“Shh. Settle down, Quinn. Tell me about Lance.”
I’m not sure whether I’m more relieved or confused.
“Lance?”
“Lance Prescott. They said you assaulted him. Did you?”
Really? First Reed wanted the story, now her? Telling Reed was hard enough — I’m seriously not in the mood to re-tread that night again.
“I defended myself,” I spit. “That’s all. His fall was an accident.”
She nods, her grim expression unchanging. “What did he do?”
“He came after me and-”
I almost say Lydia, but don’t. I’m not dragging her into this in any way, shape or form.
“-And he gave me no choice,” I finish. “I didn’t push him out that window.”
She sighs. “I would’ve.”
“What?”
The woman takes me by the shoulders and helps me to my feet, which my knees immediately appreciate.
“I’d have ripped his fucking balls off first. Lance fucking deserved it,” she says, closing her fists.
Is this for real?
“Why do you say that? Did you know him?”
“Yeah,” she spits. “I did.”
“How?”
She shakes her head. “Don’t worry about it. He’s fucking dead, thanks to you.”
“He’s in a coma, technically-”
“Whatever,” she says. “As good as dead.” She sits down, a satisfied smile on her face.
If she’s not going to tell me how she knows Lance, maybe she’ll talk about something else. I have so many questions for her, now that we’ve finally got a minute to speak freely, but I’d have trouble knowing where to start if not for the one I’ve had since the moment we met.
“What’s your name?”
She looks up at me, blinking a few times. “Jacqueline. But promise me you’ll never use it.”
The request knocks me down like I ran into a clothesline. “What?”
“I’m the bitch. That’s what I want you to call me.”
“Why?”
Jacqueline sighs and grips my cheeks in her hand. “It’s important, that’s why. Now promise me… you won’t use it.”
“Yes, I promise!”
In the month that I’ve been in this prison, I’ve worried every day that I might lose my sanity. I didn’t want to judge this woman without really knowing her, despite her animosity toward me, but I have to consider the possibility that she might really be crazy. Maybe she wasn’t when she got here, but now…