Bulletproof 01 - Inside by Novak Brenda

Author:Novak, Brenda [Novak, Brenda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780778329930
Publisher: Mira
Published: 2011-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

18

John Hutchinson was the last person Peyton wanted to see, especially now, just before she left the prison. Today she’d worked fewer hours than she normally did, but her long nights over the weekend and the stress of what was going on in both her personal and professional lives seemed to be taking a toll. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been this exhausted. Shelley had gone home an hour ago. She wanted to follow her assistant’s example and head out—preferably without speaking to anyone.

But she could tell by the look on John’s face that there was no way to avoid this encounter. ISU had delivered the bad news.

“Can I talk to you?” he said, his voice clipped.

She’d stood the moment he poked his head into her office. Reluctant to deal with the high emotion inherent in this particular situation, she almost said it would have to wait until tomorrow and reached for her purse. But she felt too obligated to everyone who worked at the prison to walk out on a C.O. who was this upset. The time she and John had spent at dinner last night, and the other two meals they’d shared, only heightened that feeling.

Resigning herself to staying another few minutes, she drew in a deep breath. “Of course. Come in.”

As he entered, his jaw jutted forward, telling her just how upset he was—as if his taut posture and tone hadn’t already communicated that.

“Lieutenant McCalley has spoken to you?” she said.

“He has.”

Assuming he’d take the seat opposite her, she sank into her chair. “I’m sorry, John.”

Obviously agitated, he remained on his feet. “He came to you, then? You know about this?”

“Of course. We met this morning. After a careful review of the details, I had to agree. You deserve to be suspended. You made a mistake, a serious mistake.”

“But I didn’t mean to hurt anyone!”

Was that true? The testimony of the witnesses contradicted him, which had come as a surprise to Peyton. She knew some of the C.O.s pushed the limits sometimes. She wasn’t naive about what went on here. But she’d never expected such behavior from John. “You went too far. What if Bentley Riggs had died as a result of that kick?”

“He didn’t. He’s fine—fine enough to be talking smack to everyone around him about how he’s going to come after me someday.”

She refused to let him cloud the issue. Riggs wasn’t on trial here. “He fell and cracked his skull when you kicked him. And there are… Never mind.”

“There are what?”

She wasn’t sure she wanted to get into this part. But she felt she owed it to him to back up her decision. So she finished her statement. “People who claim you used the fight as an excuse to unleash your aggression.”

He threw up his hands. “Are you kidding me? Who said that? Other inmates? Like they’d ever come to my defense.”

“Not just inmates.” That was the shocking part….

His eyes turned so cold she nearly shivered. She’d never seen him like this.

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