Dark Destiny by Avelyn Paige
StoneFace
A guardI hadn’t seen before steps inside my cell. “You have a visitor downstairs. I’m heading that way, so I’ll take you.”
“Not interested,” I say, going back to my push-ups.
The guard watches as I pound out another ten and keep going. “Someone’s here to see you,” he repeats. “Someone cares enough to drive all the way here for you.”
Sighing, I get to my feet. “And I’m still not fucking interested.”
Instead of arguing, he shakes his head and disappears around the corner.
I don’t know exactly who’s here to visit me, but I can certainly guess. The Black Hoods MC are the only friends and family I have. They’re the only ones who would care I was locked up at all.
They also have no idea about what’s going on. They don’t know what I’m planning, and they don’t need the blowback of my shit stinking up the club for the rest of them. Though whoever’s here won’t like it, they might as well fuck right off. As soon as I got locked in here, I was no longer a Black Hood.
“StoneFace, guess what!”
I turn to see Buddy striding into my cell, the grin on his face wide enough to block out the sun. “Hey, man. You look happy.”
“I am.” Plunking his ass down on my bed, his smile grows even wider. “I met Miss Lilah today, and she sure is pretty. She’s gonna bring me a puppy next time she comes, and I got a kennel for him already. I got to clean it out, and everybody—”
“Whoa,” I say, putting my hand up to stop him. “You’re going too fast, pal. What are you talking about? A Lilah, a puppy, and a kennel. What’s all that shit?”
Buddy’s eyes dance with more excitement than I’ve ever seen on a grown ass man before. “Miss Lilah is the dog lady. She brings dogs in that have no homes so people like me, who have been bad, still have a chance to have a puppy to love us.”
There’s a lot to unpack in those few sentences, and I have to really think about which part I want to address first. I have no idea why Buddy’s here in lockup. I’ve never asked because it’s none of my fucking business. Yet what he’d just said, about being bad, has made me genuinely curious.
But he’s so happy, so I decide instead to address the other topic. “You’re getting a dog?”
Buddy nods so fast, I’m surprised his eyeballs aren’t spinning around in their sockets. “A nice one too, and he’s gonna love me—I know he will.”
I clap my hand down on his shoulder. “That’s badass news, bro. Congrats. And, of course, he’ll fucking love ya, because dogs are awesome.”
He squirms with excitement. “You should see some of the dogs the other guys get to have. Ted has Diesel, and Glover has Rover. Shanks has Boots, and the new guy, Elscher, got to bring his dog with him. Her name is Missy, and she’s so pretty, and…”
He’s still talking, but I can no longer hear a word he’s saying. My ears are ringing, and I suddenly feel like I’m stuck inside a tunnel at just the mention of that motherfucker’s name—Elscher.
There are nearly two thousand inmates housed here at Travis County Jail. You could be here for five years and still not meet everyone living within these walls. But Elscher is an uncommon name. What are the chances that this Elscher fuck that Buddy just mentioned is the one I came here to find?
Buddy’s lying back on my bed now, one knee bent, his right ankle crossed over it as he chatters happily about the animal rehab program.
“How do I get in?” I ask, interrupting him again.
“Huh?”
“The dog program. How do I get in?”
Buddy swings his long legs over the side of the bed and sits up. “Oh, it’s not just a dog program. There are kitties too. And one guy even has a potbellied pig. I’d love a pig.”
Blood rushes through my veins so fast, I can hear every single drop as it makes its journey through my body. “How do I get in?”
Buddy shrugs. “I don’t know. One of the guards got me in.”
I glance out the door, down to where the guards sit in the bubble, and spot the one who’d given me the nod after sticking up for Buddy. I haven’t seen or heard from him since, but the chances of him recommending me would be better if Buddy came along to ask. I could be his protection, help make their jobs a little easier, even.
“You think they’d let me in?”
Buddy looks almost giddy. “Miss Lilah will let you in—she has to!”
I couldn’t care less about Miss Lilah. I feel a little guilty using Buddy to get me closer to Elscher, but I may not get a chance to otherwise. If I can’t get to him, this will all have been for nothing. The last eighteen years will have been for nothing.
“Why don’t you come with me and we’ll ask?”
“Okay.”
Buddy and I make our way down the stairs, heading straight for the bubble, when a man I’ve never seen before bumps me with his shoulder. Placing something discreetly in my hand, he says in a low voice, “Judge sends his regards.”
I turn to see who the man is, but he disappears into a crowd of inmates standing around in a circle, rapping.
I guess that answers the question of who my visitor had been. Judge is the president of the Black Hoods MC, and he wouldn’t have taken too kindly to me refusing to see him. I do my best to appear like nothing’s happening, and tuck it into the waistband of my pants.
It’s sharp and long. There’s no question that what I have in my pants is a prison-made knife, otherwise known as a shiv.
Fucking Judge.
Buddy’s already at the guard station, talking animatedly to the guard, gesturing to me as I approach.
I don’t know what he says to the guy, but I don’t even have to speak. When I pull up beside Buddy, the guard is already nodding his head. “I’ll see what I can do.”