"It sounds like someone I know-"

"Who's there?" the person called out.

Dante sucked in a breath, not believing his ears. It sounded like his stepfather. The cop grabbed Dante's arm as he went to enter the room. Dante shook him off and stormed inside, then came to a sudden halt, the person in the bed not who he had expected. A muscular man in his late thirties lay on the mattress with a blanket up to his chest, his pale blue eyes just as surprised as Dante. Both wrists were cuffed to the bed's railing and a bandage was wrapped around his head, his sandy-coloured hair poking out the top. "You're a Rata," the prisoner said.

Dante thought the man looked familiar, but he couldn't pinpoint why or where he'd seen him. Before he could ask who the prisoner was, his arms were yanked behind his back. Dante pulled free from the cop and spun around. A fine mist hit him in the face. He wiped at it, then hollered in pain as a burning sensation set in, attacking his eyes and wounds. The cop pushed him into the neighbouring bed and yanked his arms behind his back again. A coughing spasm hit Dante as handcuffs were clamped on.

"I can't brea..." he spluttered.

"What the h.e.l.l didja do that for?" the prisoner yelled. "He's my nephew!"

Nephew? Dante was turned around.

"Have you taken drugs?" the cop asked.

There was no way he would admit that to a blue boy, plus he could barely breathe, let alone speak-or see.

"Does your nephew take drugs?" the cop asked the prisoner.

"How the f.u.c.k would I know? Stop talking, and help him."

A buzzer went off, then seconds later footsteps ran into the room. "What happened?" a female voice asked.

"Pepper-spray," the cop said. "He appears to be struggling to breathe. I've seen this happen with a stoner."

Dante felt hands all over him, directing him to lie down on an empty mattress. Something damp wiped at his face, the person being gentle, then an oxygen mask was placed over his mouth.

"Is he alright?" the prisoner asked.

Dante didn't understand the concern in the man's voice. He didn't know him, and he had no idea why the guy thought he was his nephew.

"Get a gurney and take him to another room," the cop said.

"Is he dangerous?" the female asked.

"Not in this condition."

"Well, I'm not going alone with him," she replied. "He looks like a gang-member."

"I can't come, I have to guard the prisoner," the cop said.

Still in pain and disorientated, Dante struggled to sit up.

The cop pushed him back down and undid one of the cuffs. Metal clanged against metal. Dante lifted his hand, finding it attached to the bed's railing. He let it fall, all fight gone out of him as his other wrist was cuffed to the other side.

"He can stay here until I can get another officer to escort him out," the cop said.

"He'll need help to get home," the nurse said.

The cop dug into Dante's pockets, probably looking for his phone or wallet. He stopped at the sound of a static voice. "Hold on." The cop started talking to someone else. "Jesus, Mary, Mother of G.o.d, you can't be serious? No, no, just gimme their details."

"What's wrong?" the nurse asked.

"Two prisoners have escaped."

11.

Sledge Sledge walked out of the elevator and headed into the hospital waiting area. He spotted his sister in the far corner talking to Beth. He was still p.i.s.sed off to the max with her, and was aching to know why she'd hurt Corey, but now was definitely not the right time to get on her case. After Ash was out of danger, and once they were home, he would corner her and make her spill everything.

Both Beth and Juliet stopped talking as he neared. Juliet got up from her seat and crossed to the opposite side of the room. She picked up a magazine from the table, using it to shield her face as she sat down. Sledge glared at her for a moment, then turned his attention to Beth.

"Is Ash gonna be alright?" Though f.u.c.k knows why he cared so much for the b.a.s.t.a.r.d.

Beth looked like she'd been crying. "The doc said he's woken up. They just wanna check him over before they let us in. Apparently, he had a concussion and should've gotten it checked out earlier, sumpthin' to do with Len Jones."

Sledge ran a hand over his head, admittedly relieved, but also furious at the mention of the Joneses. "That b.l.o.o.d.y family. I should go over there and take care of-"

"No, Sledge, keep away from them, they're dangerous. Ash needs to report the attack, so the police can deal with the lowlife, not you."

Sledge bared his teeth. "No f.u.c.kin' way I'm gonna let this slide. The police did s.h.i.t the last time." His voice lowered to a whisper, "They're more interested in locking up my bros than helping them."

"But you'll get yourself and Dante hurt..."

Not interested in Beth's opinions, Sledge scanned the waiting room, wondering where Dante was. Next to Juliet, a middle-aged woman was talking on a phone while on the other side a teenage boy played on a games console. Across from them, an elderly man was mumbling to himself, a young mother was trying to stop her toddler from screaming and an extremely skinny, pale teenage girl was reading a magazine.

Recognising Stella, his drunken mistake and Corey's bugbear, Sledge grabbed Beth's arm and tugged her around the corner. "Where's Dante?" he asked, letting Beth go.

"I dunno. He wuzn't here when I arrived and he's not answering his phone. Juliet said he went to talk to the nurse at the counter 'bout fifteen minutes ago, but he hasn't returned."

Sledge pulled out his phone and hit Dante's number, the call going straight to Dante's message system. He turned it off and re-pocketed the phone, then stiffened as two policemen ran towards him. He relaxed as they headed past, disappearing into the adjoining corridor. A second later the nurse from the counter came out from behind her desk.

"Can I please have your attention!" she called out.

Everyone in the waiting room stopped talking and focused on her.

The woman continued, "I'm sorry, but you will all have to evacuate this area. If your situation isn't urgent, I would like to ask you to come back another day, otherwise please proceed down to floor one and tell the nurses which area you have come from. They have been informed about the situation."

People got up to leave, half of them grumbling. Sledge bobbed down behind Beth, willing Stella to walk past without noticing him. He didn't dislike her-far from it, but he'd promised Corey he wouldn't go near her again, plus Stella wasn't an easy person to shake off, and he had more important things to deal with right now. The girl continued down the corridor, looking like she was going to puke at any moment. Once she was gone, Sledge straightened.

"What wuz that about, Sledge?" Beth asked.

"A drunken mistake," and a b.l.o.o.d.y great root. G.o.d, Corey was an accomplished c.o.c.k-blocker. Sledge didn't have enough fingers to count how many times his mate had ruined his chances of a root. Sometimes he wondered whether Corey did it on purpose, because whenever he had a chick coming onto him Corey would make some stupid joke about STDs or something else just as bad.

Putting Corey to the back of his mind, Sledge headed for the nurse. He stopped in front of the thirty-something woman. She had brown hair tied in a tight bun and a large nose. "Why're the pigs..." Sledge corrected himself. "Why are the cops here?"

"Sir, you need to leave now."

"No, my brother's here, so I'm not budging until you tell me what's happened."

"Patients are not at risk, we have the situation under control, but to make things easier and safer for all concerned, we need to have all non-admitted people leave this area immediately."

"What situation?"

"Sir, I cannot tell you that."

Two more police officers ran past.

Beth hit his arm. "The news said there were prisoners admitted here, sumpthin' to do with a prison riot."

Sledge's brows pulled together. "You have prisoners here?" he asked the nurse.

Worry clouded the woman's face. "Yes, which is why you need to leave now."

"Did one of them escape?"

"I can't tell you that."

"Didja see any of them?" he asked, concerned about the mention of a riot. He hoped Tama was alright. When she didn't answer, he continued, "C'mon, you might as well tell me cos I know they're here now, and I won't stop bugging you until you do."

The nurse glanced around before looking back at them. She appeared both excited and scared at the same time, making her appear younger than what Sledge had originally thought. "I only saw two of them. They looked like brothers. The older one had two teardrop tattoos like that American rapper as well as a huge scar down his face. They moved him, because the prisoners wouldn't stop yelling at each other."

Sledge felt his heart stop. He glanced over his shoulder. Juliet was now standing next to Beth, her eyes wide, her thoughts no doubt the same as his.

Panicked, he turned back to the nurse and pointed at the corridor. "Didja see my brother go down there? He has a tattoo round his left eye."

"Yes, but I don't know where he went."

Her answer didn't matter, because he already knew: Dante was missing, and the prisoner who the nurse had described sounded too much like Chaz. Terrified for Dante's safety, Sledge took off down the corridor with Beth and Juliet following close behind, the nurse's shouts trailing after them. They rounded a corner, ran the length of another corridor and pushed through a set of double-doors, almost smacking into two policemen.

The officers' hands went to their batons, one of them yelling at them to leave the area.

"A prisoner took my brother!" Sledge shouted, more interested in getting their help than fluffing around with details.

The older, and fatter, of the policemen gave Sledge a once over. "Describe him."

"He's tall, with a tattoo round his left eye."

"I know where he is. He was mistakenly pepper-sprayed and is being attended to."

"How the h.e.l.l did that happen?"

"We thought he was going to attack a prisoner. Turns out it was his uncle."

Sledge screwed up his face. "Eh? What uncle? We don't have any in Auckland."

"A Seth Greenwood."

"That's my mate's stepfather." Sledge's eyes went round. "And my stepfather's last name." The nurse's words about the two brothers came to mind. s.h.i.t, they couldn't be brothers, otherwise he would've known, Tama would've told him. Plus, Greenwood wasn't exactly an uncommon name.

"Then the guy's your uncle," the cop said, snapping Sledge's attention back to the fat pig.

"Where is he?"

"In there," the cop said, pointing to the room behind him. "I can take you in, plus your brother will need help to get home."

The younger cop took up position behind Sledge's group as they headed into the room. Dante lay on his back on a hospital bed with a mask over his face and a towel covering his eyes.

"Dante!" Beth pushed past Sledge, her distressed cry making Dante turn his head. "Why's he cuffed? Uncuff him now!"

"It was for his own safety," the fat cop said, "So he doesn't rub his eyes-"

A mild Australian accent cut the officer off, the voice coming from behind the green curtain next to Dante's bed. "Bulls.h.i.t, the nurse was scared of him. She thought Dante was a gang-member."

Sledge walked up to the curtain, and pulled it across.

With striking pale blue eyes, Tama's stepfather smiled up at him. "G'day, Sledge, how ya doin'?"

Sledge stared in stunned silence, still unable comprehend how Seth could be related to Chaz.

"Not so happy to see me?" Seth said.

"But you're... You can't be... What the f.u.c.k?"

"They told you I'm your uncle?"

Sledge nodded in shock.

"Sorry, mate, but when Tama first brought you home from school all those years ago I wasn't exactly happy he made friends with a Rata. I was afraid your brothers would find out I was related to Chaz and try to take revenge on my kids, so I kept it quiet. And don't blame Tama, he didn't know. Well, not until he got thrown into prison alongside me and my brother. Guess being a crim is in the family blood."

"You can't be Chaz's brother," Sledge said, not wanting it to be true. He liked Seth, the guy was nice. He didn't want him to be related to the sick b.a.s.t.a.r.d who had destroyed his family.

"Well, I am, and look at me, I do resemble him."

"Not that much, just your colouring and eyes," Sledge said, trying to find any excuse to unrelate Seth from Chaz.

Seth's expression saddened. "I'm sorry for what my brother did to your family. It shattered me when I heard about it. I was so ashamed of him that I hid having a brother from my wife and kids." He breathed out, his breathing rattling. "But, I never stopped loving him. I can't, even though at times I want to, cos I hate what he did, but he wasn't always sick, and if it wasn't for him I could be the same. He protected me when we were kids. My uncle raised us..." Seth's face twisted into a mask of hatred. "That sick pervert b.l.o.o.d.y made Chaz's life h.e.l.l, doing all sorts of s.h.i.t to him. Then the sick b.a.s.t.a.r.d went for me on my tenth birthday. Chaz talked him out of it, said he would go with him willingly as long as my uncle didn't touch me. He was twelve years old, twelve years old!" Tears glistened in Seth's eyes. "I didn't say a word, just hid under my bed, listening to Chaz crying." He closed his eyes, and shook his head. "But, I still can't believe Chaz hurt Ash in the same way when he hated what was done to him."

Juliet started sobbing. Sledge turned to her, but instead got distracted by Beth, her reaction surprising him. Her eyes had gone big, the shock and disbelief he saw mirrored in them reflecting how he'd felt at the hearing. "Ash didn't tell you?" he said, already knowing the answer, although he couldn't believe it was true. If he had a partner, there was no way he'd hide something that big, no matter how difficult it would be to say.

She shook her head, her features slowly cracking, the disbelief now turning into tears.

Sledge turned back to Seth, the whole situation surreal, like he was stuck in a soap opera where every second something new and shocking was revealed. And he didn't know how to handle it, or how he was expected to react to Seth's story. He still hated his stepfather-with a f.u.c.king pa.s.sion-and could never forgive him for hurting his brothers and taking away his mother-no matter what-but the sorrow in Seth's voice unsettled him, as well as the guilt on the man's face. It reminded him of Dante, who Sledge knew wrongly blamed himself for their mother's death.