I have no idea why Hernandez and the others aren’t already breathing fresh air instead of racking up more time and a possible death penalty to what they already have marked against them. There’s no fixing stupid; if life has taught me one thing—it would be that.
“Wait a minute,” the woman says coming to a stop in front of the tunnel opening. She has a sexy body, and her voice makes my dick want more, but she’s starting to grate on my nerves. Does she have no survival instincts? I breathe out loudly to show her my frustration.
“Lady, we have maybe three or four minutes before all hell breaks loose, and this tunnel will be filled with some of the filthiest assholes you will ever come across. I might have contained Hernandez, but if he gets his buddies with him, you have to know they will get you. Now either move your ass or prepare to be gangbanged by men who haven’t had their hands on a woman in years, let alone one that looks like you. Your choice, but I’m not sticking around for the party.”
I walk into the tunnel and hope she wises up enough to follow me. Contrary to what I just said, I won’t leave her, but I sure as hell don’t want to have to carry her out of here either. She must decide that I am serious because, after a few minutes, I hear her behind me.
“Wait up, Mr. Kincaid. Please? I…I well…you see…”
“Spit it out, lady.”
“I have a slight fear of dark, narrow places.”
I rub the back of my neck to release some of the tension gathering there. I wouldn’t even be in this situation had she not shown up. I’m starting to think I would have done better if I had taken her out through the front and let the cops waiting on the other side shoot me.
“A slight fear?”
“Okay. Gigantic. Enormous. Epic proportions. Like if you make me walk through this tunnel, I will most likely die half way through from fright. People can die from fear, you know. I watched a documentary once. In some cases do you know that even the person’s hair gained a white streak?”
“Are you telling me that your slight fear of dark, narrow places is bigger than your fear of being gang raped by ten or fifteen of this state’s worst convicted felons on record?”
She gasps and then surprises me by grabbing my hand. I stand there trying to make out her face in the darkness. “Well? Get a move on! I think it only fair to warn you, Mad Max, that if I survive this, I will be telling the parole board that you should be denied.”
I haven’t smiled in years. A small one ekes out. It feels weird, and the muscles involved haven’t been used in so long they feel stiff. Hell, so is my dick. I don’t understand my reaction to this woman. It’s probably just because I’ve been without one for so long. When I get free, I’m gonna hunt one up and get laid, before getting locked back up. I can feel Tess tremble beneath my hold, and her breathing is ragged. I know she’s terrified of the tunnel, but her reactions remind me even more of sex. This keeps up, and I’m going to have trouble walking.
We get to the outside, and I look around. The sirens are loud, and you can hear guns and shouting, but it’s in the distance and off somewhere to the right. I pull Tess the opposite direction and just like the men discussed in the cell next to me, the hole in the fence is there.
“Slide through,” I order.
She looks at me, back to the small opening, shakes her head and then slides through. I push the fence out, knowing it will be a tight fit getting through. I’ve barely started when Tess takes off, running down the small grassy area between the hill and the fence. I growl out in frustration. I should let her go, I have no use for her, and she’s the reason I’m in this mess. For some unfathomable reason, I don’t. I rush through the fence. I grimace, at the pain I feel when the fence slashes into my stomach, but don’t give it much thought. Instead, I run to catch up to Tess, before she gets away. The simple truth is; I don’t want to let her go yet.
“I don’t think so, Kitten,” I tell her, wrapping my hand around her arm. She huffs when I pull her back around to face me.
“You don’t want to do this, Mad Max. I’ve read your folder. You’re not a bad man; you were most likely going to get your parole today. You don’t want to add kidnapping and attempted escape onto your record. Let me go.”
I ignore her plea and lead her the opposite way she was going. I pull us close to the building. If there are any guards left in the towers that the men didn’t overpower, I want it to be hard to spot us. The line of grass we have to walk on gets smaller as we reach the creek bank. We must cross it to get into the swampland beyond. As I direct her to the edge of the water, she pulls against my hold.
“What are you doing? We can’t go through that water, we don’t know how deep it is, and that’s swampland beyond it. You do know we’re in Florida right? The state, alligators freaking love? We’d have to be insane. We should hit the main road.”
“Hush it, Kitten. This is not a democracy. Now button it and go through the water.”