Read Online Power in the Blood by Michael Lister - Free Book Online

involved and I’m curious,” I lied.
    “Well, let’s see,” she said, looking at me only for a moment and then back down again. “He was kind of small, so he got picked on a lot. He was a little effeminate. I don’t think he liked girls very much. Probably hated them.”
    “Really, what makes you say that?”
    “Oh, don’t pay any attention to me. I’ve had a few psych courses, and I like to see if I can read people, but I don’t really know.”
    “You may be right. I’ve heard that he had a pimp.”
    “Really, who?”
    “An inmate named Jacobson. Do you know him?”
    “Not very well, I’m happy to say. He’s been in to see us a few times, but I try to avoid him. He’s crazy. That really pisses me off,” she said bitterly and then looked up at me in shock. “Oh, shit, Chaplain. I did it again. Excuse my French, please. I’m sorry.”
    “Don’t worry about it. What were you saying? I want to know what makes a pretty lady like yourself that angry.”
    “It’s just what this place does to people. People like Jacobson turn sweet little boys like Johnson into monsters, you know. I’m sick of it. If you’re not a criminal when you get here, you’ll damn sure be one when you leave.” A single tear cut a path through the thick makeup on her right cheek.
    I was moved with compassion for her. She was right. Oftentimes, the merely misguided became the cunningly criminal inside facilities like these. “It sounds to me like you really care,” I said.
    “I do.”
    We were silent for a few minutes. She puffed away, and I waited for the silence to pass while a single drop of sweat trickled down the center of my back, tickling as it did.
    “What happened Monday night?” I asked finally. “How did Jacobson get thrown in the hole and Johnson in the back of that truck?”
    “I really don’t know. It was a relatively quiet night. They were the only two we had in the infirmary. In the early morning hours of Tuesday—five maybe, they started yelling at each other and, before too long, Jacobson was on top of Johnson punching him in the face. The officer on duty, Officer Hardy, wasn’t at his desk, so Captain Skipper and I broke them up and separated them. He told them to go back to bed and he would forget about it. I’ve never seen Skipper do anything like that before. I figured he was up to something. He told them if they did it again, he was going to write them a disciplinary report and send them to confinement.”
    “Where was Officer Hardy?” I asked.
    She shrugged. Her expression said he was often away from his assigned post. “I really don’t know. Could’ve been anywhere. He was not where he was supposed to be.”
    “Really?” I said. “I’ve heard he’s an excellent officer.”
    She shrugged. “Don’t believe everything you hear around here, Chaplain.”
    I smiled. “What days does he work?” I asked.
    “Hardy? Thursday through Monday, but Monday night was his last night for two weeks. He’s on annual leave now. Pretty convenient, huh?”
    “Why was Captain Skipper here that night?”
    “I think he came to take a statement from one of the inmates involved in an incident earlier that night, but he wasn’t here.”
    “Which inmate?”
    “Thomas, I believe.”
    “Anthony Thomas?”
    “Yeah,” she said defensively. “Why?”
    “I’ve worked with he and his wife some,” I explained. “Where did he find him?”
    “I really don’t know, but he did find him eventually and locked him up for not being where he was supposed to be.”
    “How long did he stay?” I asked.
    “Not long at all,” she said. “He left when he couldn’t find Thomas.”
    “What happened next?”
    She gave an elaborate shrug and a took a deep drag on her cigarette. “They must have started fighting again. Obviously, Officer Hardy had Jacobson locked up. I went back up to my desk to finish some paperwork, and that was the last I saw of either one of them. Until the truck,” she said, turning pale