“Understood.” He nodded.
“You’re assigned to Unit Seven. Lineup tomorrow at 6:30.” She left the office and walked down the long corridor. The local inmates glanced at her and looked away.
To them, she was just the new officer. She kept her back straight. Nobody approached her, and nobody spoke.
For the first week, she worked in silence. Cell checks, lineups, reports. Her uniform was always buttoned all the way up.
And her voice stayed level. When a younger officer named Pete asked where she had transferred from, she answered briefly. “Back east.”
He did not ask again. In April, one month after she arrived, Captain Hayes came into the duty office late one evening. “Carter, how are you settling in?”
“Just fine, sir.” He nodded slowly. “I heard there was a rough incident at your last facility.
Three dead inmates in segregation.” She looked him in the eye. “There was an incident.
The case is closed.” Hayes was quiet for a moment. “Nothing like that is going to happen here.
If anything comes up, you come straight to me.” “Thank you.” “I hope I won’t need to.”
Then he left. Olivia stayed in the room alone. She took her father’s old photograph from her pocket.
The same one. The only one she had kept. She looked at it for a long time. Then slipped it back.
On June 23, the phone rang at the front gate. The desk officer called out. “Carter, you’ve got visitors.”
“It’s my sister.” Olivia went outside quickly. Ellen was standing by the gate.
She wore a light raincoat, hair tied back in a simple ponytail, a tote bag in her hand. Beside her stood Tommy and Maggie. They had grown.
Tommy was six now, Maggie four. Ellen saw her first. “Liv!”
They hugged as best they could through the cold bars. Olivia felt her sister trembling. “You’ve lost weight,” Ellen whispered.
“Comes with the job.” Maggie tugged at Ellen’s sleeve. “Aunt Liv.”
Olivia smiled and crouched down. “Hey there, sweetheart.” Maggie reached her hand through the bars…
