Snippet #2815558

"What was that?" Ulrich all but hissed, his words accusatory and questioning all at once. "You convinced someone on Niihama to come here and - and what? Stand guard over you?"

The old woman looked calmly at the man's rugged visage, shrugging. "It seems I'm not quite so alone as either of us might have thought," she said. "And believe me, Mr. Shumaker, I'm not defenseless. I know what it is you'd like. My apologies for disappointing you so."

"One day, you will die," he said in a low tone, shaking his head. "If not me, then someone else will. Someone else who deserves a chance at justice. Or revenge. Take your pick. You won't be missed. I know how few people you've had come to see you. You're not as powerful now as you used to be, even with some Taiyou friends. You will die. Your life means nothing now."

Another set of footsteps trudged down the main corridor from the direction of the central guard station, before a second officer came into view, one hand on her baton. "Shumaker? I didn't hear you call in a problem here."

"Just thought I might have caught an inmate with some contraband, trying to hide stash it away overnight," said Ulrich, keeping his eyes on Drulović. "They get pretty creative, you know. Inside the mattress. In the wall. In a hole in the floor. Folded inside a toothbrush, the spine of a book. You got lucky tonight, inmate. Don't try me again."

"You finished up the count?" The other officer nodded at the clipboard Ulrich had left on the floor outside the cell. "Oh never mind. I'll take care of it." As she headed off, muttering under her breath, "Bastard."