Chapter 17

~John's POV~

It was that time of day when the big guys allowed us inmates to mix and mingle on the block. All cells were left open for exactly two hours during which time the we were able to interact with each other, make new 'friends' and get the chance to stretch our legs. I'd have preferred to go out into the yard but at this point any time spent out of cell was a Godsend.

Which was ironic since I found myself out of my own cell and lounging in Nathan's playing a round of cards with him, Riley and Kyle. I pushed back in my chair until it was tilting precariously on its feet and stifled a yawn. We were playing some stupid game Kyle made up and had been at it for about fifteen minutes already.

I was just about ready to literally throw in the cards and find some other way to spend my time. Over on the bottom bunk Nathan and Riley sat side by side making goo-goo eyes at each other and beside me Kyle was about ready to break his neck trying to catch a glimpse of my cards.

I sighed

Yup this is what had become of my life; wasting time in prison while the real bad guys got away. After two years of this undercover bullshit I had to decide if this was really the life i still wanted. I was never one to sit and strategize or wait patiently for the bad guy to fall. I needed to get in on the action; to feel as if I was actually making a difference and when my time in here was up; that's what I'd be doing.

Nathan was in this for life though, sure he talked about leaving, starting up his securities company but he was meant for this kind of thing, it was his calling and I respected that. To each his own right? I only had to wonder what it would do to the kid when it was time for us to move on.

Riley was attached, any fool could see it and I was pretty sure everyone knew it by now too. The way he hung on to Nate's every word, the way his eyes never strayed too far from my partner's face and how he got all sulky and annoying to look at whenever Nate had to go check in with a visitor, it was kinda...kinda like the way Kyle kept looking at me now that I thought about it and my eyes narrowed as I turned to look at him.

He pulled back quickly as if everyone didn't already know he was cheating. I dropped my cards face-up on the small table and the others threw in as well... probably glad the game was finally over.

I rolled my shoulders trying to dislodge the discomfort that had settled there at the thought of Kyle become attached to me. It wasn't something I could deal with right now, not something I wanted to deal with.

"We should double-date sometime." Kyle announced then, successfully breaking the silence and I looked at him as if he'd suddenly grown a pair of horns; for all I knew they were already in the making. The kid was delusional.

"Don't you bother giving me that look Nathan, I know you and Riley are a thing and John and I are pretty close too, so I think it would be cool for us to hang when we finally make it out of this place." He paused and did that cute thing where he scrunched up his nose as he considered something.

"Maybe we could go catch a movie, or eat at some famous restaurant, my dad knows a bunch of 'em, hmmm or maybe an amusement park, I haven't been to one of those in years, or maybe not...I'm kinda afraid of the rides..." he trailed off now and I chose that moment to break the silence.

"What do you mean we're close? I barely even know you."

He looked at me then, one eyebrow raised, "You know me well enough." Then he turned back to the others and I looked at Nathan who shrugged.

"I think it's kinda cute that you two are together, this place needs some love." The boy continued as if he couldn't survive without the constant chatter.

"We're not a couple, we're just cell mates." Riley said, the deep red blush on his face betraying his words.

"Uhuh...you and John need to stop denying your feelings...there's just no point. You should try to be more like me and Nate...we embrace our emotions."

"We're just cell mates, you're overthinking things." Nate finally spoke up in a bored tone and I watched as he pushed up from the bunk and stepped around Kyle to the entrance of the room.

"Coming?' he paused long enough to ask Riley, who like the little puppy he was, got up and followed. Then it was just me and Kyle.

"Was it something I said?" he asked his mouth pulled down in a frown and I sighed.

Of all the people in the world, why did he have to get attached to me?

........................................

"...so then I told him there was no way I was taking the bottom bunk and he told me to fuck off as if I wasn't the first one to get there. Can you believe it?"

I cracked open an eye wondering if he really expected me to answer, but he was too busy organizing what little stuff my cell mate and I had in the small room. I watched as he folded Eddie's pants and placed it neatly onto his bed before starting on the scattered shoes.

"And then I went to the guard to complain about it and he told me to fuck off too. This place is just full of assholes."

My eyes drifted closed once more but I continued to listen to his endless chatter which had a surprisingly soothing effect on me at the moment. We'd left Nate's cell not long after he'd departed with Riley and I'd come back to my own, too tired to hang with the others.

Not surprisingly Kyle had followed and as I'd stretched out on my bed, arms folded under my head and my legs touching the other end of the matrass, he'd begun his tirade.

That was over forty-five minutes ago.

"We should both request a cell mate transfer, then we'd get to room together." He was saying now and I answered him without looking his way.

"I like my cell mate."

"Well I hate mine, what if I told you he hurt me, would you transfer then?"

This time I did look at him; with raised brows. "You cellie is an old guy who couldn't fight to save his life."

He sighed, "But he snores."

"I snore."

"Well he's grumpy." He tried again.

"So am I."

"Yeah but you're a good grumpy and you actually listen when I talk." As he said the words he came to sit beside me on the bunk, one foot bent under him and the other hanging off the bed.

"There's no good side to grumpy Kyle." I couldn't help but chuckle and he pouted, trying to look cute and damned if didn't succeed.

"Well he smells, and you're hot and can you imagine how it would be if we got to room together. We could stay up all night talking..."

Which was a good reason to pass on the whole transfer thing.

"And we'd learn more about each other...and we could even do....other things." This time he threw a saucy smile my way and I felt the heat flush through my body.

I shifted slightly away from him and he scooted closer.

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" I asked then and he glared, the previously sex charged atmosphere disintegrating.

"I'm staying till time's up." He explained.

"You know nothing will come of this right? You understand you're just wasting your time?" I asked him seriously but he only shook his head firmly.

"You're only trying to make this harder than it needs to be. We're meant to be together, I just know it."

"I don't date criminals." I tried again.

He blinked up at me "Neither do I." and I felt the need to grab him and shake him until he accepted what I was saying to him.

"We're just two misunderstood guys who were stupid enough to get caught right?" he continued with a grin and despite my frustration with him I found myself trying to stifle a smile.

The kid could turn any statement in his favor.

"Who says you're even my type?"

"Well if the big guy standing tall between your legs isn't an indication then I don't know what is." He continued, then the grin all but slid from his face and he was staring into my eyes. In his dark orbs I saw the same thing I saw whenever Riley looked at Nate and I turned away, for once, completely at a loss on how to handle the situation.

"I can make you happy Johnny, you'll see." The determination in his voice was unmistakable and I looked back at him, the intensity of his gaze grounding me and I swallowed hard against the heat that pooled in my belly.

"Can I kiss you?" I was surprised he even bothered to ask but I shook my head slowly, not at all confident in my response.

He smiled. "One day you'll be begging me to kiss you."

"Since when are you so bloody cocky?" I ground out and his grin widened.

"When it comes to you I can afford to be." Then he ran his hand over my smooth head.

"Why'd you shave it?"

I shrugged.

He yawned. "Scoot over Johnny." He ordered, pushing against my side

"The name's John." I corrected even while I moved over to accommodate him and a second later, he was stretched out beside me, his head buried under my only pillow and I couldn't deny how good it felt to have a warm body laid up against mine.

I waited until his breath evened out and he fell into a deep sleep before I pushed up from the bunk. I looked back at him once while I laced up my boots, then I was out the door and making my way down the corridor.

I looked into a few cells as I passed, most were empty and I didn't blame them. You got the chance to leave the sardine can you might as well take it. A minute later I stepped through the doorway of the last cell on the block, where, as expected, the other members of the crew were holed up; including Nate and Riley. By now there was barely even a place to sit so I leaned against the wall and folded my arms before me as I listened to what Eddie was saying.

"...So you shoved him, he fell, broke his hand and then you threatened him. What exactly did you say?"

Riley sighed in annoyance and we all watched as Nate put a hand on his shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"I told you, I said if he went anywhere near my mother again I'd kill him." Riley spoke and Eddie seemed to consider this.

"And you said earlier that at least a dozen people witnessed it right?"

"Yes Eddie, why do we have to go over this again. My mom's ex showed up at the party drunk, he pulled me aside and asked me to where she was and when I told him to get lost he shoved me, so I shoved him back and he fell and broke his arm. Then I told him off and I left. A week later he showed up dead and I was being arrested for his murder. Got it?" he looked frustrated.

"He's just making sure he has all the fact Riles." Nate said.

Well the nick name was new. I shook my head.

"I know, I'm just tired of having to go over it that's all."

"Just one more question. "Are you sure you have no idea how the murder weapon ended up in your house? Are you sure you're not trying to protect someone? Like your mom maybe?" Eddie asked and the room went completely silent.

"My mom? How'd she get into th- wait, you think she set me up? Are you crazy?"

Eddie held up a hand, "Hey, you said he was abusing her right, that they met regularly and she'd come back home with bruises. Maybe she got sick of it and offed him. She probably wasn't thinking and brought the knife home and then when you were arrested she got scared. Didn't know what else to do so she kept quiet and let you take the fall."

Riley was shaking his head before Eddie even finished the sentence.

"You don't understand. I might not have liked the guy, but she was still in love with him. She didn't care that he was hurting her, she just wanted to make the asshole happy." He said bitterly and I shook my head again. This was just one messed up situation.

"And then this kid who was also at the party that night, shows up saying he knew who killed him and hours later he ends up dead."

"We need to consider the fact that this might not be Jerry's doing. I got the chance to talk to him. I can't see him as the culprit." Nate spoke up and my mind immediately began shifting through possible scenarios. If Nate said Jerry wasn't the guy then there was a high chance he wasn't, which meant we were right back where we started; with no possible leads.

"You said he looked scared when he came in right? Kept looking around like he was afraid someone might see him? Maybe it all comes back to the prison. Maybe he saw someone here who had something to do with it and that's why he ran. It would explain the coincidence in the timing." I offered and the others seemed to be considering it as well.

"We need someone on the outside to investigate this. Our hands are pretty much tied in here." Nate continued and by that I knew he meant; we've got enough on our plate as it is.

"It won't be easy, the phone lines are monitored and I'm pretty sure the visiting area is wired. If we hire an investigator and the perp is here at the prison then it'll put him on alert. We'd need to get a note out...maybe pass it along to one of our visitors, but they might find it when they frisk us." Eddie ran a hand over his face in frustration.

There was of course one other way, but using our secure line for something that had nothing to do with our operation was out of the question and the others knew it.

I hadn't liked him when he'd first joined the crew but like the others I'd developed the urge to look out for him and seeing him in this predicament and knowing that we might have to leave him here when the operation was over was like a sucker punch to the gut.

The kid shouldn't be in this place.

"We'll figure it out." I said then and Nate looked at me, giving a brief nod before he bent to say something quietly to Riley.

"Thanks guys." Riley said then and pushed up from his seat. A moment later he was gone and we all turned to watch Nate expectantly.

"Any news about the op?" he asked, all business now. He was greeted with silence.

"Okay good, everything's on track then. We'll meet tomorrow in the yard after I get the update from the outside." He finished and I nodded along with the others.

"As for Riley, we need to get him out. Any suggestions would be helpful, but when it comes down to it, If I have to, I'm getting him out of here by any means necessary. I've never stood by and watched an innocent suffer and I'm not about to start. I'm gonna need your help, but if any of you have a problem with it speak now.

No one uttered a word. As always, we were behind Nate one hundred and ten percent. If he went down, we were all going down with him.

He nodded. His expression grave as he appraised our small group, then he turned and left the same way Riley had.

"That's one fucked up situation." One of the guys commented and I left before anyone else could get a word in.

When I entered my cell, Kyle was still sprawled out on my bunk; asleep. I removed my boots and dropped down into the chair across from him. I titled the chair back as far as it could go without toppling over and sat regarding him.

He was a trouble maker, too flamboyant, too chatty, nosy and way too cocky for my taste. At the same time he was kind, a good friend to Riley, pleasant to be around...when he wasn't talking a hundred miles a minute and attractive...really attractive.

It wasn't even that pros outweighed the cons or vice-versa it was the way the situation presented itself. He was a criminal, I was a man of the law and when this was all over I'd be going back to being just that. Nothing could come of this.

In another time maybe, when I didn't take risks for a living and when my job didn't put those around me in danger. Another time; another universe but for right now, this was my life and welcoming him into it would be selfish and irresponsible.

AUTHOR'S NOTES

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-unedited.