All Chained Up (Devil's Rock #1)(32)

Josiah turned to stare at her. “Oh, Callaghan? No one told you?”

Dr. Walker looked up from the computer. Apparently he wasn’t concentrating so hard he wasn’t paying attention. “I forget to mention that to you, Briar. He was paroled for his actions that day. Isn’t that nice? Something good came out of that horrible day, at least.”

Her stomach dropped. “Paroled?”

“Yes, well it appears he was eligible months ago, but denied parole. After a conversation with the warden, they agreed to move his next hearing up and approve his release.”

She stared at the doctor’s smiling face before turning to face Josiah. He nodded at her. “That’s right. They released him a few days ago.”

“Oh,” she murmured dumbly, hoping she didn’t appear as shocked as she felt. “That’s . . . good news.”

Dr. Walker’s gaze drifted back to the screen. “The least of what he deserves for saving our lives.”

“Of course,” she whispered, wondering at the emotions tripping through her. Displeasure that she would never see him again. Happiness that he was no longer locked up in this place. Hope . . . excitement that she might see him again on the outside. The last emotion, she swiftly crushed.

There was no way she would see him again. He probably wasn’t even local, and even if he was, it wasn’t as though she would go looking for him. Nor would he look for her. That would just be creepy. She probably wasn’t even an afterthought for him.

She glanced at Josiah and met the weight of his stare. His all too knowing stare. She blinked and forced a smile that hopefully conveyed blandness . . . that she was not reeling from the news that she would never see Knox Callaghan again.

That she was not disappointed to learn he was gone from her life for good.





TWELVE


SLAMMING HER FRIDGE SHUT, Briar walked back to her living room and plopped down on the couch to glare at the television. It was a Friday night. She didn’t have to get up for work tomorrow. She didn’t have to do anything, really.

She had already refused Shelley’s attempts to drag her out to a bar. The kids were staying at their father’s for the weekend and Shelley wanted to cut loose. Briar, not so much. She hadn’t felt like doing much of anything since her gig at the prison ended over a month ago. They brought in an additional part-time nurse to help Josiah and a full-time PA. Dr. Walker—or she, for that matter—were no longer needed.

Truthfully, she was relieved not to go back there. It reminded her too much of Knox Callaghan. Too often she found herself thinking about him. She wondered where he was. What was he doing? Was he abiding by the law and living a decent life? Was he back in the arms of some girlfriend? Or lots of girlfriends? She punched her elbow several times into the couch cushion to her left, trying to get it just right to rest her arm.

Eight years in prison. He had a lot of time to make up for. Lots of hot wild sex. Her skin flushed just thinking about. Hell, maybe he had a wife. She didn’t even know.

A text beeped on her phone. She plucked up the phone from her coffee table and glanced down at the message from her sister. Caleb got that promotion! Thinking of celebrating with a bbq.

She typed back: Congrats! Sounds great. I’ll be there. ?

Setting the phone back down, she stared blindly at the TV until she couldn’t ignore the growling in her stomach. The cheese quesadilla she made for dinner felt a long time ago. She’d gone to the store yesterday and had a fairly well-stocked fridge and freezer, but somehow she had forgotten to buy ice cream, and that was the only thing she was craving.

It was a guilty vice for certain. One she shouldn’t let rule her, but watching reruns of The Big Bang Theory without a pint of Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia seemed somehow criminal. The two went together like pot roast and Sunday.

Slipping into a pair of flip-flops by her door, she grabbed her keys and purse. She hesitated and sent a quick look down her body.

She was braless, but going back into her bedroom to don a bra seemed like a lot of work. It was much easier to grab the soft cardigan hanging on a hook by the door and put that on over her T-shirt.

Outside, the evening was much cooler than when she entered her apartment at five o’clock, but they’d had a rare rain shower so it was humid enough that the air sat on her skin like vapor from a sauna. It might be fall in the rest of the world, but this corner of Texas hadn’t gotten the memo. Things wouldn’t really start to cool off until Thanksgiving.

She hopped in her car and drove the three minutes to the corner store. She parked in front, at the far end, distancing herself from the trio of teenage boys hanging out, smoking cigarettes. One was holding a burrito and sucking down a big gulp. He eyed her over the cup that was bigger than his head.

She eyed them without turning her head to look. A trick she’d learned from working in the HSU, she realized. Tugging the cardigan closed in front of her, she hugged herself as she walked, regretting now that she had not taken the time to put on her bra. Covered up in her cardigan, she knew no one could tell, but she felt vulnerable and exposed anyway.

“Hey,” one guy called out in greeting, flicking the ash from his cigarette. He went on to say something else to her, but she ignored him and pushed through the chiming door.

The cashier sent her a cursory glance before turning his attention back to his phone. She walked down the candy aisle and paused, considering the assortment of chocolate bars. Tempting, but ice cream was indulgence enough for one night.