Page 78 of Madness & Mayhem
I nod my head, not saying a word.
“How’d they get you?” he asks, an excited lilt in his tone.
I swallow down my sigh. After being in the interrogation room for hours with the detective, the last thing I want is to have another story time, but maybe this guy is just bored out of his mind, or maybe he is interested in my story. Either way, I’ll give him a bite.
Only a bite.
“I didn’t get caught. I caught them.”
It’s the truth. I knew we’d only make it so far. I realized after speaking with Archer how close they were to us. The worst thing I could’ve done was wait it out, let them come to the cabin. Then not only would I have been caught, but Lakyn, too. At least while we’re in the middle of nowhere, she has a chance to run. She had the chance to get away. I had to give her that chance.
“What do you mean?” he asks with a chuckle.
I turn my gaze to his. “I mean, I knew they’d be there. I walked right into their trap willingly.”
“Why the fuck would you do that?” he barks.
I drop my head to the ground. “To save my girl.”
Silence.
“Man, you’re a fucking G. I’d never go to prison for life for any girl, man. I don’t even know if I could do it for my own momma.”
Because Lakyn isn’t just any girl. She’sthegirl.
The only girl.
“Yeah, well, you don’t know Lakyn Ashford.”
Chapter THIRTEEN
LAKYN
“Are we good to go?” Archer says from the passenger seat.
We’re about a block away from the prison. It’s late at night, and we only have about thirty minutes until shift change. Once the earlier shift goes home, we have to move. We have a small window to get in there, turn everything upside down, and get out.
Kyler is going to go in the visiting area and act panicked and say his wife is in labor. Posie is going to get behind the wheel of the truck and drive away, so when the officers come out to take a look, the car is going to be gone. Kyler will panic even more, and the officers will be sidetracked enough to look away from the jail for a minute.
In the meantime, Archer will go to the control panel of the jail and cut the power and steel doors. Eloise will get inside the jail and find Reign, telling him to go out the back door. I will be standing by the back door, and by the time Reign gets out, I’ll be waiting for him, everyone will be back in the truck down the road, and they will take us as close to the border as possible.
Eloise hasn’t forgiven me, and she certainly hasn’t forgiven Reign, though we’re a team. We don’t do this alone. We’ve always done things together. Blood, sweat, and tears, and we aren’t going to stop now.
The people at the jail will be so bombarded with everything that has been going on, they shouldn’t notice Reign missing for at least enough time to give us a head start.
Who knows if it will work. If even one thing goes wrong, we’ll be screwed. We could all be behind bars in only a matter of hours, or we could be on our way to the border.
“I’m ready,” I breathe, clutching onto the coat Archer grabbed for Reign. However difficult this mission is going to be, he’ll need a coat to get through this winter.
“Good to go,” Kyler says from the back seat.
“Let’s do this,” Posie breathes from the driver’s seat.
“I’m nervous at shit, but I guess I have no other choice,” Eloise grumbles.
We all hop out of the car across the street and around the corner of the prison. Posie, with a fake belly underneath her hoodie, sits in the driver’s seat. Kyler hops in the passenger seat, dramatically placing his hand over her belly.
“We’ve got this, Momma.”