Page 99 of The Innocent

Great, that’s just what I need…two of them.

*

They had just finished breakfast when she got the phone call. Jekyll watched Imogene pace the room with a smile on her face. “Looking forward to it, Elaine. See you on Saturday.”

She tapped her screen and glanced over. “Why are you staring at me?”

“’Cause you just convinced an ex-con with anger issues to do yoga. It’s impressive,” he teased, and she rolled her eyes.

“If I judged everyone on their rap sheet, you and I would’ve never met. I wouldn’t have volunteered at the prison.”

“Why did you?” He asked.

“My dad. He was the motivation behind it, knowing there were innocent people who were locked up. But I’m not so naïve as to think that category is a majority. I know it’s not. Most people are in prison because they broke the law. But I also don’t think those people are disposable and their mistakes can’t turn into a learning lesson.”

Imogene was so different from him. He looked at people and expected the worst. Always suspicious.

Jekyll scoffed. “You think everyone can be reformed?”

“Not everyone.” She smiled. “Bad people exist. I know that. But how is someone able to decipher between evil and a mistake? You can’t unless you understand the person, right? Every interaction I had with an inmate, I gave them a clean slate in my mind. Treated them with kindness and respect while remaining cautious.” She snorted. “I’m not gullible, Jekyll.”

The jury is still out on that one.

“Too nice.”

She laughed, shaking her head. “There’s no such thing.”

Jekyll balled his fists. “Yeah, there fucking is when you’re dealing with felons.”

She raised her brows. “Why? Because they can be calculating and manipulative? They can come across one way and have their deviant thoughts racing through their minds while pretending to be someone else?”

“Yeah.”

“I know that.” She nodded. “Do you remember Congers? He was in your block.”

Jekyll didn’t interact with him much but he’d see him from time to time.

“Old guy, kept to himself.”

She smirked. “Yes, and by all accounts, respectful. He asked for special tutoring for the GED. He went to administration and was granted permission.” She tapped her finger on her chest. “I was the one who declined the tutoring. And I did it for my own safety.”

Jekyll straightened. “You were scared of him?”

“His intentions weren’t good. The administrators saw a record of zero infractions, no time in solitary, and basically, a model prisoner. I spent time with him in class so I had a different view. Because it’s not always about what someone says, it’s how they say it. How they move. Red flags were flying, and my guard was up within a week after he entered the class.”

How the fuck did I miss that?

“I never saw shit from him.”

“He wasn’t a threat to you, so you didn’t bother looking deep enough. If you had, you would’ve seen the same thing I did.”

Jekyll was quickly realizing, he hadn’t given her enough credit. Imogene had more insight on people than he thought. Still too fucking nice.

He lifted his chin. “You didn’t see me as a threat?”

She widened her eyes and snickered. “To me? Never.”

And he wasn’t. If anything, he’d been a silent protector. Had he known about Congers, he would’ve handled it.