Free Love Nip by Mary Whitten

warned, catching me by the arm.
    “Why not? She’s not a prisoner,” I questioned , snatching my arm away.
    He gave me a warning glare and reached for his gun holster.
    “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Axle warned from behind me. “Let Agent Sullivan pass before you have to deal with me.”
    His voice made butterflies in my stomach go crazy. I walked past the guard giving him my best ‘na-na-boo-boo’ face. I didn’t exactly know where Kimmy’s cell was located since I was always stopped at the desk. I saw a welcome mat at the edge of a cell in the back and knew that’s where I was headed. I walked around the corner and saw her sitting at a desk in the cell, her back to me.
    “I was wondering when you would finally get that big oaf to help you out. You’ve tried forty two times, it took you long enough,” she stated as she turned around.
    As soon as our eyes met my tears started falling. She got up quickly, threw the door open, and pulled me in tightly … almost too tight.
    “What am I missing?” she asked.
    “You don’t even want to know,” I admitted , trying to control my emotions.
    “Please come inside my humble abode and have a seat. I would offer you some coffee , but I’m fresh out,” she joked.
    “Why are you even here if your cell isn’t locked?” I questioned curiously.
    “Ah, it’s nice here. And they feed me!” she exclaimed.
    “I bit Ezra and now he’s dying,” I started.
    “Bummer,” she said emotionlessly.
    “That’s all you can say? My boyfriend is dying and all you have to say is bummer?” I demanded , suddenly becoming upset.
    “Em, calm down. Ezra is smart , he’s not going to die. And he’s not your boyfriend.”
    “How do you know?”
    “I see everything; Robert set me up with some pretty high tech gear. I have access to every camera in a five hundred mile radius,” she said as she sat at her desk and opened a laptop. There was a small child in a gas station on the screen. He looked around nervously, grabbed a bag of chips, and stuffed it in his shirt.
    “Nice,” I admitted.
    “You should see the shit people do when they don’t know someone is watching.”
    “So what do you think I should do about Ezra?” I asked , hoping to gain insight about my problem.
    “I think you should let him go. I know this is going to be hard , but if he wants to die then let the stubborn bastard die.”
    “Kimmy, this isn’t like I’m breaking up with him. He is going to die .” I began to raise my voice and a glimmer of red flashed in her eyes. I could remember the multiple times I was lectured by Ezra on why I wasn’t allowed to see Kimmy, but I continued to roll my eyes and ignore his comments. I now wished I had listened. I knew he said she was dangerous but she looked like the same old Kimmy to me.
    “Look , honey bear, trust me when I say everything will work out just fine and stop worrying your pretty self over this. Ezra is going to be fine,” she said with a wink.
    I figured she knew something that I didn’t , but I wasn’t too sure. I walked out and left her door open intentionally. I wanted her to see that she could get out if she wanted to. I felt as though we were keeping her prisoner, even if she said it was her choice. I walked by the gate guard and gave him the finger with one hand and smacked Axle’s arm with the other. I felt slightly better about my situation. Kimmy was right. Ezra was a big boy and said he was doing this to be with me so surely he wouldn’t let himself die. I was beginning to think that maybe there was another underlying reason as to why he was doing this.
    “So we have a few more people to visit . Would you like to go?” Axle asked as we returned to the office.
    “Absolutely .”
    Our first unlucky soul was Richie. Ashley warned us that Richie thought he was magical but he really wasn’t. He was a thirty-two year old loser who still lived with his mother. Axle knocked on the door and waited. An older woman, who was