Guilty

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

“I appreciate it,” I say as I roll my eyes. I stand up from my crouched position next to Niall and walk back towards the open cell door. I glance back at Annabeth to make sure that she stayed in place- she did -and then I pull the door shut and lock it.

“Plus, I probably wouldn’t have gotten very far with that fuckin’ ape in the room!”

Niall throws his cuffed hands into the air to emphasize his joke.

I bite back a smile because I know that he is talking about Jerry. He’s right. Jerry could beat the shit out of Niall before he could even mumble a single curse word. He’s a fairly large man!

“Yo!” Annabeth yells to catch my attention. My head snaps towards her and I raise one eyebrow.

“You got any food around here, lady?”

I roll my eyes at her as I sit down in my desk chair. I pick the magazine back up and lift my feet onto the desk. “Nope. You’re only in there for twenty four hours. You’ll get some oatmeal in the morning then be on your way, Annabeth.”

Annabeth sighs dramatically and I watch as her eyes travel to Niall who is currently staring at a blank wall with his eyebrows scrunched together.

“What about him?”

I look up at her confused. “What about him?”

“Well, what’s gonna happen to him? What is he even in for anyways? Stealing a cop car? Vandalism?”

I snort out a laugh and shake my head. “Try murdering a puppy,” I mumble under my breath. Neither of the prisoners seemed to have heard me.

“Murder. And I’m about to kill you both if ya don’t shut up!”

Niall threatens, but I can tell that he doesn’t mean it. Annabeth on the other hand didn’t seem to get the memo that he was only kidding around. “Chill, bro! I don’t want any trouble.”

“To answer your question,” I say to try and change the subject. “Niall will be transported to a high security prison within the next few hours. He’ll be kept there until his trial, and since evidence of him being the killer has already been discovered he’ll be sentenced to… I’d say about fifteen years in prison. The only real decision will be whether or not they keep him in isolation if he is deemed unsafe.”

I answer partly to inform Annabeth and Niall of what is to come, and partly to show off how much I know about this topic. Niall doesn’t look at me as he asks “Fifteen years?”

“At least fifteen. They don’t really take the murder of animals into consideration, unless it is malicious or abusive, so that probably won’t count. It all depends on how the woman was killed.”

“Wait.” Niall finally looks up at me and I set the magazine down on the desk. He might have another meltdown now. God, why did I have to say so much! This is obviously a trigger subject for him. I think it would be for anyone, really, if they just murdered a woman and her pup.

“You said earlier that they would take me to the prison tomorrow!” He points out, and I immediately regret every word I just said. The note that Jerry left on top of the desk said that they are hoping to surprise Niall, knock him out with sedatives, and then lock him up in the prison bus before he could have the chance to escape… I just completely ruined that entire plan.

“Not exactly…” I try to think of a way to get myself out of the mess I’ve created, but Niall is already struggling to get on his feet. He can’t, obviously because of the bound feet, so instead he settles for slamming his handcuffs against the cell bars. “You’ve got to be fucking with me!” He shouts, and Annabeth reaches up to cover her ears. I want to do the same, but I resist.

“Look, if you keep acting out you will have to be put into a separate cell, Niall,” I say with caution. “And then you will be put on sedatives until you are transported. Would you rather be knocked out or suppressing your anger for another time?”

  He slams the chain against the bar a couple more times, but then Niall gives up and looks to me.

“I’m not a murderer,” He insists before resting his cuffed hands in his lap. Annabeth removes her hands from her ears and shrinks back into the corner.

“Save it for your court date, Horan.”

My head snaps towards the door startled. Harry stands there with his lunch bag in his hand.

“Boy toy is here to save the day, eh?”

I roll my eyes at Niall’s comment and look back to Harry. “We don’t have our lunch break for another hour, Harry.” Harry grins and shakes his head before revealing another lunch bag, my lunch bag, from behind his back. “I was able to pull a few strings and have our times switched for the day.. I figured you would need a break from the psychopath!”

“Watch it, Harold.”

I stand up from the chair, but then I hesitate when I realize that no one can cover my shift for the next hour. “I can’t just leave them alone in here,” I start to say, but Harry cuts me off.

“It’s only for an hour, Claire!” He protests, holding the door open wider. “The girl won’t pull anything or else she’ll be kept here longer, and psycho can’t pull anything with the way he’s bound up!”

I consider Harry’s argument and then, going against my better judgment, I follow him through the door without another word said.