She was tempted to mouth off to him, but Max’s warning hand on her shoulder had her remaining silent.

“I didn’t think so. I’m surprised you haven’t pissed yourself. Maybe you have. Let me check.” He straightened, coming to her side.

“Back off.” Jackal stepped in front of her, blocking Church from touching her.

“You think you can stop me?” Church tried to bulldoze his way past Jackal, only to find himself abruptly lying on the floor. Jackal had moved so fast Grace had barely seen him deck the large man.

“I only say something once. I don’t repeat myself.” Jackal stood over the man, waiting for him to make another move.

“Calm down, brother. There’s plenty of her to go around.” Church leered at her as he got to his feet.

“I’m not your brother, and she belongs to Ice.”

Church’s face turned ruddy. “That bitch is mine.”

“Ice doesn’t share. You have a problem; take it up with him.”

While Church swung around, her own eyes searched for Ice, who was coming through the doorway with Max.

“You got a problem?” he asked, stopping in front of Church.

Church’s head jerked toward Jackal. “He said she’s your bitch. She’s mine. I don’t mind sharing, though. You can have her when I’m finished.”

Ice’s eyes went to her before coming back to rest on Church. “Now, I have a problem with that. We can deal with that later, or do you not want to get our asses out of here without getting killed?” Ice’s sarcasm had Church hesitating then nodding.

“Later,” he warned, moving aside.

Ice ignored him, coming to kneel down next to her. “You okay?”

It took a moment for her to find her voice. “Yes.”

“Stay by Max and Jackal. You need to take a piss, tell me. I don’t want to hurt you, but I’m not going to let you make trouble for me, either.” His hard gaze showed he would feel no compunction in hurting her if she didn’t listen to his warning.

Grace grabbed his arm as he was about to rise. “Please, let me go,” she begged.

“No.” Before she could say anything else, he moved away. She refused to let her frightened tears fall. She sat numbly and watched as the men gathered to the side of the room and talked with lowered voices. Then Fade broke away from the group and systematically destroyed all the cameras.

The three guards were placed in different areas of the room as the prisoners made their plans. Grace tried to listen but couldn’t hear anything. Ice seemed to be doing most of the talking with the other men cutting in frequently. The men at last seemed to come to an agreement and took their places around the room and outside in the hallway.

Buzzard dragged in two prisoners who had been shot. Neither of their wounds seemed bad, but the one they dragged into another room didn’t seem to be moving.

“Is he dead?” Grace’s voice trembled.

“As a doornail,” Max joked, sitting down next to her.

She glared at his insensitivity.

“Don’t feel too bad for the bastard. He was in here for raping his fourteen-year-old neighbor.”

Any sympathy for the man died at Max’s response.

“Most of the men have been trying to stick him for the last two months. He was set to get out next month,” he went on to explain.

Grace didn’t reply. In many ways, the judicial system sucked, and the prisoners had their own sense of honor.

While the men settled down, she wondered what they were waiting for when one of them turned on the television set on the wall.

The news was on. There was a reporter outside the prison’s wall, reporting the attempted escaped. Grace swallowed hard. When CeCe or Ross heard the news, they would immediately call her parents. They would be frightened for her safety and get on a plane immediately. Grace worried about them; it would be hard for them to deal with the danger she was in.

The reporter drew her attention.

“No one knows how many hostages they have. It has been estimated that there are three guards and a local teacher from the college who are on site, teaching a computer course. Nothing has been confirmed.”

A groan slipped past her lips.

“Family?” Max’s compassionate question had her throat growing tight.

Grace nodded, unable to take her eyes off the television. “My parents and brother. They’ll be worried sick.”

“I’ll keep you safe.” Grace turned to him, about to plead. “I follow Ice’s orders.”

Grace returned to watching the television, using it to distract her from what was happening around her. The same news kept repeating itself, however, and she quickly became bored, beginning to feel uncomfortable.

“I need to go to the restroom,” she whispered to Max, ignoring Jackal’s silent presence next to her.

He stood up, and when he did, Ice left the men he had been helping, using whatever they could to block the windows.

“She needs to use the restroom,” Jackal told Ice.

Her face turned red in embarrassment as Ice took her arm, leading her to a door on the side of the room. Opening it, he motioned her inside. She walked in, seeing a toilet and sink.

“Hurry up.”

Grace jumped as he closed the door behind her. She used the toilet as fast as she could, afraid he would open the door, then hurriedly washed her hands. As soon as she turned off the water, the door opened. Their eyes met as she walked toward him. He didn’t try to hide his gaze from traveling down the length of her body, lingering on her breasts.

Ice didn’t move away from the doorway as she drew closer.

“Don’t worry so much. I’m not going to let anyone touch you.” His words weren’t reassuring.

Grace took a step back waiting for him to move from the doorway, not wanting to get too close. “Does that mean you, too?”

“I don’t make promises I can’t keep.” Giving her a cold smile, he moved away from the doorway, giving her room to slide by. He took her back to the table where Jackal and Max were waiting.

“Be good.” With his warning, he went back to fortifying the windows.

“There’s no way they’re going to let you men out of here.”

Their amusement showed, but they didn’t talk to her, both watching the television screen.

In the brief minutes she had been in the bathroom, the news had updated. Now it showed the many police cars and tactical teams surrounding the prison.

A man was giving a statement, and across the bottom of the screen it stated he was in charge of the prison.

He quieted the reporters before speaking, stating without emotion that, inside the prison, there were four hostages, three of which were guards and lastly her. He released her name and said her family had been notified and were in transit, bringing her fears to realization. Her parents and brother were on their way to the scene she was watching on the television.

He ended by saying he would give more information when available.

“Short and sweet,” Ice said, coming to the table. “Want to bet he’ll be looking for a new job when this is over?”

“Won’t touch that one,” Jackal said. “Church settle down?”

“For now. He’s not happy and will be waiting for the chance to take control. Nothing we didn’t expect.”