Life or Death

Life or Death Read Free

Book: Life or Death Read Free
Author: Michael Robotham
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plants the bone into Moss’s mashed potato where it sticks upright like naked flagpole.
    ‘Let’s start at the beginning. You are friends with Audie Palmer, is that correct?’
    ‘I know him.’
    ‘When did you last see him?’
    ‘Yesterday evening at chow time.’
    ‘You sat with him.’
    ‘Yes, suh.’
    ‘What did you talk about?’
    ‘Usual stuff.’
    The warden waits, his eyes expressionless. Moss can feel the butter from the griddled corn coating his tongue.
    ‘Roaches.’
    ‘What?’
    ‘We were discussing how to get rid of roaches. I was telling Audie to use AmerFresh toothpaste and put it in the cracks in the wall. Roaches don’t like toothpaste. Don’t ask me why, they just don’t.’
    ‘Cockroaches.’
    Moss talks between mouthfuls, eating around his mashed potato. ‘I heard a story about a woman who had a cockroach crawl into her ear while she was sleeping. It had babies that burrowed right into her brain. They found her dead one day with roaches coming out her nose. We fight a war against them. Some niggas will tell you to use shaving cream, but that shit don’t last through the night. AmerFresh is best.’
    Warden Sparkes eyeballs him. ‘We have no pest-control problems in my prison.’
    ‘I don’t know if the roaches got that memo, suh.’
    ‘We fumigate twice a year.’
    Moss knows all about the pest-control measures. The guards show up, order prisoners to lie down on their racks, while their cells are sprayed with some toxic-smelling chemical that makes everyone feel poorly, but has zero effect on the roaches.
    ‘What happened after chow time?’ asks Sparkes.
    ‘I went back to my cell.’
    ‘Did you see Palmer?’
    ‘He was reading.’
    ‘Reading?’
    ‘A book,’ says Moss, in case any further explanation were needed.
    ‘What sort of book?’
    ‘A thick one without any pictures.’
    Sparkes doesn’t see any humour in the situation. ‘Did you know Palmer was due to be released today?’
    ‘Yes, suh.’
    ‘Why would a man escape the night before he was due to be released?’
    Moss wipes grease from his lips. ‘I have no idea.’
    ‘You must have some inkling. The man spent ten years inside. One more day and he’s a free man, but instead he makes himself a fugitive. When he’s caught he’ll be tried and sentenced. He’ll get another twenty years.’
    Moss doesn’t know what he’s supposed to say.
    ‘Are you hearing me, son?’
    ‘Yes, suh.’
    ‘Don’t tell me you weren’t close to Audie Palmer. Don’t tell me that for a second. This ain’t my first rodeo and I know when someone is crow-hopping me.’
    Moss blinks at him.
    ‘You shared the next cell to Palmer for – what – seven years? He must have said something to you.’
    ‘No, suh, honest to God, not a word.’
    Moss has reflux. He burps. The chief warden is still talking. ‘My job is to keep prisoners incarcerated until such time as the federal government says they’re eligible for release. Mr Palmer wasn’t eligible for release until today, but he decided to go early. Why?’
    Moss’s shoulders rise and fall.
    ‘Speculate.’
    ‘I don’t know what that word means, suh.’
    ‘Give me your opinion.’
    ‘You want my opinion? I’d say that Audie Palmer was dumber than shit on a biscuit for doing what he did.’
    Moss pauses and looks at the uneaten food on his plate. Warden Sparkes takes a photograph from his coat pocket and puts it on the table. It’s a picture of Audie Palmer with his puppy-dog eyes and floppy fringe, as wholesome as a glass of milk.
    ‘What do you know about the Dreyfus County armoured truck robbery?’
    ‘Just what I read.’
    ‘Audie Palmer must have mentioned it.’
    ‘No, suh.’
    ‘And you didn’t ask?’
    ‘Sure, I did. Everybody asked. Every guard. Every nigga. Every visitor. Family. Friends. Every sonbitch in this place wanted to know what happened to the money.’
    Moss didn’t have to lie. He doubted if there was a man or beast incarcerated in Texas who

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