The Gauntlet by Jason Melby

Author:Jason Melby
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: ePublishing Works!
Published: 2013-06-26T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 35

A half hour ahead of schedule, Zach entered the first security station inside the women's correctional facility.

Escorted along a dark corridor, he ignored the derogatory statements from the female inmates in the general population who taunted their male visitor with verbal assaults about his manliness.

"Wait here," a guard instructed him, poking her finger against a set of keypad buttons. When the buzzer sounded, she motioned for Zach to follow her inside the visitor's room where a row of folding chairs lined the front of a glass partition.

Zach chose the middle chair. He rubbed the side of his nose with his middle finger, taking small satisfaction from his covert method of telling the staff to fuck off. He watched Jenny emerge in hand cuffs and leg irons. At first glance, he didn't recognize his wife dressed in drab green pants with a swollen face partially covered by gauze bandages.

Jenny claimed an open chair and put her hands on the glass.

Zach reciprocated, staring at the forehead sutures and the puffy black eye of the woman he loved more than life itself. "What happened?"

Jenny picked up her handset with both hands and held it close enough to hear Zach's voice. "Take me home with you."

Zach leaned forward. "Who did this to you?"

Jenny forced a smile. The minimal effort sent waves of pain across her face. Her words came out in a muffled slur. "Get me out of here."

"Did a guard do this to you?"

Jenny moved her head side to side with an almost imperceptible motion. "No."

"Are you all right?"

"Still hurts."

"I'm sorry..." Zach swallowed dryly. "What about the baby?"

Jenny shrugged. The tears came faster this time. She put the phone down for a second and rubbed her eyes. "I'm sorry I look so ugly."

"Don't ever say that. You always look beautiful to me. You're my angel."

Jenny coughed. The pain in her jaw had worsened since she'd left the nurse's station. A migraine pounded her temple, and the aching muscles in her ribs and chest felt worse than they had the day before. "Did you talk to Marty?"

"He's broke."

"Can he borrow it?"

"If he wanted to."

"Did you ask him?"

"Yes, but... Don't cry. Please don't cry like that."

"Two minutes," a guard stated matter-of-factly from his post across the room.

"What about our other friends?" Jenny lamented.

"They won't return my calls."

"Rebecca?"

"I've left her messages. She's just like everyone else. They don't want to get involved."

"But they're our friends."

"Not anymore."

"What about an emergency cash advance? Credit card companies do it all the time."

"We already did that to cover your legal expenses."

"Then ask them again."

"It's no good."

"Did you try?"

"I've called every credit card company we owe. The IRS has got us by the balls right now. I couldn't borrow another dollar if my life depended on it." Zach wiped his face. "I'm sorry... I just... I'm trying so hard."

Jenny put her hands to the glass, clearly yearning to touch her husband. "When am I getting out?"

Zach touched his palm against the image of Jenny's hand on the other side. "If I could trade places with you I would.

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