Page 70 of Caretaker

Chapter Twenty-Three

The street that snaked around to the back of the prison appeared well-tended and was lit with sporadically placed lights which did little to dispel the shadows on either side of the paved path.

“What’s going on tonight?” As I walked, I continued taking occasional, quick sniffs, making sure Jamie wasn’t leading me too far from Madalyn’s scent. If I found her, I wouldn’t need to get to Angus. The judge would simply give him to me.

Jamie released my arm and walked with his fingers brushing his gun, as though he might need to draw it at any time. “Same thing that goes on every weekend.” He shot a quick glance at me, then Alejandro, where his stare lingered. “The fights.”

My chest started to tighten. “Fights?”

“They fight the inmates every weekend.”

I frowned. “You mean like boxing matches?”

Alejandro kept his stare roaming the darkness on either side of the dimly lit path. “He means like dogfights.” He didn’t look at me.

“The inmates are forced to fight?” I was beginning to understand not only Angus’s well-fed appearance but also the guilt and torment I’d glimpsed in his eyes.

“It’s a very lucrative practice.” Jamie’s voice was mild, and I caught no sign of outrage or sorrow in his tone. Maybe he was just that good at hiding his emotions. Or maybe he didn’t care about the supernaturals.

I was betting on the latter.

I realized my nails were biting into my palms and forced myself to relax. “They’re fighting Angus?” I whispered.

“There are half a dozen top-tier fighters,” Jamie told me. “Stark is one of them. He’s not just crazy strong—he’s crazy. That makes him almost unbeatable.”

Al glanced at me. “Trinity?”

I had two choices. I could ask Jamie to lead me to Angus and do my best to free him, or I could find Madalyn, call the judge, and have him give me Angus. Shane had warned me away from trusting Bennett, but I had no doubt he would trade Angus for his wife. I’d seen his love for her.

I didn’t have to trust him to make that happen.

But I had no real leverage over Jamie Stone. He was carrying a grudge against the warden, and that grudge might cause him to give us information or help us screw with his father.

He would also not hesitate to throw us to the wolves if he needed to. Or if he grew bored. We were nothing to him.

And we absolutely could not trust him.

“Shit,” I muttered, and then, I looked at Alejandro.

Jamie had not even a millisecond to understand what was about to happen. Alejandro turned like he was preparing to hit a home run, then smacked Jamie in the temple with the side of his fist. Jamie dropped to the ground, out cold.

It was over in seconds, from the moment the thought had formed in my brain to the young man lying on the pavement, unconscious.

I gaped at Alejandro. Now I knew why Rhys trusted him to have my back. “You can read minds?”

Al laughed, then leaned over to lift Jamie’s lanyard over his head. The lanyard held a keycard which could potentially get us through some locked doors. “I read your face, Trinity, not your mind.”

“You’re very fast,” I said, impressed with both his brain and his speed.

“You thought Rhys would send someone incompetent as your backup?” He rifled through Jamie’s pockets and pulled out a small ring of keys and a wallet, then quickly divested him of his weapons—an electroshock baton and a handgun. He handed me the baton and slid the gun into his pocket.

We had weapons.

“What are we going to do with him?” I asked. “He won’t stay unconscious forever.”

“I can kill him.” Alejandro smiled, but there was no smile in his eyes.

“No.” I frowned at him. “You can’t.”