Authors: Krysten Raine
"I know how this looks, honestly. We didn't mean for any of this to happen, we just fell in love. Yes, we have been hiding our romance, but it was because we feared that people would get the wrong idea. Alyssa is the first woman to truly love me and to show me the respect and attention that my ex-wife never gave me. Please she isn't trying to further her career; we just want to be together. Everyone deserves love and the chance to be happy. Please don't say anything," Jack begged.
"It's going to take a lot more than pleading to earn my silence. I want a nice hefty bonus in my check at the end of the week and a raise. If I don't get it, then I'm going to the partners," Julie demanded with unwavering conviction. She stood face to face with Jack, staring him down like an animal closing in on their prey.
"Whatever it takes," Jack responded. He glanced over at Alyssa who looked even more upset and then she stated to cry.
"This is entirely my fault! I understand if you don't want
to see me anymore," Alyssa proclaimed and she ran out of the office in tears. Jack ran after her. He caught up to her just as she was leaving the building. He reached out and caught her by the arm and then he turned her to face him.
"I meant it when I said that I loved you. I don't want to lose you, regardless of what the consequences might be," Jack said and then he kissed her right there in the open.
"I can't be the reason why you lose everything you have so hard your whole life for," Alyssa said and she broke free from his grip and ran toward the subway station. Jack kept trying to call her on her cell, but Alyssa wouldn't answer the phone. Jack left numerous messages begging her not to end their romance and to please report for work on Monday.
Chapter Sixteen: Needle of Death
Alyssa was mortified about being caught having sex with Jack in the office. She didn't know how she was going to face him again and she doubted that she would ever be able to even talk to Julie again or even be able to look her in the eye. She was embarrassed and she felt like nothing more than a two dollar whore. Jack knew she was upset and he kept calling her and leaving her text messages but Alyssa just couldn't handle talking to him just yet. Finally she sent him a text that said that she wasn't mad at him but that she was embarrassed and she felt horrible about putting him in such a bad position. He responded with a message that said he did not care if he lost his job, or angered his father or if the office knew about their romance. He would rather be
with her and lose all of that than to end up losing her instead. She texted him back and said that she loved him but that she was going to take a few days off of work to think about what happened and to decide what to do next. Jack sent one final message begging her to stay with him. Alyssa did not respond. Instead she broke down and cried. She loved Jack so much and she wanted to be with him more than anything, but she couldn't bear the thought of costing him everything else in his life. She just couldn't do that to him no matter how much it hurt her to stay away.
Alyssa called human resources and she told them that she had a family emergency and she wanted to request a week off of work. The H
.R. representative told her that she had been there long enough that she could actually take her paid vacation but that Jack Coleman would have to approve it because she was on his team. Alyssa felt defeated. She figured that Jack would never sign off on her request because he so desperately wanted her to come back to work. However she certainly didn't want to give HR any reason to suspect that something was up between the two of them and so she put in the request anyway. About an hour later Jack called her and he left a message on her voice mail.
"Alyssa, I have approved your vacation because I think you need the time, but please come back to work. Please don't leave me. You are my everything. I love you," his voice sounded desperate on the recording. She sent him a text that said that she loved him as well but that she really needed some time off and that she would call him in a few days. The Alyssa shut off her phone and she went to lie down.
At that very moment in the men's state prison, Greg Hernida was telling Trevor Barnes that he had overheard that Valerie's daughter was fucking her boss who happened to be a high powered attorney with connections to both the prosecution and the DEA. He told Barnes that he highly suspected that Alyssa had something to do with getting Valerie that new lawyer and that since Alyssa knew about Barnes without being directly involved with him or his crew, she was definitely the most likely candidate for being the rat. Barnes sat quietly for a few moments and he thought about the situation. Barnes squeezed his eyes and pursed his lips as he thought hard about all the facts and suspicions that were presented for his consideration.
"This whole thing began when Valerie Snyder couldn't pay for her own smack. She offered to deal in
exchange for product, but she fucking used what she was supposed to be selling. Her addiction was the problem right from the get go," Barnes said as he was thinking through the events that had transpired.
"Yeah it took a while for her to get clean. She was in rehab longer than most of the junkies that go through it," Greg added. As a prison guard he was responsible for escorting the inmates to and from their treatments so he knew all too well that Valerie Snyder had tackled a major addiction problem.
"Well despite the fact that she kept quiet after being arrested, I'm thinking that she is as much to blame as her daughter. So let's see to it that Miss Valerie has a relapse," Trevor said with an intent and devious look on his face.
"You want me
to get her product?" Greg asked for clarification.
"See to it that she gets enough to take her out," Barnes said flatly. Suddenly Hernida understood. He was no killer but he figured he could slip Valerie enough smack that she would end up killing herself with no problem. He nodded in agreement and then he went to see one of Trevor's guys to pick up the highest
concentration he could get in a couple of needles. If he was going to do this, he wanted to make damn sure that he gave her enough to do the job.
The next day Greg Hernida called one of the other guards at the women's center and he asked him to swap a day so he could go to a doctor's appointment. Hernida didn't really need to see a physician but he did need to get in an extra day of work in order to carry out his
plan. That day Hernida enlisted Mica to help him out. He quietly filled her in on the plan and he slipped her five needles. Mica's job was to get Valerie to shoot them all at once, causing her to overdose. Mica nodded and she hid the needles in the elastic waistband of her pants. Then Hernida escorted her to the common area so she could interact with Valerie.
Valerie was sitting at a table reading a book. Mica looked around nervously before approaching her. Mica stood near Valerie for a minute before working up the courage to go through with her task. Valerie saw her standing there and she looked up to confront her. Valerie and Mica had seen each other in passing both at Trevor's house and in the general population areas of the jail, but they didn't know each other. They never really talked and they certainly never hung out together.
"You want something?" Valerie asked trying to put on the tough appearance and demeanor that were necessary for survival in captivity. Mica looked around again and then she sat down next to Valerie.
"I understand that you used to acquire certain things from my friend, Trevor Barnes," Mica began. Valerie glared at Mica. She was less than thrilled that this girl had invaded her space and then started asking questions about Barnes.
"That was a long time ago, what's it to ya?" Valerie was already highly suspicious of this girl and the fact that she brought up Barnes made Valerie's skin crawl. Valerie put her book down on the table and she stared at Mica intently.
"Well you
know I used to sell for Barnes too. See I manage to get a little something to help the time pass by in here, but I don't want to get high alone cause I get paranoid and depressed. I thought maybe you'd want to share with me. You know for a few hours we could slip away from this hell hole and fly around in our little worlds," Mica was very persuasive as she said this, then she reached in her pocket and pulled out a few needles to show Valerie under the table.
"Thanks, but I don't do anything anymore. I'm clean and it took me a long time to get that way," Valerie responded but she was clearly debating whether or not to take Mica up on the offer. Mica could see the longing in Valerie's eyes; she knew it would just take a little more persuasion.
"Come on, it's just a little. No one will ever know and it's not enough to get hooked again. Just a little buzz that's all, like having a couple of beers. Please I don't wanna do it by myself, that's just too sad," Mica pleaded.
Valerie tried to resist, but when Mica showed her the needles again, the desire was too much. Valerie nodded and then Mica said she had to go to the bathroom. Valerie took the hint and she followed her a few minutes later. The two of them met up in the bathroom stall and they each used one of the regular dose needles that Mica had in her possession. Valerie reveled in the high. She had missed that feeling so much and she allowed it to consume her. She wanted to enjoy every minute of it because she knew it was probably her last chance to ever get high again.
Once they were both really high, Mica offered another bump to keep it going. This time Valerie didn't even try to resist. The feeling had taken over and Valerie loved every second of it. Mica gave Valerie the first of the more concentrated needles. Within a few minutes Valerie was soaring. When Mica figured that Valerie was too high to fight her off, she shot her up with the rest of the vials. Mica watched as Valerie's eyes retracted, leaving her pupils the size of pinholes. Her breathing became shallow and she looked like she was starting to suffocate. Her skin turned ashen white and then it began to take on a blue tint. Mica started to wonder if this was really happening or if it was a hallucination brought on by her own drug use. Then Mica realized that she shouldn't be in there when Valerie died, so she exited the bathroom as fast as she could, locking the door behind her. Mica's own complexion had whitened and she felt sick to her stomach. She bumped into Greg Hernida and whispered that the job was done, and then she slipped him the empty needles so he could dispose of the evidence before Valerie's body was found. Then Mica went back to her cell, where she spent the rest of the evening shaking with fear and regret for what she had done.
A few hours later an alarm rang throughout the jail. An announcement came over the PA system requesting that all inmates return to their cells with their hands resting outside of the bars. Each woman complied and was handcuffed through the bars of their cells, while their personal items were inspected. Once everything was thoroughly searched, the inmates were informed that Valerie Snyder had been found dead in the bathroom adjacent to the common area. Her official cause of death was heroin overdose. The warden addressed the inmates collectively. He announced that Valerie had multiple needle marks and yet no needles
or vials were found with her body. This told him that she was not alone when she died or at the very least, she was not alone while she was getting high. All prisoners would undergo and immediate and mandatory series of drug testing. Anyone who tested positive for heroin had the chance of being brought up on murder charges and would likely get a significant extension on their sentence. Mica started to have a panic attack when she heard these words. She knew that she was going down for this and she started to shake and then she turned and vomited. The warden was too far away to notice this but Greg Hernida did notice Mica's reaction and it made him very nervous.
Hernida kept his emotions hidden, but inside panic was setting in for him as well. He was worried that Mica might talk about his involvement in an effort to
save her own ass when she inevitably tested positive for heroin. The realization of what he must do washed over him like a tidal wave. He had to take Mica out before she was tested. When the warden finished his speech, Hernida made his way to the room where they kept all of the unauthorized items that had been found during the searches.
Another guard asked Hernida what he was doing. Greg pulled out a small bag of marijuana and said that he had found it on an inmate and he needed to check it in. In actuality the bag belonged to Hernida, but sacrificing a little weed was worth it to get him into the room without question. He placed the bag amongst the other paraphernalia and quickly grabbed a shiv that had been carved out of a cooking utensil. He pocketed the homemade knife and exited the room before anyone
could walk in on him. Then he walked with a purpose toward the common area where he had last seen Mica. She wasn't in the recreation area but Hernida found her quickly enough. She had used her personal money to purchase some cranberry juice from the cafeteria. Hernida laughed to himself as she was clearly trying to clean out her system. Unfortunately he knew that the juice would be ineffective. He motioned to her to join him in an area that he knew was out of the view of the camera system. She cautiously made her way over, trying not to be suspicious in the act.
"What am I going to do? I'm gonna test positive and then I'm fucked!" Mica said in a forced whisper once she and Hernida were alone.
"Yeah I know, I know. I have something that can help though. Let me see your hands," Hernida requested. Mica immediately held her hands out, palms up for Greg to inspect them. He carefully looked over her hands and wrists for a few seconds and then when he was sure that no one was looking, he pulled out the shiv and sliced her left wrist and then he covered her mouth quickly so she couldn't scream. Mica looked up at him with terrified eyes. Blood dripped from her wrists and pooled on the floor at her feet. She was losing blood so quickly that she passed out.
Greg Hernida wiped the shiv handle clean of his finger prints and then he placed it in Mica's right hand. Once he was sure that she had bled out he got out his radio and started to yell for help. Within a few seconds he was surrounded by his fellow guards. At this point he was holding Mica's body with his hands wrapped around her wrists like he had been trying to stop the bleeding. In actuality he felt that he needed to do this to explain both the blood on his clothes and any finger prints that might still be on the shiv or on Mica's body.
"I heard a banging sound and then I found her back her, she had this knife….I tried to stop the bleeding, but it was too late!" Greg swore in a panicked voice. He may have been lying through his teeth but the panic and distress he felt at her death were genuine enough. He like
d Mica and he didn't want to kill her, but he had to protect himself as well. A medical examiner arrived shortly thereafter, and Mica was pronounced dead. Hernida was asked to give a statement and then he was sent home for the day on account of his blood soaked clothing and the emotional distress of his "tragic discovery."