No Way Out

Excerpt

Having friends on the outside definitely came with its benefits.

Especially now that he was on the outside. The judge had given him three lifetimes in prison with no possibility of parole, yet here he was.

Outside, breathing in the fresh air of freedom. Somehow the air out here was better than what they had in the prison yard—the only place he’d been able to see the sky for the last three years.

Three years of cement walls, slop for food, and having to prove himself as someone the other inmates feared. It was supposed to be the rest of his life, but a complicated and expensive plan had finally landed him here.

A car engine sounded not far away down the road.

He stepped behind the nearest tree and watched with one eye.

A minivan full of kids blew past him.

That wasn’t his ride. It was the fifteenth car that didn’t match the description.

Maybe something had gone wrong. His ride was supposed to show up within ten minutes of his escape.

He didn’t have a watch, but more than ten minutes had passed. It was pushing a half hour, that much he knew. His internal clock had become a well-oiled machine behind the prison walls.

Could be time to move on with a new plan. He was already free. Nothing else mattered.

Sirens wailed in the distance.

He released a string of profanities.

This was why his ride was supposed to show up within ten minutes. Now the cops knew he’d gotten away.

Every spare officer within a hundred mile radius would be called to look for him. They’d no doubt bring in the FBI, the CIA, and every other three-letter combination possible.

They wouldn’t rest until they brought him down. Not many other criminals had killed as many people as he had, and the attorneys had only been able find less than half of his handiwork.

Nobody had any idea just how capable of death he actually was. But they knew enough.

More sirens sounded from the other direction.

He didn’t have a ride, but at least he was right next to some massive woods. That would provide cover, shelter, and food. He’d survived in other forests for weeks on end. He was nothing if not resourceful. There was no other choice when he’d spent so much time on the run.

Hiding, planning, executing—in more than one way.

Time to get back into that mindset. It would give him enough time to readjust to life on the outside so he could blend back into society. Once he started earning people’s trust again, he could return to his old ways.

An excited shiver ran through him at the thought.

The world was his for the taking.

First he needed a good hiding spot to keep him out of sight for a while. They’d give up looking for him, then he’d be ready.

He was already there. In fact, he was more than ready.

And he wasn’t going to waste another moment salivating over the thought of all the destruction at his fingertips.

He darted into the woods just as more sirens wailed.

This time he wouldn’t make the same mistakes that led to him getting caught last time. He was older, wiser, and had learned from his past errors.

Nobody would lock him behind bars again.