INVISIBLE PRISON (INVISIBLE RECRUITS) Read Online Free PDF

casino-owner wasn’t the worst Indian slur I’d heard, but not one I appreciated. Ballsy I could like. But not this Chiquita who looked a lot like that Michelle Rodriguez actress from the S.W.A.T. and Girlfight movies: bi-racial, all mouth, attitude, and a chip a mile wide on her shoulder.
    She stood with feet braced wide, daring me to take a swing. Behind her was an Amazon black woman who easily stood six feet tall and looked like she could be a model, or a bouncer, or both. The smile playing on that woman’s lips told me she was wingman for Chiquita and expecting fireworks.
    I couldn’t sense what these two were, or what they could do of the paranormal/preternatural variety, but that didn’t mean they weren’t waiting to take my head off and had the ability to back the taunt.
    I stepped aside and waved my hand. “Be my guest,” I said, then couldn’t help adding, “Border-Bunny.”
    That had Chiquita narrowing her eyes and rocking forward on the balls of her feet. Things might have gotten interesting except for the arrival of another woman who looked like she was about fifteen and typecast as a bubbly blonde.
    “Hi, there.” She stepped right between the three of us, ignoring the tension and thrusting her hand out as if we were at cheerleading camp. “I love meeting new people. Don’t you? Name’s Kelly McAllister. What’s yours?”
    I could no more ignore her outstretched hand than I could kick a fuzzy kitten, but that didn’t mean I didn’t snarl a little as I answered. “Alex Noziak.”
    “Oh, what a fun name,” she gushed, smiling at the three of us like BFFs. That’s when I noticed she even had freckles and no ankle bracelet. So was she non-human? A test to see if any of the rest of us ate her up and spit her out or was she viewed as not needing to be controlled like the rest of us?
    As if totally unaware of the train of my thoughts and frown, she asked, “Where you all from?”
    “The Rez,” Cruising-for-a-bruising-Chiquita answered under her breath.
    Since drawing blood my first day here was probably not a good thing I turned my back on trouble and her twin and grabbed a tray for dinner. New girl Kelly remained a buffer between me and the excuse I wanted for releasing a little steam. She jabbered on until I headed toward an empty seat as far away from anyone else as I could possibly sit and still be in the state of Maryland.
    I also noticed in the process that all the rest of the women were wearing ankle bracelets. Interesting group here, prisoners in a false paradise.
    “You don’t mind, do you?” Kelly beamed as she joined me.
    I wondered if I had a neon sign on my forehead, one blinking “sucker for fools and lost causes.” 
    But since Cheerleader wasn’t doing any harm, and maybe her chattering would keep less friendly folks at bay, I simply nodded toward a chair across from me.
    She sighed as she sat down and leaned forward. “Thanks. I hate not knowing anyone here.”
    Great, now I felt like a curmudgeon. Or maybe this was my penance for leaving Big Mad Martha with a rash. Using magic always came with a price. Looked like mine was a sentence of being talked to death.
    For the most part I tuned out Bright and Bubbly, concentrating on shoveling in food as fast as I could—a lesson from the Grey Hotel. There were no seconds, no choice in meal selection, and no time; if you didn’t eat, and eat fast, it was a long stretch before the next bland meal.
    I was so focused on enjoying every bite of pot roast that it took me a minute to realize Kelly was waiting for an answer.
    “I’m sorry, what’d you ask?” I said around a bite.
    She touched fingers lightly to her cheek. “Looks like you were in some kind of accident,” she said, an implied question.
    Funny, I’d forgotten it’d only been a few days since the BMM beating. My bruises hadn’t even faded to greens and yellows yet.
    “What happened?” Kelly asked. Obviously Cheerleaders did not give up easily.
    “Wreck,” I