Leon looked at the text on his phone , Shane’s message, short and blunt.
Tomorrow, 9 AM.
The usual place.
Same gas station as last time.
He finished reading and slipped the phone back into his pocket.
External funding, sorted.
Now for the internal assets.
He picked up the prison intercom and ordered Ashley to come to the solitary block.
The corridor leading to solitary was dark and narrow.
Ashley walked it alone.
She could feel the difference in the stares that pressed through the cell bars on either side , no longer contempt.
Awe.
Just a few hours ago, she’d been the pitiful creature everyone kicked around in the laundry room.
Now she was the new queen of Block C.
Brenda’s screaming as she was dragged away still echoed in everyone’s ears.
They’d all seen it with their own eyes: who stood behind this blonde girl.
That soft-spoken, polite-looking Asian guard who hit harder than anyone when he decided to.
This feeling.
This feeling of having everyone beneath her feet.
It was intoxicating.
But Ashley’s head had never been clearer.
She knew this power wasn’t hers.
Leon had lent it to her.
Like a beautiful coat he could take back at any moment and drape over someone else’s shoulders.
She couldn’t afford to just be a useful knife.
A dull knife gets thrown away.
At the far end of the block, the iron door to an empty cell stood wide open.
Leon was inside, standing in the shadows.
“How does it feel?” His voice carried a faint echo through the empty corridor.
“Boss lady.”
Ashley stopped.
She didn’t step through the door.
She stood at the threshold, exactly where light met shadow , half bright, half dark.
Much like what was happening inside her chest.
“It feels good.” Her voice had changed.
The timidity was gone.
Something quieter had taken its place.
More settled.
“But Officer Leon — hasn’t our deal only been half finished?”
Leon looked at her.
“You handed me the knife.
I cut down your enemies.” She held his gaze, didn’t flinch.
“But you forgot the promise you still owe me.”
I’ve made enemies of everyone in there.”
“The day you decide I’m useless , or that I’m in your way — Brenda’s today becomes my tomorrow.”
“I won’t bleed for a boss who might drop me at any moment.”
“So.” She took a slow breath.
“You’re going to fulfill that promise.
Today.”
“I want you to sleep with me.
On camera.
I want something that could bury you, and I want it in my hands.”
“Otherwise, you can wade through Block C’s mess yourself.”
She’d said it all.
No retreat left, not even an inch.
Leon watched her for a long, quiet moment.
A full ten seconds, maybe more.
This woman was more interesting than he’d expected.
Ambition was common.
The guts to back it up , that was rarer.
“Come in.”
Ashley’s heart slammed against her ribs.
The cell was small, but it was the cleanest one in the block.
Leon locked the door behind them, unplugged the camera with practiced ease, then pulled out his phone, propped it at the right angle, and pointed it squarely at the single bed.
“You sure about this?” he asked.
One last time.
Ashley didn’t answer with words.
She walked to the bed, turned her back to him, and started working the buttons on her orange prison uniform.
The loose fabric slid from her shoulders.
Pale skin.
Delicate shoulder blades, sharp and precise as a sculpture.
Leon had to admit it.
She was top-tier.
Years on the street, years in prison , none of it had left much of a mark on her.
If anything, it had given her something: a quality that sat somewhere between a girl and a wildcat, and belonged entirely to neither.
Her figure was startling.
Slender waist, curves that knew exactly what they were doing.
Every inch exactly right.
When she turned around, there was no shyness on her face.
No performance, either.
Just a kind of matter-of-fact certainty.
“Time to inspect the goods, Officer Leon.” Her finger reached out and traced slowly across his chest.
“Let’s see if I’m really a virgin.”
“Your turn.”
No hesitation.
She moved like someone who’d done this a hundred times, leading from the front.
Leon caught her wandering hand.
“Remember this, Ashley.”
“From today — we’re on the same boat.”
She rose on her toes and leaned close to his ear, her breath warm and light.
“Just don’t disappoint me.
Captain.”
One hour later.
Ashley had her orange uniform back on, every button done up, as if the last hour had been nothing more than a dream.
Leon pulled the memory card from his phone and sat down at the prison office computer.
He copied the file right in front of her, then held out one of the two small cards.
“Your leverage.”
Ashley took it.
A chip smaller than her thumbnail.
She closed her fist around it.
This little piece of plastic was her future.
“Anything happens in Block C, I’ll come to you directly,” Leon said.
He lit a cigarette, leaned back in the chair.
“I don’t want surprises.”
“Don’t worry.” Ashley tucked the card into her underwear and let the seductive smile settle back onto her face like it had never left.
“Starting today , as long as you don’t abandon me, you’re my only master.”
She turned.
Swayed her hips.
Walked out with her chin up, the unhurried stride of a queen returning from a won battle.
Leon watched her back until it disappeared through the doorway.
He exhaled a long, slow breath of smoke.
He’d built her himself.
Smart.
Beautiful.
And holding blackmail material that could gut him.
But so what?
The apocalypse was coming.
He didn’t need docile sheep.
He needed wolves , a whole pack of them, vicious enough to tear his enemies to pieces.
As for whether this particular wolf might someday turn around and bite him…
Leon smiled.
Once the world ended, he had more than enough ways to make sure this pretty she-wolf could never afford to leave.
And even if she tried to flip on him outright, he could always bribe the Warden.
Twenty thousand dollars , nobody says no to that.
Ashley was still too green.
➤ Next: Nurse Candidate — Words Unspoken