Read Online A Hole in the Sky by William C. Dietz - Free Book Online

you.”
    More than two hours had elapsed since the cave-in by the time a tripod was set up over the ventilation shaft and Susan was lowered down through the narrow chimney that connected Tunnel Five with Tunnel Four. She used a claw hammer to bang away at the worst obstructions as the beam produced by her headlamp played across the glittering surface in front of her.
    Then she arrived in a circle of light, where three anxious women were waiting to receive her. Mundy’s face was smeared with dirt. “You’re a sight for sore eyes, Farley. We owe you.”
    “You’d do the same,” Susan replied, and wondered if it was true. “How’s Liddy?”
    The other woman shook her head. “She stopped breathing. We couldn’t bring her back.”
    “I’m sorry,” Susan said soberly.
    “Yeah, we all are,” Mundy replied. “We’ve got a splint on Johnson’s leg. We’ll send her up first.”
    They spent the next hour piling rocks over and around Liddy’s body while a succession of women were winched through the shaft to the lateral above. Finally it was Susan’s turn. Her body twirled gently as the rope pulled her upwards. Eager hands were waiting to pluck her out of the hole and unbuckle the harness. A boss named Riley had arrived to take charge. Cooper couldn’t meether eyes. “Let’s go, Farley! It’s time to get cleaned up. The warden is waiting for you.”
    “Yeah,” Riley put in, as he grinned lasciviously. “Brewster wants to thank you in a very special way!”
    Cooper didn’t laugh, but a couple of the women did, which showed how hard some of them had become. Susan was following Cooper towards the elevator when a hand touched her arm. As Susan turned, her light came around to illuminate Corly’s battered face. She blinked.
    “Farley?”
    Susan paused. “Yes?”
    “Be careful. He’s mean.”
    “Why did he hit you?”
    Corly looked away. Tears cut tracks through the dirt on her face. “I told him that I’m pregnant.”
    “I’m sorry,” Susan said softly. “But I have some good news for you.”
    Corly wiped her nose with the back of a wrist. “Really? What’s that?”
    “Brewster is going to die.”
    Corly might have spoken, might have asked how, but Susan was gone by then.
    It took Susan about an hour to finish a lukewarm shower, fix her hair as best she could, and apply some color to her cheeks and lips with a borrowed lipstick. Then, certain in the knowledge that she wouldn’t be back, she made her way through the sparsely furnished dormitory. The workday was over, so the other inmates were present, and all of them knew where she was going. Most of the women pitied her. A few no doubt thought she was a slut. Some even envied her, absurd though that clearly was.
    But Susan’s thoughts were elsewhere. She wasn’t sure exactly when the decision to kill Brewster had been made. The last time she was groped? When she saw Corly’sblack eye? It hardly mattered. What
did
matter was to do the job quickly.
Always take your first opportunity. Odds are there won’t be a second one
.
    That was what she had learned at the Freedom First training facility near Custer, Montana, during the run-up to the assassination attempt on President Grace. The crime for which she had been arrested, tried, and sentenced to a federal penitentiary. Except that facility had been overrun by the stinks—causing the government to send her to Canon City, and then to the mine. So unlike the other inmates, even those convicted of murder, Susan was a
trained
killer. And that could make an important difference.
    Taking Brewster out wouldn’t be easy, however; she knew that, and what felt like a lead weight was riding in the pit of her stomach as Cooper waited for her to step off the elevator. Susan was received quite differently now that she had been selected to serve as Brewster’s companion. There were no lewd comments, and no unnecessary physical contact, as Cooper rode the elevator down and Susan was subjected to a perfunctory