“So I have to go first, is that what you’re saying?”

I smiled in affirmation.

“Damn it. I always have to go first, then half the time, you girls chicken out and run away before showing me yours.”

He’d clearly had too much experience in that area. “You don’t trust me?” I asked, trying really hard to be appalled.

His mouth thinned. “Not even a little.”

I indicated our surroundings with turned-up palms. “Dude, we’re in a prison. If I don’t hold up my part of the bargain, you can put me in solitary until I do.”

“Can I get that in writing?”

I wanted more, needed more as much as I needed air. My appetite to learn as much as possible about Reyes was insatiable. “You can get it in blood.”

After a long, thoughtful sigh, he said, “I guess blood won’t be necessary. I’ll give you one of the highlights.” He worked his lower lip a moment before choosing. “Okay, there was this one time when I was still a guard, we’d received word that a fight was going to break out. A bad one between South Side and the Aryans. The tension was so thick that by the third day we knew something was going to happen. The men gathered in the yard, eyed each other, inched closer and closer until the shot caller of each gang was nose to nose. And right in the middle of it stood Farrow. We were surprised.”

“Why were you surprised?” I asked, certain my eyes were wide with wonder.

“Because he had no affiliation. It’s rare, but every once in a while, an inmate will go it alone. And he did. Quite successfully.”

“So, he’s in the middle of this fight?” Even though I knew Reyes was okay, my heart still stumbled at the thought.

“Smack dab. We couldn’t believe it. Then men started dropping. As Farrow wound his way through the inmates, man after man fell to the ground. They just passed out.” He paused, lost in thought.

“What happened next?” I asked, my voice full of awe.

“When Farrow got to the shot callers, he spoke to them. By that time, most of the others were backing off, a look of astonishment on some of their faces, fear on others. The shots glanced around, realized what was happening, then the one from South Side showed his palms and backed off. But the Aryan grew furious. I think he felt Farrow was betraying his race or something.”

“They’re so testy about that sort of thing.”

Neil nodded. “The Aryan got in Farrow’s face and started yelling. Then, before anyone knew what’d happened, he just crumbled to the ground.”

I flew to my feet and laid my palms on Neil’s desk. “What did Reyes do?”

He looked up at me. “We didn’t know at first, but he touched them, Charley. Surveillance showed him walking through the crowd and touching them on the shoulder. And they dropped like flies.”

I stood with my mouth agape probably much longer than was appropriate.

“The guards rushed in, found their weapons, searched everyone else, and put the whole place on lockdown.” Neil shook his head as he thought back. “There’s no telling how many lives were saved that day. Including mine.”

That surprised me. “Why yours?”

He studied his hands a moment before answering. “I’m not as brave as I pretend to be, Charley. The Aryans had made a promise to come after me. I’d pissed one of them off when I put him in lockdown after he threw a tray at another inmate.” Neil stared hard. “I would never have made it out of there alive. I know that. And I was scared shitless.”

“That’s nothing to be ashamed of, Neil.” I chastised him with a glare then stated the obvious. “So, he saved your life, too.”

“And I’m eager to return the favor.”

“Let me ask you something,” I said, a suspicion niggling the back of my mind. Reyes’s best friend from high school had also been his cellmate. “His cellmate Amador Sanchez didn’t happen to be affiliated with South Side, did he?”

He thought back. “Yes, actually, I think he was.”

Interesting. I wondered had that not been the case would Reyes have done anything.

“I think Farrow would have stopped the fight nonetheless,” Neil said, as if reading my mind.

“Why do you say that?”

“When we stormed onto the yard, I went straight for him. I wanted to make sure nobody else went after him. Partly because I didn’t want him hurt and partly because I knew a little of what he was capable of. I didn’t want any of my coworkers hurt either. I ordered him down and kneeled beside him as the tactical team launched tear gas into the yard. I had a gas mask on, but I leaned down to him.… I just had to know.”

“Know what?”

“I asked him why he stopped the fight.”

“What did he say?”

“At first he denied it. Said he didn’t know what I was talking about, then refused to say anything else, but that could have been the tear gas.”

“Then later?”

“When we were marching the men inside for lockdown, he leaned into me as he waited his turn to be searched and told me he’d seen enough war to last a thousand lifetimes.”

Knowing exactly what Reyes had been talking about, I swallowed hard.

Neil fixed a curious gaze on me. “What did he mean? He’s certainly never been in an actual war, and I figured you might be able to answer that one.” He laced his fingers together. “I believe it’s your turn.”