THE SIX OF THEM STOOD, handcuffed, outside cell 524 while the guards tossed the room. Une recherché, they called it----a search. The prison reserved the right to inspect the cells at any time for contraband. They went through the mattresses and their books and opened their personal boxes----each of them had a rectangular box where they could hold any personal items, from candy to cigarettes to CDs, whatever they bought from the commissary that would fit in there.327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDj4VW5pekP
The guards removed a bunch of stuff from the cell. Then they marched them down to the basement and interrogated them. They stripped the women naked, hosed them down, and threw out a few questions to them while beating them with their nightsticks. It was not so much an interrogation as an outlier for their anger.
Lise and the two Saudis in the helicopter---friends of her boyfriend----had perished in the failed escape. But more important than all that, a prison guard in the tower had died in a hail of bullets. The guards had lost one of their own, and someone had to pay. It might was well be Lise's cellmates, even though, as far as Mischa knew, none of us had been aware of Lise's scheme.
The six of them lay huddled on the floor, shivering from the cold spray that hit them every few minutes, covering their heads while the guards rained down blows with their nightsticks. Beatrice, lying next to Mischa, was positively terrified. This was the first time she'd seen her outside the cell. She'd gone about twenty months, at this point, without leaving it.
"Qui a su du plan?" they kept asking. Who knew of her plan? The longer they failed to answer, the angrier the guards became. They had lost control of their rage. They were swinging the batons wildly, striking their feet and ankles, their midsections, even their heads. Mischa had been on the receiving end of a lot of abuse, but she'd never seen anything this violent, this uncontrolled.
"Elle ne nous a pas dit!" Felice protested, sitting up. She didn't tell us, she was saying. Yelling back at the guards didn't seem like a bright idea here, even if Felice was telling the truth.
One of the guards whom Mischa didn't know moved toward Felice after her outburst. But Josette intervened, putting a hand on the guard. Josette wanted to handle this one herself. She smiled broadly at Mischa, then grabbed Felice by the hair and dragged her out of the room.327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoQ0tE82Zo7
"Felice!" Mischa started to crawl toward her, passing Beatrice, when she heard something from one of the guards and then it hit her, square on the mouth, a blow from the baton.327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDLNnfofBE5
Her head snapped back. Her eyes rolled back in her head. And then everything went black.327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqIUBOrQ9Sk
