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“Douglas? Douglas, are you all right?” Avalon’s soft voice.
The prisoner’s shaved head whipped up. His eyes locked right on her. Lust. Hunger. A wide smile curved his fat lips.
Beau scooped up the tray. Not really a tray. Felt more like a damn drawer. Where had the prisoner gotten it? Did he even want to know?
I want to get Avalon out of this hell. That’s what I want.
The prisoner tried to lunge for Avalon.
Beau kicked him in his already wounded dick and slammed the tray or drawer or whatever it was against the side of the bastard’s head. Then he slammed it into the jerk’s face. Blood spattered. A tooth might have dropped to the floor.
The prisoner went down hard.
“Guess you didn’t get the memo.” Beau glared down at him. “No one touches her.” He lifted his makeshift weapon again.
“Beau? A little help?”
He whirled instantly and saw Avalon staggering to lift Douglas off the floor. A bleeding and blearily blinking Douglas. She had one of his arms stretched behind her shoulders. The two of them were toppling and about to hit the floor again.
He dropped the makeshift weapon. “Fuck.” He also grabbed Douglas. Because leaving him wasn’t an option. The DA left alone during a riot? Oh, yeah, that wouldn’t end well for the man. “You will owe me for this,” he grunted as he slung Douglas over his left shoulder.
Then Beau grabbed Avalon’s wrist again and barreled forward on the path they had been taking. “DA,” he snarled. “Wake that ass of yours up fully. Tell me where to go.” Because this was not the route they’d used on the way to the interrogation with Everett.
He had to get Avalon to safety. Right the hell then.
Another door opened. Beau tensed, more than ready to fight another attacker. No one was going to touch Avalon.
But it was the warden. Beau recognized the man because he’d been glowering during the check-in when Avalon and Beau had first arrived at McKinley prison.
“This way!” The warden motioned frantically. “I saw you on the security feed. Get Douglas over here, now!”
He went there but sent Avalon through the doorway to safety first. Then he followed with Douglas. The door shut behind them. Another clang. And another corridor waiting up ahead. But guards were there, too. Rushing up to cover the rear of their group. Beau followed Avalon and the warden. More twists. Turns. Doors that were lined with bars slammed shut behind them time after time, and then…then they were in what looked like an infirmary.
“Put Douglas on a bed. Nurse? Nurse!” A shout from the warden. “Check him out, now!”
A male nurse in white scrubs rushed forward.
Douglas blinked when Beau dropped him on the bed. “Wh-what—” A ragged groan took away the rest of his words.
“You’re alive,” Beau told him, voice hard. As hard as the rage burning through him because Avalon should not be in the middle of this danger. “You can thank me later. Trust me, I will collect on the thanks. Probably with interest.” He spun, caught Avalon’s smaller hand in his, and bluntly told the warden, “Avalon is out of here. Now. Show me the exit.”
“There’s a riot going on!” Sweat dotted the warden’s forehead. “A prisoner was just attacked in the yard. A gang swarmed him. Shanked him again and again! We can see the body on security footage, but we can’t get to him.”
“Body?” Avalon sidled even closer to Beau. “You’re sure the victim is dead?”
“With that much blood, I’m gonna say that, hell, yes, the Slasher is dead.”
Slasher.
Dead, right after leaving their meeting?
“We’re going to use tear gas in the yard. The attackers will disassemble. I’ve got them on camera. They’ll be prosecuted. They will be—oh, fuck, most of them were already in for life, anyway. What the hell will more time do to them?” The warden whirled away. He pointed at a guard. “Moses, get them clear. Now.”
Moses—tall, with grim features, dark eyes, and a posture that said he was ready for battle—nodded. Then he started moving, fast.
Beau followed, making sure that Avalon was with him every step of the way. He remained as tense as Moses because he expected an attack to come at any moment. In a lockdown, people weren’t supposed to be allowed out, but there was no way Avalon was staying in that prison while hell was breaking loose. If the warden hadn’t seen the wisdom in the fact that she needed to flee, then Beau would have just been kicking that guy in the dick, too.
Moses typed in a fast code near a closed, massive steel door. With a beep and hiss, the door opened. “Go!” Moses urged.
