Page 4
Damn it.
I wish it wasn’t getting so hard to remember what her voice sounds like.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
“Time to go, LeBlanc,” Shep, one of the guards calls, stopping in front of my cell and my muscles relax as I slowly release my breath and my eyes snap open.
Finally.
I stand up and survey the eight by ten room I’ve called home for the last six years before ripping the photo off the bed. There’s nothing else I want from my time here, nothing else that matters.
“Admit it, Shep,” I say, stepping up to the bars and slipping my hands through the gap. “You’re going to miss me.”
In my time here, I wouldn’t say that I’ve gotten close to anyone, especially any of the guards, because I knew my time here was short lived but Shep is different. He’s not like the other guards and I’m convinced talking to him is one of the only things that has kept me sane while I’ve been in here. He hooks the handcuffs around my wrists as he scoffs.
“Yeah, I’ve spent the last week agonizing over how I’m going to make it without you.”
I grin. “I knew it.”
Grabbing the radio at his shoulder, he calls to the command room as he rolls his eyes and my cell door slides open. “Got any big plans for your first night out?”
“Naw, probably not. Sleep in a real bed, I guess.”
“What?” he asks as he grabs my elbow and begins leading me down the hallway. “You’re not a fan of the accommodations here? I’m offended, LeBlanc.”
“Maybe you should hire someone. Give this place a little Fun Shui.”
“Yeah, I’ll get right on that,” he says with a chuckle before looking down at the photo in my hands. “You got any news on her yet?”
Glancing down, I suck in a breath. “No.”
We stop in front of a metal door and Shep knocks on it twice before a buzzing sound fills the air. As he opens it, he slaps my shoulder.
“Good luck, man. I know how much you’ve missed her.”
“Yeah, well,” I force out before tucking the photo in my pocket and clearing my throat. “I’ll be seeing her soon enough.”
“You are one determined son of a bitch, I’ll give you that. Just don’t end up back in here for doing stupid shit to win her back.”
My shoulders tighten and I grit my teeth. “She didn’t leave me.”
“Whatever you say, man. Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve heard of a chick bailing the second her man is locked up.”
“Kady’s not like that.”
He nods in a half hearted agreement as we stop in an office near the front of the prison. A woman looks up from behind the desk and meets my eyes. She’s got this sexy librarian thing going on with her tweed pencil skirt and her brown hair pulled back into a tight bun. Most of the guys in here, hell just any guy in general, would probably lose their shit over her but not me. She doesn’t hold a candle to my Kady. Not even close.
“Can I help you?” she asks, her gaze shifting to Shep as her eyes soften. Jesus, she looks like she wants to do him right here on the desk in front of me. Well, well, well… seems good ole Shep has been holding out on me.
“Yeah, I’ve got LeBlanc for you. He’s processing out.”
She nods and points to a bag sitting on the chair in front of her desk. “I’m just finishing up his paperwork. There are clothes for him in the bag.”
Shep scoops up the bag before guiding me to an empty room across the hallway and unlocking the handcuffs. He hands me the bag. “Get dressed.”
