Blood Lines

would have felt the absence of her life.
    Come to the corner where we first met, Tawfik had told him. And I will find you.
    Find me , Henry thought back at the memory, give yourself up into my hands, and you will tell me where she is .

    The world had taken on a tint of red.
    For a few hours at least, it was over. Vicki lay back on her mattress and tried to relax her muscles enough to sleep.
    Although she regained more control with every hour, the twisted ridges across her back refused to unknot. She didn't blame them.
    Angel Lambert was pretending to have slipped a few gears in order to get out of a trip to Kingston and the Women's Penitentiary. The right diagnosis would send her to the relative comfort of a hospital and a short time later back out on the streets. Her bragging had been very explicit. Of course, the bragging had come after Lambert had assured herself that Vicki hadn't been placed on the range as a police spy.
    'Maybe they figure'd that 'cause you aren't on the force no more you'd be safe." Arms crossed, Lambert had walked a slow circle around her new cell mate. Vicki tried to keep her in sight, nearly fell over, and gave up. " 'Course, drug-gin' you seems to be goin' just a bit far." Making sure Vicki saw what she was about to do, she lashed out, kicking Vicki hard in the calf, the toe of her sneaker sinking deep into the muscle.
    Vicki tried to avoid the blow but couldn't get her leg to respond in time. She grunted in pain and made a grab for Lambert's throat.
    Lambert leaned easily back out of the way. "Well, well, well. Got doped up and got yourself in trouble, eh? Heard the guard say you were in on a juvie skinbeef. You know what that means, don't you? They're not gonna care if you pick up a few bruises. In fact, they're hopin' you will. That's why you're in with us. We got us a bit of a rep for playin'
    rough." She leaned back against the wall and crossed her arms, scratching a little at her biceps. "I saw your eyes when you recognized me, so I know you're in there. And I know what you're thinkin'. You're thinkin' that as soon as that drug wears off you're gonna clean my clock. Not a bad plan, you're bigger than me and you got all that fancy training, but," she smiled, "I got something you don't. Natalie, come around where our new friend can see you."
    At five ten, Vicki didn't look up at many women, but Natalie Wills was huge. Even slouched she had to top six feet; if she ever straightened up, she'd probably hit six six or six seven. Her frizzy halo of blonde hair emphasized the rounded curves of her face and her pale blue eyes bulged slightly out of the sockets. At some point in the past, her nose had been broken, at least once, and improperly set. Through the space between slack lips, Vicki could hear heavy adenoidal breathing. Her breasts and belly stretched the limits of the jail uniform. It looked and moved like fat but Vicki wasn't willing to give any odds that it actually was.
    'Natalie's my friend," Lambert purred. "Aren't you, Natalie?"
    Natalie nodded slowly, the corners of her mouth twisting up in what Vicki assumed was a smile.
    'Natalie's very strong. Aren't you, Natalie?"
    Natalie nodded again.
    'Why don't you show our new roommate how strong you are, Natalie. Pick her up."
    Enormous hands closed around Vicki "s upper arms with a grip that painfully compacted muscle down onto bone. Her shoulders rose first, but the rest of her body soon followed until her feet were six inches off the floor.
    Oh, great. Darth Vader in drag.
    'Very good, Natalie. Now, shake her."
    After the first few seconds, it seemed as though Vicki's brain had broken free of its moorings and was slamming around independently inside her skull.
    'Drop her, Natalie."

    The floor seemed much farther away than she knew it was. Her knees cracked painfully hard against the concrete and she fell forward, just barely managing to get an arm between her face and the floor. If she'd had anything in her stomach, she'd have lost it.
    'You puking down there?" Lambert inquired, squatting down and grabbing Vicki's hair. "You puke in my cell and you lick it up."
    'Uck uf." Her voice still wasn't clear, but she figured Lambert got the point when her fist twisted around, nearly removing the handful of hair.
    'Once that drug wears off, you'll be out of here next time the shrink's by. That'll be Wednesday at the earliest. You and me and Natalie, we're gonna have a fun two days."
    Two days. I can take two days of anything.
    But lying