Blood Sport by A.J. Carella Read Free Book Online Page B

wanted to leave Kat and Daniel alone after Finn had left but it was her turn to visit Jake. They took it in turns to go and visit him in the state prison and this week it was her turn. She knew that there were some people in Brecon Point who didn’t understand how she’d forgiven him for killing her fiancé. In fact there had been a few resignations at work when she’d taken over. She’d tried to explain to Ted’s parents but they hadn’t understood and it pained her that they would no longer talk to her. She knew her brother, though, and her faith in him was unswerving. She knew it had been an accident, just as she knew that her own father had partly driven him to it.
    The drive to the prison took about two hours but it was a drive that Jamie didn’t mind. The prison was located far awa y from any towns. The journey there took her mostly through the countryside and she enjoyed watching the fields roll past the windows and the country smells on the air.
    The first few visits after Jake had been convicted and sentenced had been hard f or all of them, the time filled with silences where none of them knew what to say to each other. But now Jake seemed to have adjusted quite well and they’d gotten into a routine with the weekly visits. It was never going to be an enjoyable thing, but it was certainly less traumatic than it had been.
    Pulling into the visitor ’s parking lot, she locked her purse in the glove box before stepping out of the car with nothing but her car keys on her and made her way to the visitors entrance. After the usual search, she was ushered into the visiting room. That term made it sound nicer than it was. In fact, it was a room separated by a partition down the middle. The partition was split into individual sections of glass with a chair in front of each section. The visitors entered through one door on one side of the glass, and the prisoners entered through another on the other side. What looked like telephone handsets were available on each side to talk through.
    Sitting down with the other visitors , she waited until the door opened and the prisoners were led in. She smiled as Jake walked in behind another prisoner and took his seat opposite her before lifting the handset.
    “Hey , bro, good to see you.”
    “You too , sis.”
    As usual, Jamie did most of the talking. He was always desperate for news of the outside world and she always made sure it was cheerful and upbeat. She had thought long and hard about telling him about Daniel on the way up here but had decided against it for now; it wasn’t exactly a happy subject.
    “Jake, are you listening to me?” He looked distracted, staring into space as if she wasn’t there.
    “What? Sorry, what were you saying?”
    “Jake, what’s wrong? You’re not yourself today at all.” He’d been quiet since she walked in and didn’t seem interested in what she was telling him. He seemed about to tell her something when one of the guards walked past and he quickly closed his mouth and said nothing.
    “Jake? What is it?” She watched as he checked where the guard was before seeming to hunch himself over the mouthpiece.
    “I’m ok ay. But Jamie, listen to me. If anything happens to me it won’t have been an accident.”
    Jamie was complete taken aback. “What do you mean if something happens to you?”
    “Shhhhh! Keep it down, would you?” He was looking around him, making sure no one could overhear. “Just remember what I said, okay?”
    The guard chose that moment to tell them visiting time was over and to wrap it up.
    Jamie watched, dumbstruck, as Jake put the handset down and blew her a kiss with a small smile before getting in line and filing out of the room with the other prisoners.
    What the hell was that all about? she thought as she collected her car keys and made her way out to the parking lot. Part of her wanted to go back inside and demand that she be allowed to see him and get to the bottom of it, but she knew full well that