Exposé

10. Ava

10

Ava

H ere's to taking a shot in the dark.

Kane Rogers was a short man of five-foot-five, one hundred and fifty pounds with gray hair, a shaggy beard, and a heart condition that required medication from the infirmary every day.

His crime: fraudulent use of telecommunications networks.

The rest of his criminal charges were redacted, white paper filled with thick black boxes, not allowing for a single inference.

"Are you sure you won't get in trouble for this?" I dropped a blue medical glove, the stench of sterility strong in the air.

"I never said that, but make sure you aren't visible when the guard brings him in."

"Becca." I gasped as I spun to face her. "I can't put your job at risk. On the phone, you made it seem as if it wasn't a big deal."

She shrugged and shoved a file into the filing cabinet. "I hate my job. If I get fired…oh well. I don't have to work."

"What about Kip? He'll never speak to me again if I get you fired."

Clang.

My heart leapt into my throat, my gaze darting to the office as I rushed to her opened door.

"Okay, one." She held up an index finger as she moved about the room, organizing. "Kip won't have a choice. I'll force him to be nice." She held up another finger. "Two. Relax. The only way you 're going to talk to him is through me."

"Maybe I should wait until he's out of solitary."

She snorted. "That man is never getting out of solitary."

"Is he that bad? His charges are non-violent."

"It's not because of him. It's to protect him."

"This is a blue-collar prison, Becca. Protect him from what?"

"Off the record?"

I sighed and nodded. "It's always off the record with my friends. I don't know why I need to keep reminding everyone of this lately."

She laughed as she stepped on the foot pedal, opening the trash bin and tossing the balled-up sanitary bed paper into it. "Because we know how the media works."

"That's not fair. I'm not like that."

"We know—" Becca froze, the smile on her face falling for a split moment before waving me backward. "Hide."

Kip is going to kill me.

I stepped backward into the dark office space, closed the door to only a crack, then waited.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Rogers."

"I've told you to stop calling me that."

"Thanks, Jim. I'll get him finished up right away, then come get you."

"Warden wants me to stay with him, as always."

"About that, I was reading up on HIPAA and ethical guidelines—"

"Don't bust my balls, Becca." The officer stepped up to Kane and transferred his cuff to a makeshift hook embedded in the wall near the bed.

"Thank you."

"If Warden Karnes gets wind of this… I never left this room. You hear me." He pointed his finger at her.

"No problemo." She gave him her best smile, and he gave Kane a once over before stepping out of the room and shutting the door behind him.

"You can come out now," Becca whispered.

I cracked the door and walked into the room, Kane's eyes growing wide.

"Who is she?"

Becca put her finger to her lips. " Shhh . She's a friend."

"What do you want?"

"My name is Ava. I work for The Riverfield Chronicle. I'm here following a lead from an anonymous source who listed your name."

He raised a brow and huffed as Becca took his vitals.

"Are you working on a story?"

I snorted. "Sort of."

"And you want my help because?"

"Well, have you ever heard of NeuraZene? Or NZene—"

"NZene for short?" He sighed.

"So you’ve heard of it?"

"The question is…how have you ?"

"A source."

"A source?"

"Yes. Then I received a letter on my doorstep with your name on it, along with my apartment door broken in."

His brows raised, the whites of his eyes visible all around, his mouth hanging open. "I don't want anything to do with it."

"Why? Why do you look so—"

"Listen, there are bigger things at play here. Things you aren't ready to handle. Not even I could handle it." He glanced at Becca as she filled a needle. "You're already on their radar, and you don't even know it."

Kane bent over the bed and bared a small patch of skin on his hip. She rubbed the alcohol swab over the skin, waved it dry, and then stuck the needle in his rump. He grunted and inched away from her touch.

"On who's radar?"

He let out a dry, humorless laugh. "The ones in charge of distributing NZene through every rave, underground scene, and bad neighborhood."

"Wrap it up. You've got maybe two minutes." Becca grabbed his medication as he pulled up his pants and sat back on the bed.

"So what entity is doing it?"

"Not what, but who…" He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Have you noticed anyone following you around, things missing, a weird buzzing noise in your phone?"

I frowned and shook my head. "Nothing out of the ordinary besides my doorknob hanging off the door…" I paused, rummaging around in my memories. “I did get these weird phone calls a few days ago. Someone put my phone number on a hookup site.”

“Petty shit. Any enemy could have done that.” He shook his head with irritation. “Is there anyone new in your life? Someone who's made contact with you?"

I chewed on my inner lip, my brows furrowing as each new face popped into my head.

Nate?

But he didn't make contact with me. I ran into him.

"No. Not that I recall. What does that have to do with drug dealers?"

He snorted. "Go to a rave and ask the dealers who their bosses are."

Leaning into the doorjamb, I let out a short, dry chuckle. "No drug dealer is going to reveal that information."

"Fair. Then buy a sample. Have it tested. You'll see remarkable similarities."

"Similarities to what?"

Kane sighed. "Every government peddled drug."

I laughed and then slapped a hand over my mouth. "You want me to believe the government is behind all of this?"

"As if that's so far-fetched. Don't you know about Freeway Ricky Ross and the CIA?"

I shook my head.

"What about the Iran-Contra Affair or, more recently, Operation Fast and Furious?"

"No."

He shrugged with an incredulous glance. "Look, I don't know why your source named me. I can't…won't help you."

"Why?"

"Look at my case. You're way over your head here."

"I can't." I tucked my hair behind my ear. "Your papers are a minefield of secrets."

"Yeah. Except I didn't do anything but question a superior about expensive pencil sharpeners through the 'low side' messaging system. The next thing I knew, police were at my door charging me with this ridiculous communication fraud. But we all know it's because I went to Congress about their spending."

I groaned. "So you’re saying you're a whistleblower?”

“Yeah, before laws were put in place to protect people like me.”

“Listen, I think if I were to talk to any inmate in here, they'd all say they were innocent."

"That's true, but they didn’t have people perjure themselves on the stand saying they'd spoken to me about classified information." He shook his head. "I'd never met them in my life—couldn't even tell you their names if they hadn't introduced them to the jury." He shrugged, his shoulders falling with a sigh. "It's okay if you don't believe me. But here's another question: if I'm in a low-security prison, why am I being denied contact with the outside world? They say I haven't received any letters, but the guys that work in the mail room have told me they were given explicit orders to give them to the warden—the ones coming and going—why is that?"

That's illegal.

Hairs stood on end as I shrugged. "I don't know how the prison system works."

"You don’t seem that dumb.” He scowled, and my teeth ground together. "They claim I'm trying to retaliate against the man who tried to kill me in here. Why do you think I'm in solitary?"

"Are you?" I cocked my head to the side. "Trying to retaliate?"

God, I'm underprepared for this interview.

"No. I'm insulted you'd even ask."

"Alright, wait." I held my hand out like a traffic guard. "You mean to tell me the DA's office concocted this whole story about you and then tried to have you killed in prison? That seems far-fetched."

"It wouldn’t be the first time the government offed a whistleblower.”

"Time's up." Becca handed him a small circular white pill.

"This isn't my Amiadarone ."

Becca shook her head and grabbed the notepad on the side, flipping one sheet up and folding it over as I backed into the office on the off chance 'Jim' walked in unannounced. "Says here Dr. Phillips requested you switch to Dronedarone. "

"Why?"

"It's more effective at treating your AFiB."

"I'm not taking it. There was no reason to switch my medication." His eyes widened as he swiped the medication from her hand, knocking it to the floor.

"Mr. Rogers. What are you doing?"

"I'm not taking it."

"You know I wouldn't do anything to harm you—"

"Do I?"

She sighed and tipped her head back before bending over and picking up the pill. "I've been nothing but kind to you. I see you every day. If I wanted to hurt you, I could have done it already with that needle I just put in your butt, for God's sake."

He sat for a moment, his Adam's apple bobbing, then gave her a curt nod. "You're right.”Kane Rogers held out his hand with a paper wedding band on his finger. Becca placed the pill in his hand and put a small paper cup in the other. “I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted.”

Cupping his hand to his mouth, he tipped it back and swallowed the pill, then slid off the bed, the door opening in time.

"All done? I have other inmates to get to."

Becca nodded. "Just finishing up." Her gaze flashed to mine hidden in the office, then back to Jim, who stepped into the room, noted by his heavy boots hitting the floor.

Chains jingled, and the scent of Jim's Old Spice filled my senses, tickling my nose.

Oh shit.

My eyes twitched close, my body doubled over as I moved behind her desk, and I threw my hand over my nose and mouth before I let out the world's quietest sneeze.

"What was that?"

"Sounded like someone sneezing down the hallway."

" Eh , maybe. Swear it came from your office."

Becca gave a tense laugh, and I frowned, curling in under her desk, waiting for the next sneeze to give up my location like a bullhorn.

"If there's someone in there, they're good at holding their pee. I haven't left all morning, and I don't know anyone who doesn't pee after coffee."

"How do you know they drink coffee?"

"Jim, come on. Who comes to the prison in the morning without a large cup of coffee in hand? No one. It's almost a job requirement."

"That's true.” He laughed. “I'm on my second cup already."

"Can I have some?" Kane asked, causing a smile to form on my lips, my heart buzzing as my second sneeze dissipated.

"No," they said in unison.

"You know caffeine isn't good for your AFiB, Mr. Rogers."

"It's not like I have much to live for, Mrs. Becca . And stop calling me that."

"Next time, I'll be sure I don't."

Chains rattled as he walked, my mind's eye picturing him frowning the whole way out.

"That was a close call."

I poked my head over the desk, spotting Becca's silhouette in the doorway. "I'm never speaking to you again."

"To me? Aren't I the one who should say that to you? You nearly got caught. You couldn't wait to sneeze into my lounger pillow?"

"His cologne was strong." I pulled myself up from the floor and walked towards the rugged couch. "And I don't think he had that on before."

She giggled. "I don't think he did either."

I collapsed onto the couch and rubbed my temples. "He's paranoid. Do you think I can take him seriously?"

She shrugged. "That's not my department. I just administer the drugs."

"Is he in solitary because someone tried to kill him?"

Becca plopped onto the couch beside me and nodded as she hugged the pillow to her chest. "Yeah, it was a mess. There was blood everywhere."

I frowned. "How long ago? He didn't have a scratch on him."

"Last week. And he's highly trained in Judo, Jujitsu, or something like that." She twisted in her seat and brought her knee up, resting the side of her leg on the couch. "He took the knife from the inmate, stabbed him in the neck and abdomen, then pinned him to the ground and broke his arm while the guy bled all over him."

I stared at her, aghast. "That man…took out a killer?"

"Yeah." She nodded, eyebrows raised. "I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it for myself."

"Do you think ‘the government' is behind it?"

Bracing her elbow on the back of the couch, she leaned into her palm. "I don't know. I take whatever these guys say with a grain of salt. They'll say anything to get someone to believe their innocence."

"I guess so. It seemed like he was so convinced of it."

"You tell yourself the lie long enough you start to believe it as well."

" Touché ."

But what if it was the truth?

Who would believe such a far-fetched statement?

"Well, I better hit the road and write this up before I forget it."

"Let's get together some time, Ava. I miss your face."

I gave her a tight-lipped smile and reached for her hand, giving it a squeeze. "I know, I'm sorry."

She sighed. "Look, I know Darrel and you had a falling out, but that was years ago. And just because he's my brother doesn't mean we can't still be friends."

A sinking weight hit my gut as I worked back tears. "I feel guilty."

"There's no reason to feel guilty. It didn't work out. We get it. We all do. But don't cut us all out because of it."

"I'm not doing it on purpose, really." I sighed and swiped away the hairs tickling my face. "I buried myself in my work to forget the pain, and I never figured out how to meet the surface again. I'm just now going out on a date."

Her eyes lit up as they widened. "You are? Who? Tell me."

I shrugged. "Just this guy I met on the street."

"Didn't Mr. Rogers ask if you'd met anyone new?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yes. But he didn't insert himself. I ran into him . He's a sweet guy, and he rides a motorcycle."

"Sweet and motorcycles do not go hand in hand."

"I know." I raised a brow. "So rare." Laughter billowed out, and for a moment, it transported me back to old times between her and me when we were best friends tackling high school together.

"Okay, okay. Tell me all about him, and then leave. I need to prepare for the next patient."

For a short ten minutes, I went over every interaction, thought, feeling, and daydream I'd ever had of Nate. I'd explained our upcoming date and how I turned down Liam hours before Nate refused to take no for an answer. She gushed, smiled, and squirmed as I described him.

"You know. If this doesn't work out. I'll be happy to break the girl code and snag him."

I let out a dry laugh and gave her knee a light slap. "Thanks. There's another reason for Kip to hate me."

"Oh, please." She stood, dragging me up with her, then pulling me into a hug. "He couldn't hate you even if he tried."