I can’t seem to stop shaking after my encounter with Shane in the infirmary. I have spent over a decade now hating him. Glad that he was rotting away in prison because it was what he deserved. And even when I saw him last week and confirmed that he didn’t have horns sprouting from his head

or a devil’s tail, I still thought of him as the man who tried to kill me.

Today was the first time since that night when I thought of him as the boy I used to love.

By the time I walk out to my car in the parking lot of the penitentiary, I want nothing more than to go home, eat one of Margie’s delicious dinners, and crawl into bed. Ooh, and maybe take a hot bath. When Josh was little, taking a bath was impossible because I couldn’t leave him alone for that long and there was no backup parent to watch him. But now that he’s more independent, I’ve become addicted.

When I’m six feet away from my car, a large hand closes around my arm. I instantly go on high alert, whipping myself around to confront whoever grabbed me. But when I turn, I come face-to-face with Officer Marcus Hunt.

Outside of the prison walls, he looks even more imposing. He towers over me, his lips curled into a perpetual sneer, and his biceps are about the same circumference as my thighs. He doesn’t have any weapons on him at the moment, but he doesn’t need them. He could crush me with one hand.

And we’re the only two people in the parking lot. “Brooke,” he says. “I need to talk to you.”

“I don’t have anything to say to you,” I hiss at him. “Don’t be like that…”

My purse is flung over my shoulder. I’ve got a bottle of pepper spray in there, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to get to it with him restraining me. “You need to let go of me.”

“Brooke…”

“Let go of me or I’ll scream!”

Hunt’s eyes widen as he finally gets it in his head that he needs to let go of me. He releases my arm and holds his hands up in the air. “I’m sorry.

I didn’t mean to scare you. I just want to talk.”

He didn’t mean to scare me? Does he have a clue how scary he is? I can’t imagine what it’s like for Shane to deal with this guy every single day of his life.

“Please, Brooke.” He takes a step back, his hands still in the air. “I just need to talk to you.”

I don’t want to talk to Hunt. I want to go home, have dinner and possibly a bubble bath. But I need to work with this guy—I can’t be his enemy. And I’m admittedly curious about what he has to say.

“Fine,” I say. “What is it?”

“Brooke.” His forehead crinkles. “Look, I’m sorry about what happened with Nelson today. It wasn’t like I meant to hurt him.”

“Yeah, right.”

“I didn’t.” He shakes his shaved head. “But you know what, even if I did, he deserves it. Do you have any idea what that guy did to land himself in here?”

I have some idea. “All these men have committed crimes…”

“This is different. Nelson is different. He’s… he’s really manipulative.”

It’s the same thing Elise wrote in his chart. And she underlined it. “I haven’t seen him act that way.”

“Right, because he’s manipulating you. He’s making you trust him, but you shouldn’t.”

I crane my neck to look up at Hunt’s face. Whatever else I can say, I don’t think he’s making this up. He seems to really believe it. But the question is, do I believe it?

“I’m not going to let him manipulate me,” I say.

“That’s what Elise said. Now she’s probably going to prison herself.

Or at the least, she’ll lose her license.”

What is he saying? That Shane tricked Elise, and that’s the reason she got in trouble? I find that hard to believe, especially after what she wrote in his chart. And Shane hasn’t manipulated me. I even offered him pain medication last week, and he refused. “Don’t worry about it.”

“I am worried.” He glances over my shoulder at my Toyota. “Look, I don’t want to talk about this in the parking lot. Why don’t we go get a drink together and we can, you know, talk about this more?”

Oh. I get it now.

“No, thanks.” I adjust the strap of my handbag on my shoulder. “I have to get home. The babysitter is waiting.”

“Another night then?”

The concern on his face has vanished, and now he has a hopeful expression. So this is his game. He’s torturing Shane to impress me and get a date. It’s despicable, but I don’t want to outright humiliate him. I do have to work with him, and I’m also counting on him to protect me if I’m ever in a dangerous situation.

“Maybe sometime next month,” I say vaguely. “I’m just really busy now. And my sitter can’t stay late.”

“Oh, right, sure.” Hunt rubs his shaved head. “Yeah, I have a busy month this month too. We’ll have to do it next month. Or the month after. Whatever. No big deal.”

“Yeah…” I reach into my purse for my keys. “Anyway, I’m going to get going. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Sure.” He nods. “And Brooke?” “Yes?”

“Be careful.”