propeller.
“What have I told you about licking, D? Don’t lick the ladies,” an older inmate chastises as he approaches me from inside the kennel. “Sorry. We’ve been working on that.”
“This is Ted,” Jessica advises. He’s the main caretaker for kennel time. Waving for me to move on to the other kennels, she introduces me to everyone, one by one. The last is a giant of a man, sitting on the ground at the back of the kennel room, staring into an empty cage.
“Who’s that?”
“Buddy. He’s the newest member of the group. Did Ashley mention him?” she whispers.
Something inside my head clicks. He’s the participant waiting for his dog. I can see what she meant now by a special dog for a special case.
“Did she bring me my puppy?” Buddy asks with enormous brown eyes that glaze over with sadness when he sees I’ve come empty-handed.
“I’m sorry, Buddy, I didn’t. But when I come next time, I’ll bring a new friend for you to play with. That sound okay?”
His face fills with childlike glee. “Do you think the puppy will like me?”
“I think it will. Have you had a puppy before, Buddy?”
“No. My dad wouldn’t let me have one.” He grimaces. “He didn’t want no damn dog in his house.” His voice turns cold, and I look at Jessica, who just shakes her head.
“Well, I’m sorry to hear that, but you know what? I’ll make sure to bring you the most special dog we have. How does that sound?’
“Can you bring him tomorrow?”
“Maybe not tomorrow, but I’ll be back in a few days.”
“Tomorrow would be better, but okay.” Buddy shifts his gaze back to the empty cage, like if he stares long enough, his dog will magically appear.
Jessica gestures for me to follow her out of the kennel.
“Buddy’s certainly interesting,” I note.
“He’s awaiting trial for murdering his father.”
A gasp. “You’ve got to be kidding, right?”
“Not in the slightest. By all accounts, he’s the deadliest man in the program, and you’d do best to keep your eye on him.”
“If he’s that dangerous, why did he get approved for the program at all? We only allow non-violent offenders to work with the dogs.” Better yet, why didn’t Ashley run this by me? The criteria we put in place was to protect the dogs from harm. If this man is violent, he shouldn’t be around the animals at all.
“The sheriff thought a companion animal would help keep him calm. It’s your call now as the program director, but I hope you consider keeping him on. He has yet to show any aggression, so we believe he should be fine working with you, just as he was with Ashley when she was evaluating him with one of the other dogs.”
“I’ll have to review his file more before I can agree on anything.” An instant pang of guilt punches me in the stomach, knowing I made a promise to bring him a dog at my next visit. Lord have mercy, he may have killed a guy, and I’m worried about hurting his feelings. Come on, now, Walker.
“While you’re doing that, I pulled the files for all the current participants. They’re in my office, if you’d like to follow me.” Oh, fun. Homework on my first day.
With a silent sigh, I fall in line behind her, and with each step, I wonder exactly how many more surprises Ashley left behind for me.