The Final Rule by Adrienne Wilder Read Free Book Online

down again. “And if you do that I’ll have your hide as a rug in front of my fire place. He does not need this right now. I don’t care. I don’t care about that either. If I jumped every time a prisoner complained about the food, my ass would never touch a chair again.” George gave them his back. This time when he spoke it was a harsh whisper. “Have some decency. He’s been through enough. Goddamn it, I said no.”
    George turned his chair back around and hung up the phone.
    “Was that about me?” Ellis said.
    “It’s nothing.”
    “If it’s about me, I think I deserve to know.”
    “Ellis—”
    “Please tell me.”
    George’s gaze fell to the floor for a moment. “For the past couple of weeks Russell has requested to see you, but don’t worry, there’s nothing he can do to force you to. I checked and double checked with the DA.”
    “Why does he want to see him?” Jon said.
    “Damn fool is ranting about Ellis helping him.” George clenched his fists as if he could strangle the man with a thought. “Crazy bastard.”
    “Help him?”
    “Apparently Louis was found dead in his cell at the beginning of the month.”
    “What happened?” Jon said.
    “Coroner said it was some type of autoimmune disease. He had a mile long word for it, but basically his insides melted. Now Russell seems convinced he’s next. Has himself so riled he’s lost a lot of weight.” George tossed a hand. “His lawyer is having a cow.”
    “I want to see him,” Ellis said.
    “There’s no reason for you to feel obligated to entertain his request.”
    “I know. But I want to see him.”
    “Why?”
    “Because I think I need to.”
    Jon put a hand on Ellis’s shoulder. “You sure?” Ellis didn’t need any more stress. With everything else that had happened he had to barely be holding it together. Jon was barely holding it together.
    Ellis nodded.
    “You’re making a mistake,” George said.
    “I might be.” Ellis nodded again. “But I need to find out for myself.”
    ********
    Hall County Prison loomed over a good chunk of land, but it was nothing like the image Ellis had painted inside his head; a black stoned structure twenty stories high with turrets on every corner. In reality, it was a simple concrete building surrounded by chain link fencing topped with razor wire.
    Ellis kept one hand in the pocket where he carried the drawing and the other over Jon’s. From shoulder to knee their bodies touched, leaving the rest of the backseat empty.
    Jon remained silent, but the worry in his expression created tension around his eyes. George continued to throw pleading glances at Ellis from the rearview mirror.
    At the security gate, George turned in his seat. “One last time. Are you sure?”
    “We’re already here.”
    “And I’d be more than happy to drive you back. I don’t want you to do this, Ellis.”
    But Ellis had to. “I know.”
    The guards checked George’s ID, then he and Jon turned over their guns.
    George found a parking spot near the front. The cooling engine ticked off the seconds and a mist coated the windshield in fine dots.
    Jon squeezed Ellis’s hand.
    “You ready?” Jon said.
    How could anyone be ready to face a man who tried to kill the people he loved?
    “Sure.” Ellis followed Jon out of the car.
    Inside they were issued visitor badges while a corrections officer waited to escort them into the holding area.
    “We set you up in a private room.” The officer stopped at a heavy metal door with a small square window close to the top. “One of the officers has gone to get the prisoner but Russell’s lawyer is already here.” The man said it with all the air of talking about dirty laundry. It wasn’t that Russell didn’t deserve it, yet it saddened Ellis to know how easy it was for someone to be dehumanized.
    George paused with his hand on the doorknob. Ellis had already come to know the look in the man’s eyes. He nodded once and they went in.
    The small room was painted some