Читать книгу Warrior Spirit - Cassie Miles, Cassie Miles - Страница 8

Lyle Nelson strained against the shackles that chafed his skinny wrists and ankles. Under armed guard, he was being returned to the Fortress, the most impregnable penitentiary in the state of Montana. A hellhole.

White-hot rage burned inside his chest. The only way he could contain his fury was to remind himself that his stay at the Fortress was temporary. He’d be back outside. Soon. And he’d take bloody revenge on every soul who got in his way. It didn’t matter who died. Cops. Feds. Women and children. They would all be sacrificed for the Militia’s sacred cause.

The guards shoved him into a special isolation cell. No windows. Heavy iron bars. The walls were stone, and voices echoed.

Though Lyle knew it was cold in here, beads of sweat collected on his forehead and upper lip.

“I want to see the warden,” he yelled. “And I want to see him now.”

“You’ve got no right to make demands.”

“Tell Warden Green that I’m here,” Lyle snarled. “He’ll see me.”

The guard snapped his billy club against the bars. “Shut up.”

If Lyle had been free, he’d strangle this moron guard with his bare hands. “Get the damn warden.”

“I’m here.” The warden strode across the concrete floor. “I want a close look at the man who thought he could break out of the Fortress and get away with it.”

For a moment, Warden Craig Green stared into the flat blue eyes of Lyle Nelson, knowing that he was face-to-face with pure evil. The recapture of this fugitive was the worst possible thing that could happen to Green.

He turned away from the bars and gestured to the guards. “Leave me alone with him.”

Grumbling, they filed out of the room.

Lyle stood close. His white-knuckled fingers clutched the iron bars. “I want out of here, Green.”

“That’s not going to happen.” Only a few weeks ago, Green had arranged for all the imprisoned Militia to escape. He’d been well paid, but he couldn’t take that sort of risk again. “I can’t pull off another prison break.”

“You’ve got no choice,” Lyle hissed. “If you don’t break me out, that cushy little retirement you’ve got planned is going to blow up in your face.”

Green had been afraid of this threat. “You can’t—”

“The hell I can’t. I’ll squeal. I’ll tell everybody about your part in the escape.”

“Okay, Lyle. Hang tight. I’ll take care of you.”

He turned on his heel and marched from the room. On the way back to his office, the warden made a detour through cell block A. As he passed the inmates, he paused outside the cell of a hulking, dark man. Nobody remembered his real name. They called him Snake because he was the most vicious and feared inmate in the Fortress.

Warden Green had a special relationship with Snake. They exchanged a nod.

THE NEXT MORNING, Green sat behind his desk in his office. He wasn’t surprised when the door was flung open and one of the guards darted nervously inside. “Sir, we have a situation.”

Calmly, Green asked, “What kind of situation?”

“It’s Lyle Nelson, sir. We found him hanging inside his cell. He’s dead.”

Green lowered his head to hide the grin that curled the edges of his mouth. “Notify the coroner.”