Tabitha didn’t want to call her Bullface. Bullface outweighed her by about a hundred pounds and seemed to enjoy hurting people.

For the thousandth time, Tabitha cursed herself for getting into a fight back when she was serving her time in a medium security facility. Until then she may have been a career criminal, but she wasn’t a violent offender. A talented grifter, she created counterfeit money and avoided the violent aspect of the business. Even though all she did was fight back when an inmate punched her over something Tabitha didn’t even do, the judge tossed her in with a bunch of killers like the woman they called Bullface.

“I don’t know,” Tabitha told her. “Maybe she went shopping?”

“You want to get slapped or something?”

Tabitha shrugged again. She did not want to be slapped. Especially since it was likely the beating Bullface was threatening wouldn’t stop at a slap. But she wanted to show weakness even less.

When Bullface insisted on continuing to stare at her, Tabitha added, “She clearly ain’t here.”

“Then where?”

“She didn’t say, I didn’t ask.” Tabitha didn’t add that were only so many places her cellmate could go. This was a prison, after all.

Bullface stepped into the cell. “Maybe I just take what she owes me out of your pretty little hide?”

“I’d prefer you leave me out of it. Besides, I’m protected.”

“Are you?” Bullface asked.

Tabitha wondered if the money she paid to keep herself safe in there was really doing its job. She did her best not to let her voice betray any of her doubts as she said, “Yeah, I am,” and then went back to pretending to read her book.

“You don’t pay me.”

“No, I don’t.”

“So, you think you pay that bitch Lecita enough to make her risk taking me on? I bet you don’t. I bet she’s fine collecting your money as long as she doesn’t have to work too hard.”

Tabitha almost told Bullface she was less than a week away from getting out, but figured that would only make her more likely to assault her. Instead, she asked, “You sure about that?” with as much confidence as she could muster.

“No, but if we’re putting money down, I’d bet on my side. She’s glad to tell somebody to leave somebody else alone but actually put her ass on the line? I kind of doubt it.”

At this moment Tabitha kind of doubted it too.

“Of course, if you pay me…”

“Is that why you’re here? To extort me?”

“No, I really came to extort your girlfriend.”

“We’re just cellmates.”

“Sure you are. How much you pay Lecita?”

Before Tabitha could reply there was a loud thump behind them. Tabitha craned her head to see around Bullface and saw Carmen on the floor. A pool of blood was forming quickly. They couldn’t see where the wound was, but Tabitha guessed that given how fast the blood was pooling, it had to be her neck.

Whoever did the stabbing was long gone.

“How?” Bullface asked, first to the empty hallway and then to Tabitha.

Tabitha shrugged. “Maybe she killed herself. I would if I were her.”

Bullface was either too shocked to pick up the insult or knew being her stooge was not an ideal way to go through life. All she could say was, “She killed herself right now? Why now?”

“Good a time as any?”

The shock was wearing off and the anger was welling up. Tabitha figured Bullface was going to take out her rage on her. If she survived, she and her cellmate were going to have a serious conversation since it was somehow her doing that Bullface was there.

Bullface took a step toward Tabitha but stopped. The rage turned back to confusion. She reached back and felt for something on the back of her head before she toppled face-first onto the hard cement floor.

There was an icepick in the back of her head and Tabitha’s cellmate was standing behind her with a big grin on her face.

“You owe me one,” the cellmate told her.