I knew it. Years of Prescott’s lies and Reed’s self-deception are unraveling at last, and he’s seeing the truth. The night I told him what happened to Lance feels like ancient history, and this realization seems like it took an epoch to reach — but it’s here now. A sense of real, palpable hope in my heart spreads out and gives me warmth.
I smile and get up out of bed to hug Reed. He wraps his arms around me and holds me. “Thank you,” I say. “That’s… big of you to admit. I know it wasn’t easy.”
He rubs my back and kisses me on the cheek. “Thanks.”
“So what are we going to do?” I ask, sitting back down on the bed. “We have to stop this.”
He takes a seat next to me and folds his hands in his lap. “I’ll talk to Prescott. I’ll tell him that he’s gone too far and that we have to make some changes.”
“What?” I blurt. “Weren’t you going to talk to him before? He was just here!”
Reed shakes his head. “I tried but he told me it would have to wait — there was too much to go over for the expansion and Corbin’s replacement.”
I feel like I just climbed a mountain and came within a few feet of the summit, only to slip and fall all the way back down. Tears sting my eyes, and my lip trembles.
“Reed,” I say, trying to keep my voice steady. “If Prescott cared about what you think, he would have heard you out. You’re not going to change his mind, not on the expansion or the new prisoners or how we’re all treated.”
“Quinn, I have to give him a-”
“This is his prison!” I interrupt. “He’s let you play here all this time, but it’s his. He’s not going to let you tell him how to run it. He’s not going to pass up a chance to make millions selling more of us women.”
Now Reed gets mad. “You think this is about money?”
“Of course it is! Why do you think he has us work all the time?”
“As punishment!” he shouts. “Quinn, you may be innocent, but the other residents-”
“Prisoners,” I spit.
“The otherprisonersare killers. That’s what Walker Center does — it punishes killers.” Reed seethes for a moment, his shoulders rising and falling with fury. However, he takes a deep breath and waits a moment to calm down. “Look,” he continues. “I know since Lance’s fall, Prescott has gone over the edge. I don’t deny that. I was mad too, so I couldn’t tell before. That’s why I need to talk to him, to show him what you’ve helped me see. He’s not an asshole like Lance, and he’s known me for years. He’ll listen.”
When he’s done, I slide away from him and keep going until I hit the corner of the room, knocking over a fake potted fern. “You can’t really believe that, Reed. Why can’t you just trust me?”
“I do, Quinn. I know the truth about Lance now, thanks to you. Soon, you’ll see the truth about Darren, thanks to me.”
Slumping to my knees, I shake my head. “I wish that were true. I do. But it’s not — Prescott’s not going to help us. He’s worse than Lance, by far. Lance made you his muscle, but Darren made you a puppet — and he made you grateful to be one. Can’t you see that? If you go to him asking to help me out, there’s no telling what he’ll do, but it won’t be good for either of us.”
Reed looks past me, at the wall, his face drawn in disappointment. Maybe he’s just scared that I’m right — it should scare him — but I can see it in his expression: rejection and rationalization. He’s been doing it his whole life — it must be an instinct now.
“Reed, if you can’t see that he’s evil… if you can’t or won’t believe me… then…” I don’t want to say the rest — not another word. I have to, though — if not for myself, then for him — I have to take one last shot at getting through to him. “Then maybe you’re not… the man I was falling in love with.”
He turns to me, focusing now. He moves to the corner and lifts me to my feet, holding me by the shoulders. “I love you too, Quinn. And everything I’m going to do is for you. For us.”
“If you love me, believe me. Darren Prescott is evil. He manipulated you for years. You owe him nothing.”
Reed leans in to kiss me, but I turn away.
“Quinn, please. I believe you. But, I have to give him a chance to fix this.”
Goddammit.
“I’d like to go back to my cell now,” I whisper, staring down at the floor.
Is this for real? Or was Amber right, and this is Reed’s endgame?
“Please, Quinn. I’ll show you. Everything’s going to be okay. Darren will-”
“Leave me alone!” I scream, pushing Reed off me. He’s too strong for me to make him budge, but he lets me go.