A ghost with nothing to lose.
Still, starting that fight had been a gamble. He winced, recalling how quickly everything had escalated and turned into a full--on riot. He’d only meant to get himself injured. Instead inmates had died. Guards were injured. He’d seen North go down in a shower of blood. He felt like shit about that. He’d promised Knox he would look out for the kid. Reid had made inquiries and knew he was in a room somewhere else in this hospital. Thankfully, North would recover, but that face of his wouldn’t be so pretty anymore.
And that sucked. More guilt. More sins to heap at his feet. But it was done. He, better than anyone, knew you couldn’t change the past. He just had to make sure it meant something. That it wasn’t for nothing. Then he could go back to rotting away for the rest of his life.
He took a deep, mostly pain--free breath as a nurse entered his room for a final bed check of the night. He was the last to be told anything concerning himself, but he knew. Even if he hadn’t spied the paperwork on the doctor’s clipboard authorizing his release, Reid knew. His time here was done. It was now or never. He had to act tonight.
“Are you comfortable? Can I get you anything? Another pillow?” Nadine asked as she adjusted the one beneath his head, bringing her chest close to his face. It was a game she liked to play. Tease the hard--up convict. Lingering touches on his body that didn’t feel quite so clinical. It’d been a while but he knew when a woman was into him.
The guard who’d accompanied her into the room snorted. Reid leveled his gaze on Vasquez. The man clearly found her compassion toward a scumbag like him unnecessary.
Reid looked back at the nurse. “I’m fine.” He smiled at her. It felt a little rusty. He hadn’t done a lot of smiling in the last eleven years, but it seemed to work. She smiled back.
He picked up the remote control with his arm that wasn’t in a sling. “I might watch some television.” The more noise coming from his room, the better.
He punched the on button and the TV flickered to CNN, the channel Landers, the day guard, preferred. It was a good thing Landers wasn’t here tonight. He hung out in the room with Reid a lot. Vasquez, on the other hand, only entered the room to accompany hospital staff. The rest of the time he stood watch outside the door.
“Don’t stay up too late,” Nadine advised. “You need your rest.”
He nodded, training his gaze on the TV as if he cared about what was happening in the rest of the world.
Footage rolled across the screen of a vaguely familiar female dressed in a boring gray suit that hung on her like a sack.
“. . . an inside White House source reports that the First Daughter has been missing for over twenty--four hours, ever since Wednesday afternoon following a luncheon with the Ladies Literacy League in Fort Worth, Texas, where she delivered a speech on . . .”
The nurse tsked. “Can you believe it? Someone abducted the president’s daughter. What’s the world coming to?”
He shook his head as if this was indeed something he gave a fuck about.
“She probably took off for a weekend to Padre Island,” Vasquez grumbled. “Meanwhile, every law enforcement agency in the state is on full alert, wasting time and taxpayers’ money searching for her.”
The timing couldn’t have been better as far as Reid was concerned. Deep satisfaction pumped through his veins, mingling with the building adrenaline. That meant they would care less about one escaped convict.
He didn’t bother pointing out that the dark--haired female—-who looked anywhere between the ages of twenty and forty—-was the least likely candidate for a wild weekend at Padre.
“Haven’t you been watching the news?” Nadine asked. “They suspect terrorists,” she pointed out with an indignant sniff.
“What does the media know?” The guard rolled his eyes. “Watch. She’ll show up on Monday.”
Nadine shrugged and looked back to Reid. “Good night.”
Reid fixed a smile to his face as she slipped from the room, the guard close behind her.
The door clicked softly shut, and he sat there for a long while, letting the minutes tick past, letting the hospital sink further into night, his hand twitching anxiously at his side.
CNN streamed a constant feed of First Daughter Grace Reeves while reporting absolutely nothing new or enlightening. Graduate of some all--girls college with a degree in astronomy. She looked uncomfortable in her own skin. She was dating the White House communications director, with rumors of an engagement imminent. Surprising, since she didn’t look the type to be with the slick--looking guy mugging for the camera.