“Jade is obviously skilled with a gun,” Matthew said slowly and felt under the spotlight as everyone turned to look at him. “You all know that she shot my dad. But there is more to the story.”
“Tell us,” Allison said. Her blue eyes had a sharp look to them.
Matthew’s mouth went dry. For a moment, he took in the sight of his daughter and was quietly stunned at how much she’d grown since he’d last seen her. He realized he didn’t want to relate what had happened to him and David to his children. He didn’t want to fill their minds with images of their family at risk, but at the same time, Allison was old enough to handle it. She had to make her own decisions and have her own voice in the family. To do that, she needed to hear what he had to say. No matter how graphic or painful it would be.
“When Dad and I were walking back from Galena, we met Jade at a gas station. We’d promised that she could come and live at the hotel if she helped us get back home,” Matthew began.
Kathleen took in a hissing breath. Ruth clasped her hands together and looked at Matthew intently.
“We promised that we would take her in,” Matthew continued. “That changed when we stopped at another gas station to buy supplies. The food and drinks were outrageously priced. When I spoke to the gas attendant, hoping he would give us a fair deal, Jade helped me negotiate. The gas station attendant didn’t take well to our suggestions, and he made a crass comment toward Jade.”
“He propositioned me,” Jade cut in. Her face hardened. “He wanted to take me into the back room and have me convince him to lower the prices. Think about that.” She turned to Kathleen. “What would you do if someone said that to your daughter? Would you let Allison show him a good time to get cheaper food?” Jade’s face twisted in disgust.
For a moment, everyone fell silent and let her words sink in. Matthew took a deep breath and continued his story. “That’s true. He did proposition her. Jade told him no, pulled out a handgun, and shot him when he got more aggressive.”
Kathleen’s face, which had begun to soften in sympathy, dropped in outrage. Ruth remained calm, but Matthew saw her clasped hands tighten. David looked as though he was made from stone. The crow’s feet around his eyes seemed to deepen. Matthew wondered if David would butt in and correct him, but his father kept his own counsel.
“Jade shot the man point-blank in the chest,” Matthew said. “Then, when Dad and I said we couldn’t travel with her anymore because we were afraid for our lives and couldn’t trust her, she held us at gunpoint instead. She made us steal from the store and then made us walk down the highway.” Matthew turned to look at his father. “Do you remember?”
“Yes, I was there,” David said, thin-lipped.
“You almost had a second heart attack,” Matthew pointed out.
“Yes, I almost did.” David held his head up high. “And I still think we should welcome Jade to our hotel.”
Kathleen looked practically murderous. Ruth’s face had whitened as Matthew finished the story. Allison’s mouth was slightly open, as though in shock herself. Patton looked downright scared.
“Why would you trust someone like that to be around our children? To be around us?” Kathleen asked David. She sounded outraged.
“I’d like to hear from Jade,” Ruth said and looked expectantly at Jade. “Why would you do something like that?”
Jade blushed in shame. Her chin wobbled as though she were trying to hold back another volley of tears. “I can’t defend what I did,” she finally said. Her voice trembled with emotion. “I can’t take my actions back. They haunt me. They’ll always haunt me. At the same time, I believe I made the right decision in order to survive. You don’t know what it’s like out there. You have to understand that I’ve met loads of men like that guy from the gas station. I’ve run into shady people who only want to take advantage of others, especially of young women. He was just another guy trying to get something from me before he tossed me aside. He wasn’t going to give us a discount. I shouldn’t have overreacted like I did, but I was so angry. He’d disrespected me in front of Matt and David. If I’d been alone without a way to defend myself, I know for a fact he would have taken advantage of me.”
Kathleen let out a shaky breath and glanced at her daughter with something like sorrow in her eyes. Matthew couldn’t understand the look, but he understood her fear. The thought of Allison out on her own without any support system was horrendous. And if someone had acted like that toward her…
“The world has made me callous,” Jade continued. “I’ve been calloused by the world. After Matt ran me off, I realized that being so cruel was the thing that was going to get me killed. At some point, I’d be in the exact same situation again, and I knew down in my bones that the next person I fought with would be the last. If it wasn’t for Matthew’s compassion, I wouldn’t be here at all. No one would be that merciful to me again. I realized I needed to make amends for what I’d done,” Jade said, finally letting her tears flow freely. “I’d acted as though David and Matt were the bad guys. In reality, I was the bad guy. I didn’t want my actions to impact them or take away that compassion, either.”
“I think she should stay,” Patton said fiercely. “Dad, she’s sorry. We can’t throw her out.”
Matthew looked at his son with a sad smile. “Patton, buddy, you’re very mature and brave, but you’re still a child. You’re going to have to sit this family vote out.”
“But I’m part of the family,” Patton argued. “I deserve a vote. Does Allison get a vote?”
Matthew nodded. “Yes. She’s old enough to weigh the options.”
“So am I!”
Matthew shook his head. “I’m sorry, but no.”
“That’s not fair.” Patton looked furious. “If it’s a family vote, I should be included.”
“If you vote we won’t be able to have a clear consensus. Jade doesn’t get to vote for herself and you don’t get to vote because you’re too young. We’ll have the five of us decide.”
“He’s right, honey,” Kathleen said. “When you’re older, you’ll understand.”
Patton’s face collapsed into an expression of smoldering anger. He crossed his arms and glared at Matthew.
“All right,” Matthew said, “let’s take a vote. Whoever votes for Jade to leave, raise your hand.”
He raised his hand. So did Kathleen. Ruth bit her lip and Matthew waited, knowing she was still deliberating. Jade fingered at the fringe of her jacket and pulled on the leather as though she would tear it off.
“Now, raise your hand if you’d like Jade to stay,” Matthew said.
Allison, David, and Patton raised their hands. Ruth studied Jade a moment longer before finally putting her hand into the air.
“Three against two. Jade stays.” Matthew said, ignoring Patton’s vote. He felt his heart drop into his stomach. Jade let out a soft whoop of relief and smiled.
Kathleen’s face turned bright red. “This is a mistake,” she said before turning on her heel and storming off toward the hotel. Matthew watched her hunched shoulders and her clenched fists. She stomped into the hotel. His own fear started to transform into anger inside of him. He couldn’t believe Allison and Ruth had decided to vote for Jade after what had happened, but at least now he wouldn’t have to take all the responsibility if Jade turned on them.
David touched his elbow and watched Kathleen go. “She’ll calm down,” he said to Matthew. “I know she’s angry with me, but I hope once she’s had some time, she can understand why I voted the way I did. I hope you can understand, too.”
“You’re in charge of her,” Matthew said and was shocked at how venomous his tone sounded. “You wanted her to stay, Dad, so you keep an eye on her. Between my distrust of her and Kathleen’s worry for the kids…I can’t handle it all. I want nothing to do with her.”
David looked sad. “I understand. You’ll see. This will be the best choice for everyone. I know she’ll prove herself.”
“You better hope so,” Ma
tthew said and pulled away from his father. He raised his voice to address the others. “We should go back to the hotel. It’s getting late. We have a lot of work to do in the morning, and we’ll all need some sleep. Tomorrow will be a big day.”
7
Max tightened his hand around the guard’s key ring so it wouldn’t jingle. He gave one last look at Eric, who was still slumped and motionless in Max’s bed, and locked the cell behind him. Max swallowed hard and turned away from his cell, hoping no other prisoners had noticed his escape.
Calmly, he walked with purpose down the cell block and stuck to the shadows. He carefully tried to avoid the cells he knew held other inmates who might cry out and ask where his escort might be. For a brief moment, he considered letting everyone out and escaping during the mass confusion and chaos, but he rejected the idea. He didn’t know who might now be working for Colin. It would be better if he found his way out all on his own.
He quietly descended the stairs to the first floor and headed in the direction of the exit. It was strange, but a lot of the cells were empty already—as if the prisoners had been let go. But where would they have gone?
Worry knotted his stomach. He hadn’t seen a single guard yet. If Eric was the only guard on duty, who was taking care of the other inmates? Was the state just going to abandon the prisoners? If he got caught, there would be absolutely no hope for him. He saw that with crystal clarity. Somehow, the power outages had caused the guards to disappear, and if Max’s gut was right, soon enough the prisoners would be taking over. If that happened, there was no doubt in his mind that he would be given over to Colin’s people and killed.
The sound of a commotion floated out from the direction of the cafeteria, and Max flattened himself against the wall, holding his breath until the voices seemed to slip away. His stomach let out a growl. His heart pounded in his chest. As he continued on, no one emerged or noticed him. Somehow, he was still moving undetected.
Maybe Lady Luck was finally on his side. He slipped past the rest of the cells and down the small hallway to the big main doors barricading the block from the rest of the prison where people could walk freely. He pulled out the key ring again, ready to test whether the skeleton key worked on these locks too, when he saw a figure slouched in the kiosk on the other side of the gate. A sharp gasp escaped his mouth, and he flattened himself back against the wall. He waited for sirens, for shouts that he get back, that he was dangerous. As the silence continued, he peeked around at the kiosk and saw that the same slumped figure hadn’t moved. Swallowing hard, he looked at the desk, and tried not to think too much about the dark stain on the desk’s top. Had the prisoners already started a coup?
He thought about Eric stuck in Max’s cell. He hoped the guard would be able to escape and get back to his family. Max felt terrible about what he had done, but he knew he had to do everything in his power to survive. There was a good chance that if the prisoners took over, the rest of the world wouldn’t even care.
But he had a target painted on his back, put there by the cartel. It was stay and be killed, or risk getting out and being free.
He slipped the key in the gate and opened it carefully. He pushed the gate to the side and then opened the next barrier. Could it be this easy? His heart sped up and he whipped around, looking to see if anyone was behind him. His sudden bravado now seemed like familiar arrogance. He didn’t want to think it, but…perhaps this was a trap.
The dark hallway before him now looked like a tunnel without a light at the end of it. Even with the generators, these lights had somehow been fried. Maybe, instead of following Lady Luck to the gold at the end of the rainbow, he was more like a cow being led to slaughter. Or an ambush. His stomach dropped as he imagined being used as an example for others thinking to betray the cartel, that his welcome surprise would be much worse than he’d ever thought. They wouldn’t just want to beat him. They’d want him to cower and beg for his life. They’d want to toy with him. The sensation of doom inside him built.
Nothing happened.
Just your imagination, he thought. Keep cool and get out.
Turning, he bolted down the hallway and crashed through a series of doors that were checkpoints for visitors. He swore he could hear people following him, the slip-slide of their prison slippers against the laminate. When he looked behind him, he saw nothing. Just your imagination.
He ran through the empty lobby, turning a blind eye to another slumped, motionless figure on the gray carpet. Maybe whoever he imagined was following him was waiting to jump him.
But then he saw light.
He tore through the prison’s front door and blinked in the sudden light of the slowly descending sun. His legs burned as he ran across the parking lot—and then he spotted Kathleen’s abandoned red SUV. Why was that still here? Why were everyone’s cars still here?
Where had Kathleen gone when she’d left the prison without her car?
Everything was eerily silent—no flashing lights indicating an escape, no gunshots, no barking dogs. He crouched against a car, his breathing coming out as a wheeze. Any sort of order he’d known had been destabilized, both inside the prison and out. For a moment, he felt overwhelmed with everything. The fear nearly paralyzed him.
He heard the sound of pounding feet behind him. Maybe that was just his heart still.
He leapt to his feet and maneuvered around a series of cars, frantically thinking of where he should go. If Kathleen’s SUV hadn’t been moved, maybe she hadn’t gone to Levi’s Warehouse to take his go-bag. The thought both worried him and gave him hope. Now that he was out, he needed to ditch his prison orange. It made him stand out, an easy target that others could recognize and identify him with. If Kathleen hadn’t gone to get the go-bag, then there might be a change of clothes and shoes waiting for him.
He began to change course and head for the warehouse. It was worth a shot. He hoped Lady Luck continued to favor him.
Max had never seen Chicago so dead before. The city had always been gritty, even dangerous at times, but now it felt as if it had completely lost its luster. Before, street vendors and bustling pedestrians, or even bikers swerving through honking traffic, had erased some of the Midwest bleakness. Now, the nearly empty streets unnerved Max. The silence made his breathing sound unusually loud. His footsteps seemed to ring in the air.
What had happened here? It felt as though the whole world had suddenly stopped existing. Still, he couldn’t risk being caught. Max unbuttoned the top of his orange jumpsuit and pushed it down to his waist. He had to ensure that the black MCC logo and his inmate number printed on the back weren’t visible. Sweat dotted his white undershirt as he tied the sleeves around his waist. It was all he could do until he found different clothes.
He wondered how long he’d been running. An hour? Early evening coated the sky in pink and blue hues. The prison still loomed behind him like a spire sticking into the sky, but it felt less oppressive the further away he got from it. His lungs ached from running and his heart thundered with adrenaline, but he couldn’t stop.
Soon, he began to spot familiar markers as he moved through the neighborhoods. When he finally spotted the derelict structure of Levi’s Warehouse, he let out a sigh of relief. The building had seen better days, which was exactly the reason why Max had picked it. As he let himself in the front door, he remembered meeting a cartel member for the first time there in the warehouse lobby. He’d seen the Virginia is for Lovers sticker on an old cabinet nailed to the wall and had laughed out loud. Back then, it felt like a sign. Fate, even. Later, when he’d decided he needed to plan in the event he had to leave the country, it was the first place he thought of to stash his go-bag.
A new second-hand clothing store had opened up in the warehouse, labeled as The Vintage Boutique. It was now shuttered. Otherwise, not much had changed. Max snorted when he walked past the store, his eyes on the cabinet that now felt like the holy grail. The sticker was still there.
“Please, please, please,” he muttered
as he yanked the cabinet door open.
Nothing. Nothing but an empty shelf.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he whispered as he stared inside. Kathleen must have taken the go-bag. Did she take it just to humor him? Was she shocked when she discovered the weapon wedged in the bag between his jeans and his sneakers?
He couldn’t think about that now. The bag was gone. He had to find a different way to get rid of his prison orange. He closed the door and looked around before making his way carefully to the boutique’s glass door. Peering inside, he saw a variety of women’s clothes, shoes, and bags stylistically arranged.
He tested the door and found it opened easily. Running his finger down the doorframe, he saw that the lock had been busted. Apparently, he wasn’t the only one looking for a new set of clothes. Someone had broken into the store before him.
The door squeaked as he opened it further. For a moment, he stood breathless in the doorway, torn with indecision. He didn’t want to steal from this place—adding to the list of his crimes—but did he really have a choice? Escaping prison would tack on years of incarceration all on its own. Taking from a second-hand shop seemed like a drop in the bucket at this point.
He eased inside and closed the door behind him. He passed by sequined skirts and a selection of high heels before finally identifying a tiny men’s section near the back of the store.
“Bingo,” he said.
As he rummaged through it, he pulled out a pair of jeans that looked to be his size. He ripped off the jumpsuit and slipped the pants on. Then he abandoned the white undershirt in favor of a black t-shirt. He also found a casual plaid button-up and slipped it on. A little more digging revealed a jacket that was slightly too big, but he didn’t mind. As he started rummaging through a selection of men’s shoes, he heard a familiar squeak.
EMP Catastrophe | Book 2 | Erupting Danger Page 5
