Free Hard Case Crime: The Max by Jason Starr Ken Bruen Page A

sing, “Benny and the Jets.” Was it horrible, man, or what? Even worse than having to hear Elt himself do it.
    The guy added, “That there medal, always wanted me one of those babes. You want some recreational drugs? That there is the freight, muchacho .”
    Carlito snapped himself out of his reverie, tried to pay attention to the guy holding onto his hand. Leader of the Crips. His mouth went dry and he smiled like some wetback fresh from the border.
    Sino swept his arm round the yard, said, “Who you with?” Then in a mocking tone, continued. “I tell you, fish, you with nobody. You got, like, de nada , you hear me, fish?’
    Carlito did.
    Sino said, “See those hombres over there? Yeah, the ones lookin’ at you, like you a big juicy empanada . They gonna run a line through yo skinny ass, you don’t be with somebody.”
    Carlito was already crying, bawling like a damn baby.
    Sino moved in close, said, “Yo, you join my crew, you be safe, know what I’m talkin’ about?”
    Carlito nodded. He’d have joined the army at this stage. Anything. Sino palmed him a toothbrush, handmade blade embedded on the top, said, “Yo, you wanna make some bones, you show yo’ got cojones . Know what I talkin’ about, jefe ?”
    Carlito wanted to run, but where?
    Sino looked at his watch, a shiny TAG Heuer knock-off, said, “Twelve noon, fat middle-aged white dude, takes his shower on C... you go rip him a new one, comprende ?”
    Sino sauntered off and Carlito began a whole new set of tremors.
    At twelve noon Carlito headed to the showers. He’d managed to score some bennies from the guy he’d rode the bus up with. Cost him his gold Miraculous Medal he’d always worn. In a haze of drug-induced adrenaline and outright fear, he saw the fat white dude and launched himself. The phrase It got away from him might be appropriate here. He was still slashing and chopping when the guards clubbed him senseless. One of them, who’d seen most all a prison could offer, muttered, “Holy Mother of Christ.”
    And too bad for Sino, what remained of the fat dude on the shower floor was the armaments guy for the Aryan Brotherhood.
    Carlito heard another guard say, “ Hombre , you just fucked yourself good,” and everything faded out.

Nine
    “A caged woman is a beast of ferocious instinct.”
    S EÑOR R ODRIGUEZ
    When they brought Angela to the prison in Lesbos her first thought was, Jaysus, this place lives up to its name. She was brought to a holding cell with eight other women. Each was hotter than the last and most of them were in micro-minis, skimpy tube tops, a couple even in bikinis. Most were talking in Greek, and a couple of blondes were talking in some other language, maybe Swedish.
    Angela went up to one of the blondes and asked for a smoke. Jaysus, with the day she’d had, she could’ve used a whole carton.
    The woman’s friend, the other Swede, slid one out of a pack.
    Angela took it, held it out for a light, said, “I’m Angela.”
    “Inga,” the woman with the cigarettes said. “This is Katina.”
    Angela asked, “So is this a prison or a nightclub?”
    Thought she was making a joke, but Katina said, “Both.”
    “There was a raid at Niko’s last night,” Inga explained. “Heroin or something.”
    “But we have nothing to do with it,” Katina said.
    She sounded a little too defensive. Angela glanced down, noticed the track marks on her skinny arms.
    “Yes, we were just there, you know, partying, when the police come,” Inga said. “How do you say, the wrong places at the wrong times?”
    Thinking, The story of me life , Angela asked, “So what did they charge you with?”
    “We do not know what’s going on,” Inga said. “They told us nothing. They just bring us here, that’s it.”
    “We are, how do you say,” Katina said, “in the dark.”
    “What about you?” Inga asked. “What did you do?”
    “Oh, nothing,” Angela said. “I was just having a drink, minding my own business, and next