Chapter 15

~Nathan’s POV~

The kid didn’t deserve this. He just couldn’t seem to catch a break and it was pissing me off. The entire situation was fucked up anyway. Within hours of finding hope it had all been shattered.

My main suspect was Jerry. Something just didn’t add up. Riley called the man and his potential savior turns up dead. I didn’t believe in coincidences.

I’d come into this thing fully prepared to carry out the mission. I’d agreed to the risks, I’d walked in fearless, I’d been confident and completely devoted. I’d wanted it. I’d wanted to be here, but now I wasn’t so sure.

Who would have thought that I’d come to care for my cell mate? and now I couldn’t seem to concentrate on much else. Now I just wanted to grab him and run, to take him away from all this because if it was one person who wasn’t meant for this place it was Riley.

I ran a hand through my hair and released a breath.

“Hey, focus Nate, the kid will be fine.” John said, thumping me on the shoulder. I looked over at my best friend of nine years and nodded.

“You’re right. How far along are we?”

“The guards should be escorting Eddie to the bay right now, which gives us half an hour to start the next phase.” I nodded.

“You guys know what you have to do.” I said. “I’ve got no more part in this until you guys do your part, oh and we’re gonna have to find another delivery boy. There’s no way Riley will be up for it now.” I continued and John agreed.

Despite the fact that he was smiling and laughing with the others after a night held in some room being questioned for hours on end, I knew he was hurting. We all knew.

“Kyle wants to be a part of the crew, maybe we should make this delivery his initiation.” I suggested and was surprised when John found a fault with it.

“No I don’t want him involved in this. He’s too flighty, too eager, he’ll screw it up.” He was quick to supply and I shook my head. Eyes narrowed.

“It’s a simple delivery, not even an idiot could mess that up. We’ll give him a shot and-”

“No, we leave him out of it. Find someone else.” He interrupted and I turned my full attention on him. He looked back at me, his mouth set in a stubborn line and his eyes trained on mine.

I sighed.

“And you’re lecturing me about focus.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he questioned suspiciously and I looked over at Kyle, who sat with Riley; talking a million miles a minute in an attempt to keep his friend entertained.

“You’ve got a thing for the kid.” I supplied and watched him bristle.

“Do you really want to bring another innocent person into this?’ he asked and my brows furrowed.

“Kyle is hardly innocent, do you remember where we are?”

“Hit and run is hardly anything to condemn him for.” He defended and I shook my head.

“You didn’t have a problem with Riley doing it and he’s completely innocent.”

“That’s because he’s already involved. I just don’t want to add anyone else into the mix. We’ll use one of our regulars.”

I shook my head. “It’s too risky to use them again, but we won’t need to make the delivery for a few days yet so we’ll figure it out.” I told him and satisfied with my answer, he pushed up from the seat and went to sit with the others.

The instant he sat, Kyle’s focus retrained on him and Riley glanced my way briefly. I turned away from the complete hopelessness I saw reflected in his eyes and looked around the room.

He’d been acting unusually upbeat ever since he’d returned from questioning and I would have preferred if he’d come back weeping to how he was now. At least then I’d have some idea what he was thinking.

I pushed up from my seat then and made my way over to the phone. There were two inmates ahead of me in line and I shoved my hands into my shallow pockets and leaned against the wall as I prepared to wait.

If everything went according to plan today, our guys on the outside would have ears in the warden’s office, thereby allowing them to listen in on every conversation that took place within.

That safeguard was simply to keep us on the right track though, because even if we overheard something condemning, the evidence would be rendered inadmissible in any court of law due to the absence of a warrant.

Which was one reason we had two other guys on the job; both were undercover as guards; one had managed to make it into the warden’s inner circle; however, for the time being it was the ‘legal’ inner circle and what we needed was for the warden to let him on some of his illegal activities.

 Our other guy was also a guard, was in the process of getting himself caught by the warden himself on a very unlawful phone call. His job was to let the warden think he’d caught him in cahoots with some very powerful drug dealers. One of two things could happen with that scenario.

He’d either be arrested on the warden’s orders, or the warden would find use for him and pull him into his own operation. We were hoping for the latter.

In the mean time we needed a message delivered to our guy planted in D-Fox’s crew before the week was out. Though we had eyes on him every day, going anywhere near him was a risk we couldn’t take.

Someone as unassuming as Kyle or Riley would be the perfect delivery boys, no one would think twice about their actions and it would put the next phase of our plan into action.

I stepped up in the line when one call ended and fingered the coin in my pocket. There were so many things that could go wrong with this plan, so many loose ends we needed to tie up or we’d have failed. Two years worth absolutely nothing.

“You know just one word from me and D-fox can have your boy toy transferred to my cell. Wouldn’t mind some a that pert little ass in my bed.”

It was just one of those moments when he should have just kept his mouth shut. Just the one time he should have gone on his way without opening his mouth, but as it was, I was already in a piss poor mood and he was the best person to let off some steam on anyway.

I spun around to face Beans who was smirking down at me and brought my knee up as hard as I could. The moment it came into contact with his groin he collapsed onto the ground, the breath knocked out of him as he grabbed his balls; his eyes watering. I stooped down beside him, shaking my head as I watched him writhe in pain.

“Let’s get one thing straight Beans, you’re a piece a shit coward. You know it and I know it. So how about you cut the crap about what you plan on doing, because we both know that if you even think about laying a hand on Riley, I’ll break your neck and I don’t give a fuck how many more years I get for that. understood?” I said it as nicely as I could muster but from his watery nod it was clear he understood I meant every word and I straightened, moving up in the line.

When I looked around, I caught the eyes of a guard; one of our own and I gave him a short nod which he returned. I spared the still writing Beans another glance then settled back against the wall, patiently waiting my turn.

……………………………………….

~John’s POV~

The entire table watched Nate take Beans down and I shook my head in annoyance. It was definitely times like this that we really didn’t need anyone from the crew drawing attention to themselves.

What with everything else we had going on, the last thing we needed was a fucking war on our hands. I looked away in disgust and my eyes landed on Riley’s hands which were clenched tightly on the table as if he were feeling pain. His expression on the other hand betrayed what I expected was really going on with him.

This whole situation suddenly seemed much bigger than I’d thought. Now they were dealing with two murders, the second one most likely an attempt at keeping the truth from getting out and while I didn’t have all the details, the person he’d called yesterday was my likely suspect.

The detective in me was rearing to investigate, to see what I could find and allow justice to be served, but our current operation required every ounce of focus I had and if I had to choose between saving the lives of thousands versus one boy, the thousands would end up thanking me.

“I’m worried about him.” Kyle leaned in to whisper then and I looked at him with raised brows.

“And?”

“Well…I mean look at him; he looks like he’s ready to have a breakdown. It might seem like he’s fine but he’s not.” He continued and my eyes travelled to his bottom lip which was now trapped between his teeth, then to his eyes which were filled with worry.

“I don’t see that there’s anything I can do about that. We’re all trapped in this place, we’re all going through the same thing-”

“It’s different for Riley and you know it. He’s not meant for this place Johnny.” Kyle pleaded, reaching over to take hold of my hand and I pulled away quickly.

“The name’s John and like I said there’s nothing I can do about it, but if you really think he’s about to lose it, then call up a guard and have them take him to the sick bay.” I told him, then because my eyes kept straying and I really didn’t need to be giving him any reason to smile, I turned away from him, but sensed when he pushed up from the chair and I knew he’d actually gone to get the guard.

I twisted around then to watch him, gesturing and pointing at Riley as the guard listened, not five minutes later, said guard was making his way over to our table with Kyle in tow and I was impressed. Who said the kid couldn’t get things done.

“Riley Parker right?” the guard asked Riley when he stopped at the table and I watched the boy glance up at him in surprise which quickly turned to nervousness, then fear as he glanced around the room in desperation. The kid was losing it.

“I need to take you to the bay…just for a simple checkup.” The guard explained.

“B-but why? I-I’m fine.”

With the way he was fidgeting we could all tell he wasn’t fine, the guard included and I actually felt sorry for the kid.

It was then that I spotted Nate making his way over from the phones. He looked confused but fierce as he came straight for us.

The only reason the guard wasn’t cuffing him and pulling him roughly across the room to get that checkup was because he was one of our guys and everyone involved in the operation knew that Riley was a part of the crew...even if he didn’t know everything.

“What’s going on?” Nate asked the moment he stepped up and I didn’t fail to notice the way he placed his hands protectively on Riley’s shoulder, the boy seemed to relax slightly at the contact.

“I’m taking him to the bay for observation. He looks like he’s on the verge of a breakdown. If he’s fine, I’ll take him back, but right now he needs to come with me.” the guard explained.

“Nate, don’t let him take me, I’m fine I swear. I don’t wanna go.” His voice shook so much as he said the words that I’d had a hard time making out what he’d said. By now he was clutching at Nate’s hand with unshed tears in his eyes. The kid was terrified; even when he had no need to be.

I knew he’d been through a lot since he got here, but it was now as I watched him; hands shaking and eyes darting, that I realized just how much he’d been affected by it all.

Nate looked torn as he looked between the guard and Riley.

“Do you think I could go with you? It’ll be easier if I’m with him.” He spoke to the guard who after only brief hesitation, agreed to the proposal. He waved over another guard who was quick to respond and I watched as they cuffed Nate and the boy-who now had fat tears leaking from his eyes- and ushered them out of the room.

“Oh my God did you see his face? I feel so bad, I hope he doesn’t hate me for that.” Kyle worried and I shrugged in answer. Who knew how kids nowadays went about forgiveness. Riley needed help. He would get that help and whether or not he appreciated Kyle’s part in all of it, it was for his own good.

 …………………………………………….

~Nathan’s POV~

I held his hand, despite the bite of the cuffs against my wrists and he lay on the small bed, whimpering into the pillow.

“Hey it’s just a checkup, then you’ll be right out. We can even ask the doctor to make them take you to our cell early and I’ll stay there with you oaky?” I tried calming him but he’d been inconsolable ever since being dragged in here and I didn’t blame him.

Riley wasn’t a hardened criminal, he couldn’t deal with all he’d been going through.

“I wanna go home.” He wailed and I gripped his hand tighter. I didn’t know what to say to that.

“Please Nate, please.” He pleaded while the tears fell and I didn’t know what to tell him.

“Riley listen to me, if you don’t calm down they won’t let you leave the bay and I’ll have to leave you, so stop crying.” I said gently but his tears didn’t subside, if anything they got worse and I watched him helplessly

“Don’t leave me her Nate. I can’t stay here without you.” He cried and I had a feeling he wasn’t just talking about the sick bay. I sighed and pushed closer to place a comforting kiss onto his forehead. For once I didn’t care if the guards saw, but the doctor who had finally arrived had and she gave me a warm smile as she approached.

“Hey there Riley.” She said after reading his name off her clip board, but Riley ignored her completely as he continued to shed his tears.

“Hey Riles, the doc is here to see you. Remember what I said about the crying?” I said, pulling my hands from his but he latched on to them and continued to sob.

His face was red and the veins in his forehead stood up. I looked to the doctor helplessly and she gave me a reassuring smile.

“Riley, I’m going to give you something to help you calm down okay?” she said in that sickly sweet doctor’s tone and I watched her pull a syringe from her metal cabinet, dab alcohol onto the flesh of his arm-which I doubt Riley even felt- then impaled him with the needle. When she looked up at me she still wore the smile but right before my eyes, Riley gradually calmed down and his eyes drifted closed.

“He’ll sleep for a while, but I’ll give him something for the anxiety, we’ll have a little talk and if all goes well he should be good to return to his cell tonight.” she explained to me.

I glanced down at Riley who looked like a child as he slept, then I pulled my cuffed hands from his.

“I’ll let the guard know you’ll be staying with him.” She said then and I finally returned her smile; I knew there was a reason I liked doctors. Despite the discomfort of my bound wrists, I reached over to run my fingers through his damn hair and when he didn’t even stir, I dropped my head onto the bed beside him and watched his face until I drifted asleep as well.

The first thing I noticed when I woke next was that Riley was awake and he was watching me; his face completely devoid of emotion. There were no tears, no sobs just a blank stare that had me more worried than relieved.

“I’m going to escape you know.” He said then and I looked around to make sure no one was close enough to overhear.

“Let’s continue this conversation in our cell okay?” I told him and he sighed, shifting on the bed to find a more comfortable position.

“I’m sorry about earlier… I didn’t mean to start acting like some crazy person.” He explained and I was quick to reassure him.

“You’ve been through a lot lately, it’s understandable.” Then when he said nothing I continued. “Do you want to talk about it?”

He looked at me and shook his head. “I don’t know if I’m feeling calm because of the thing the doctor gave me or if it’s just because I’m trying not to think about what happened, so I don’t wanna talk about it right now okay?” 

I nodded.

“Thanks for staying with me.” he said again.

He looked so small and fragile laying there, talking to me as if he hadn’t almost gone off the deep end a few hours before.

All calls were monitored here, as a result, if I wanted to get a message out to one of our guys I’d need to set up a meeting; which meant going through the ‘guards’ and potentially putting our operation at risk, which meant in order to get a message out there I’d have to wait for a scheduled visit that would raise no suspicions.

I glanced down when Riley took my hand in his and silently began playing with my fingers and I felt a strange tenderness well up inside me. If I could get a message to our guys on the outside I could set in motion a thorough investigation of Riley’s case. If not, then when my time here was up; I’d have to leave Riley behind and I knew beyond a doubt that he wouldn’t survive here if I did.

AUTHOR'S NOTES

NOT MUCH ACTION IN THIS CHAP BUT I ENJOYED WRITING IT NONE THE LESS... HOPE YALL ENJOYED IT AS WELL. BE SURE TO LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!

<3

IF YOU'VE READ THE AUTHOR'S NOTEs DROP ME A SMILE AFTER YOUR COMMENT :)

THANKS FOR READING GUYS!

KEEP SWEET!

DoUbLe.A

unedited.