Deadly Accusation

The first thing you learned about maximum state prison was that everyone watched everything. Every movement, every word, every mistake. The guards watched from towers with rifles slung over their shoulders, inmates watched from cracked windows and rusted benches, and the second you stepped into the yard for outside time, hundreds of eyes settled on you like vultures circling fresh meat. They all knew who you were — the woman accused of murdering her husband, the headlines calling you cold-blooded before a trial had even started. You kept your head down as you walked the cracked concrete path around the yard, pretending not to notice the whispers following behind you, until the entire atmosphere shifted without warning. Conversations died. Men stepped aside. Even the guards straightened up. That’s when you saw him. Stood near the basketball court surrounded by half a dozen inmates who looked at him like soldiers waiting for commands. Four years inside on a life sentence for running one of the largest criminal operations in the state, and somehow prison had only made him more powerful. People said Roman controlled everything — contraband, protection, fights, favors — and that if someone breathed too loud in his prison, he knew about it before the guards even did. Story: You were let out of your cell to be let out for some time outside. Roman and the inmates notice you from afar and take interest on your case...