Nobody.
Rosie growled, then whined, bumping her head against Cy’s hand. “It’s alright, girl,” he lied, letting the dog lick over his palm. “I’ll see you tomorrow, and I’ll spend more time with you then. I promise.”
Cy locked the kennel and hung the keys on the hook. “All finished.”
Kemp smirked at Cy, his nightstick tapping the plastic containers that held the dry dog food. The sick feeling in Cy’s stomach only worsened as the plastic lid went flying. “You need to clean up your mess first.” Kemp pushed over the huge bin of dog food. “Oops.”
Cy couldn’t stop the growl that escaped or the way his hands clenched into fists as he stared at the mess. He cut his gaze to Kemp whose eyes were narrow slits. “I can’t feed that to the dogs now. It’s tainted.” There were very rigorous standards with the dogs they cared for at the prison. The animals’ health was top priority.
“Still needs to be cleaned up, inmate.”
Cy stared Kemp down, seething, his nostrils flaring. “Permission to get a broom…sir?” He spit the words, wishing they could inflict some lasting damage.
“Denied. There’s a little scoop there. I’m sure you can make use of that.”
“That will take an hour.”
“You got somewhere to be, inmate?” He put an emphasis on the word, fondling his baton, brow arched, his expression telling Cy he was looking for a fight. If Cy fought back, he ended up injured, in the hole, or both. If he did nothing, he lost another hour. The idea of him sitting there picking up dog food while Thor and his crew were somewhere brutalizing Nicky made him want to fucking scream. It made him want to pick Kemp up and shake him like a rag doll, beat him until his insides were on the outside, anything to make Kemp feel the same amount of helplessness and frustration as he did in that moment, to make him feel the pain Nicky could be experiencing even then. But none of those things helped Nicky. None.
Fuck.
“No,” he said between gritted teeth.
“That’s what I thought,” Kemp said, dropping onto another bin of dog food as Cy started the arduous process of scooping up the kibble and putting it back into the bin for disposal.
Time dragged until every passing minute felt like the lash of a razor blade, cutting through the restraints keeping Cy’s rage in check. All he could think about was Nicky. If they hurt him… Fuck, if they killed him… No. No. That wasn’t going to happen.
But if it did, Cy would take every single one of those motherfuckers out, starting with Thor. He’d paint the walls of the prison red with their blood, and if he died, then he died. He’d hardly felt like he was living while he was in there anyway.
Once the food was picked up and securely closed, Cy was shaking, but he just stood, forcing his face into a placid expression. By the time he was back on his block, his heart was racing so fast he worried he might actually pass out. He needed to hit something or splash some water on his face. Were they still in the showers? Was Nicky in the infirmary? He saw Iggy and Jay outside his cell and his heart sank. He shoved past them, expecting to see the worst, but, instead, found Nicky sitting on the lower bunk, the smile on his face slipping as he saw Cy’s panic.
“What? What’s wrong?” he asked, rising to his feet, hands reaching for Cy before he thought better of it.
Iggy and Jay turned and wandered off without being asked. It was then that he noticed that Nicky’s hair wasn’t wet. “You…you didn’t shower.”
“Rude,” Nicky said, his attempt at humor failing. “What’s wrong?”
“Lawson said Thor and his guys were going to jump you in the showers. I tried to warn you, but Kemp just kept me there, forcing me to do shit to give them more time with you. But you’re not there.”
“No, my attorney showed up. She had some papers for me to sign. I had to meet with her, and I missed my shower.” Nicky dropped back onto his bunk, putting his face in his hands, as if the magnitude of Cy’s words were hitting him. “They were going to…”
Cy leaned against the wall, sucking deep breaths in through his nose and out through his mouth, forcing his heart rate back to normal. They’d managed to accidentally avert disaster once more. But they wouldn’t keep getting lucky,