Chapter 6: The Secret the Guards Never Knew
Chapter 6: The Secret the Guards Never Knew
A cold silence settled over the warehouse.
Most of the inmates were still celebrating the impossible throw they had just witnessed.
Only a few people standing closest to the ring noticed the tiny piece of polished steel lying beneath Rex's boot.
Marcus casually stepped backward.
His expression remained calm.
If anyone questioned him later, there would be no evidence.
No witnesses.
No proof.
Just another illegal fight inside a prison where the truth rarely survived.
...
Kate's eyes never left Rex's feet.
She had seen prison-made knives before.
Small.
Easy to conceal.
Lethal at close range.
A single stab to the neck...
The ribs...
Or the kidney...
Could end everything before anyone realized what had happened.
She quietly adjusted her stance.
Not because she feared the weapon.
Because the fight had changed.
Until now, Rex had been trying to win.
Now...
He was preparing to murder.
...
Across the ring, Evelyn's heart began pounding.
She couldn't clearly see the weapon.
But she could read people.
Marcus looked too relaxed.
Rex looked too desperate.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
She pushed through the crowd toward the edge of the ring.
One corrupt guard blocked her path.
"Back."
"Please," Evelyn whispered.
"Stop the fight."
The guard laughed.
"No one's stopping anything."
...
Rex slowly dragged his boot backward.
The sharpened steel disappeared into his hand.
His enormous fist completely concealed it.
To everyone watching, it looked as though he had simply clenched his hand.
Kate saw everything.
She said nothing.
Marcus grinned.
"Now..."
"Finish her."
...
Rex charged once again.
But this time he wasn't aiming for Kate's head.
He wasn't trying to knock her unconscious.
He drove straight toward her ribs, where the hidden blade waited inside his fist.
The distance closed rapidly.
Five feet.
Four.
Three.
The audience leaned forward.
Kate didn't retreat.
Instead...
She took one slow breath.
The warehouse around her seemed to disappear.
The shouting faded.
The lights blurred.
Only Rex remained.
Only his breathing.
Only the movement of his shoulders.
Only the rhythm of his footsteps.
Exactly as her grandfather had taught her.
"When fear disappears..."
"Time becomes clearer."
Rex thrust the concealed blade forward.
Kate moved.
Not faster than him.
Sooner.
She rotated just enough for the knife to miss her uniform by less than an inch.
Before Rex could react, her left hand trapped his wrist.
Her right palm struck—not with force—
—but with perfect precision.
Directly against the nerve above his elbow.
Pain exploded through Rex's arm.
His fingers opened instantly.
CLINK!
The homemade shiv bounced across the wooden floor.
For one endless second...
Nobody understood what had happened.
Then everyone saw it.
The knife.
The cheering stopped instantly.
The warehouse froze.
Even the corrupt guards stared in disbelief.
Marcus's face turned white.
Rex had been caught.
...
Kate stepped backward.
She didn't attack.
She simply looked at Rex.
"You were losing."
"So you chose the knife."
Her voice wasn't angry.
It was disappointed.
Rex lowered his head.
His breathing grew heavier.
He looked at the weapon lying in the center of the ring.
Then toward Marcus.
Marcus's eyes silently screamed the same command.
Pick it up.
Kill her.
Now.
...
One honest correctional officer standing near the entrance suddenly shouted,
"Weapon!"
The word echoed across the warehouse.
Several guards instinctively reached for their batons.
The corrupt officers immediately stepped in front of them.
"Stay back!"
"We'll handle it."
"No one moves!"
Chaos erupted.
Some inmates backed away.
Others climbed onto benches trying to see better.
Arguments exploded in every direction.
Marcus realized everything was beginning to fall apart.
If the honest guards confiscated the knife...
The illegal fighting operation would finally be exposed.
Years of corruption...
Gone.
He couldn't allow that.
Marcus suddenly yelled,
"Grab her!"
Immediately, six of his loyal inmates jumped over the ropes.
Not to stop the fight.
To eliminate Kate.
The crowd gasped.
"It's six against one!"
"That's against the rules!"
"What rules?" someone shouted.
"There were never any rules!"
The six inmates surrounded Kate in a widening circle.
Some carried broken chair legs.
Others wrapped heavy chains around their fists.
One held a sharpened toothbrush.
Marcus smiled again.
"If Rex can't finish this..."
"They will."
...
Kate slowly looked around the circle.
Six opponents.
Different sizes.
Different weapons.
Different distances.
Her breathing remained perfectly steady.
One inmate laughed.
"You still think you're getting out of this?"
Kate finally spoke.
"No."
The man grinned.
"Good."
She looked directly into his eyes.
"I think all six of you made the same mistake."
"What mistake?"
"You assumed..."
"...I came here alone."
Confused murmurs spread through the crowd.
Marcus frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Before anyone could answer—
A loud electronic buzz echoed through the warehouse.
BEEP!
BEEP!
BEEP!
Every emergency alarm inside Blackstone Correctional Facility activated at once.
Red warning lights began flashing across the ceiling.
The steel doors automatically unlocked.
Sirens screamed throughout the prison.
The inmates turned toward the entrance in confusion.
Then...
Heavy footsteps echoed from the corridor.
Not one person.
Not two.
Dozens.
A calm voice spoke through the prison loudspeaker.
"Attention all inmates."
"This is Warden Hayes."
"The entire facility is now under emergency lockdown."
"Nobody move."
Marcus's confident smile slowly disappeared.
Because only three people inside the prison knew the truth.
The emergency alarm...
Had never been triggered by accident.
And somewhere beyond the warehouse doors...
May you like
Someone very important had just arrived asking for one inmate by name.
Kate Walker.
