Free Freak by Jennifer Hillier Page A

the feel of the metal against her skin. “Celia was telling me about that place. She says there are a lot of little nooks and crannies where two people can sneak off and be alone for a few minutes without anybody noticing.” Celia was Abby’s cellmate, and she’d said no such thing.
    “I’m your boyfriend?” Mark smiled. “I like that.”
    Of course that would be the one thing he’d jump on. So fucking predictable. All married men were. “Unless I’m just a fling.”
    “Of course not.” He moved in close and kissed her again. “You’re so much more than that. I think about you every minute of every day. I dream about you. When I wake up in the morning, I’m hard because—”
    “We should go,” she said. “They’re going to wonder what we’re still doing in here.”
    Sighing, he unlocked the door and led her out, his arm on her elbow. Both of them nodded to Sergeant Briscoe, who was standing a few feet away from the door as if she’d been about to come in. She frowned at them, her middle-aged eyes narrowed into slits. Her gaze lingered on Abby’s face a little longer than necessary. Abby smirked. Briscoe looked away.
    “Hey, Sergeant,” Mark said easily enough, guiding Abby past the older woman and down the hallway.
    “Officer Cavanaugh.” Briscoe’s voice was flat.
    The COs were always careful not to refer to each other by their first names. It was prison policy, a way to keep their identities safe, not that it made any difference. It wasn’t hard to find out what you needed to know. It had taken Abby five seconds to learn Mark’s first name.
    “How much longer before you get me what I asked for?” she murmured as she and Mark headed down the hallway. They paused in front of the double doors at the back of thebuilding, and a second later were buzzed through. They had to cross the quad in order to reach the Close Custody Unit where Abby was housed. “I need a replacement. I can’t go any longer with one that isn’t working properly.”
    “Oh yeah, I meant to tell you.” Mark stared straight ahead, not smiling. Out here, there were cameras everywhere, and someone would be watching. His tone, though, gave away his excitement. “The new one’s under your bunk. Make sure Celia doesn’t see it.”
    “That might be a little difficult.”
    “The less who know, the better.” They paused at another set of doors, and waited a moment. Finally Mark yelled, “Open!” and a second later, the doors buzzed open.
    Mark steered Abby past the guard’s booth to a glaringly bright blue metal door a few feet away. Pausing for a moment, both of them looked through the huge glass windows at the three tiers of cells inside. The common area in the center was busy. The other inmates were socializing, everyone dressed in identical gray scrubs with the letters DOC stamped on the back. Branded like cattle.
    Mark sensed the shift in her mood. “Chin up, baby,” he said in a soft voice. “It won’t be for much longer.”
    No, it wouldn’t. Because Abby had a plan.
    Abby watched the activity inside the CCU. She didn’t have friends here. The place was a fucking zoo. Every day she woke up to noise—inmates yelling, fighting, singing, cackling with laughter. Abby missed her freedom, yes, but what she missed most of all was the quiet of the outside world. This place might have been somewhat bearable had it just been quiet.
    Freedom could not come soon enough. If she was in here for much longer, she was going to lose her mind.
    Mark removed her handcuffs. The door to the CCU buzzedopen and Abby stepped through, adjusting her posture so she was standing perfectly straight. Nobody had ever messed with her in here, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t. She always had her eyes open.
    “Check your bunk,” she heard Mark say in a low voice before the blue door shut behind her.
    A few moments later, alone in her top-tier cell, Abby did check. And it was exactly where he said it would be. She smiled.
    Game on