Page 179 of Fragments

“Just shut up,” she sighs, pulling her phone out of her pocket and handing it to me. “Make it fucking quick, okay?? If someone sees this, we’re even more fucked than we already are.”

I’m gaping at her like she’s insane, but when I glance down at her phone in my hand, the screen shows a call connected to an unknown number. I peek at Joy, then back down at the phone, hesitantly lifting it to my ear.

“Hello?”

“Luthor…” A familiar raspy voice sighs, and my chest tightens. “It’s Dash.”

Ummmm… WHAT?!

“Holy fuck…” The words puff out on an exhale of disbelief, and I peer around the room, then back at Joy, wondering how the hell this is even happening right now.

First, he escapes from prison, and then he calls me?! The dude is like a Bond villain! He’s literally Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs. And I’m Clarice, just trying to enjoy her celebratory FBI welcome party…

“Are you fucking serious right now?” I scold Dash on a whisper. “How are you even… Why the fuck are you calling me?? How stupid are you?!”

“Not enough time in the day, Luth.” I can hear the grin in his voice, and it’s throwing me for such a loop.

I’m sogladthat he’s alive, I feel like I could fall down and cry on the floor. He’s alive and well enough to be calling me… it’s amazing.

But at the same time, he’s an idiot.Who calls the prison they just escaped from?!

You’re killin’ me, Smalls.

“Bro, I can’t believe you escaped! You’re a fucking madman.” I turn away from the noise of dinner in the caf, resting my head on the wall. “And now you’re calling Joy to get to me? Are you nuts?? They’re gonna think I was in on it with you!”

I don’t mean to be admonishing him like this, but he’s kind of fucking me over a little. That, and I’m in a horny rage, being cockblocked by this stupid prison and everyone in it, so I can’t exactly be held accountable for my grouchiness.

“Come on, man,” Dash says calmly. “You know the Warden won’t tell anyone I escaped.”

My brows furrow, eyes jumping to Joy. She’s just standing there, posted up with her body blocking the view of me. She could have told Dash to fuck off when he called, and reported it to The Ivory instead of entertaining whatever this is. But based on what Rook told me the other day, and now this… I’m starting to think the relationship between the guards and the Warden is more strained than ever.

I’m sure Manuel Blanco has people looking for Dash. But he’s right… No one willpubliclybe aware of his escape because, as far as the rest of the world knows, he’s dead. We all are.

That’s the gimmick.

The Ivory doesn’t need my help to track Dash down, and if he was going to interrogate inmates, he would’ve done it by now. Chances are he already knows exactly how Dash got out. It’s just a matter of what he’ll do with that information.

“Okay…” I mumble, clinging to my frustrations because there are just so many of them at the moment. “Well then, how can I help you? Did you just miss me and want to chat? Because Joy could still tell someone…”

“She won’t,” he cuts me off. “Look, Luthor, as much as I do miss you and really would love to talk forever, I called for a reason. I need to ask you about Kemp—Officer Kemper.”

Huh?My face scrunches in confusion. “Officer Kemper? Who the hell…?” I don’t even know who he’s talking about for a second, until my brain fog clears, and I remember the quiet, growly guard from solitary who quit a few months back. “Oh, you mean that dude who quit?”

I think I said like two words to the guy in my entire life… Why is Dash asking me about him?? Of all the things he could call to talk about…

“So he did quit… When?” he asks, sounding really invested in this.

“A while ago,” I tell him. “I didn’t think you even knew him.”

Dash is quiet for a moment, and I can feel our shared confusion stretching from both ends of the line. “Why wouldn’t I…Huh??”

“Because his last day was the day you got here,” I speak into the palpable awkwardness.

The day Kemper quit was the day Dash arrived in Alabaster Pen. I remember it now because the guards were all complaining about being a man down in solitary. That was why Rook had to bring Darcey up to the cafeteria during Dash’s first dinner.

Right. It’s all coming back to me.

Unfortunately, Dash isn’t sharing my sudden clarity. He’s breathing heavily into the phone like he has no idea what’s going on, and the feeling is sort of mutual because as much as I’m remembering these details, it still doesn’t explainwhyhe’s even asking me about this in the first place.