The water bottle hit the metal table hard enough to make the tray jump. Several inmates immediately stopped talking. The cafeteria had been loud only
The first black SUV had been behind them for eleven minutes. The second appeared four minutes later. By the time the third vehicle joined the
The basketball stopped bouncing for only a second. That was enough for Officer Daniel Carter to notice the silence. He had been inside the prison
The bracelet did not look expensive. That was the first thing Victor Dane got wrong. It was simple. Dark leather. A small metal clasp. A
The phone had already been ringing for forty minutes before Marcus Hale finally got his turn. That was how things worked at Westgate Correctional Facility.
The watch was the first thing he noticed. Not the new inmate’s face. Not the beige uniform. Not the way he walked through the prison
The chapel was quiet on Sunday morning. It was a small room, with wooden benches and a single window high on the wall. Sunlight came
The corridor was quiet at night. Not silent. Quiet in the way a place gets when most people are asleep and only a few are
The weight yard was loud that afternoon. Metal clanged. Men grunted. The sun beat down on the concrete, hot and white. Marcus stood near the
The yard was quiet that afternoon. Not empty. Quiet in the way a place gets when everyone is waiting for something. Daniel Reyes sat on