Central State Prison, Macon, Ga.:
Katlain sips her coffee as she drives down the interstate toward Macon, Ga. It was where the person she needed to talk to was kept. She was glad that Trevor and Taylor offered to take care of Katherine for her. She didn’t know how long she was going to be gone. Her second cousin Keli was thrilled to take care of Katherine, along with her cousins.

Katlain finishes her coffee and leaves the empty coffee cup in the cup holder. She gets off the interstate and pulls into a Circle K parking lot. She gets out of her armored Jeep Renegade and rushes inside to use the bathroom.

When she exits from the bathroom, she notices the cashier is being held up by a figure wearing a grey hoodie. She doesn’t spot anyone else in the store. So, she moves quietly up towards the front of the store, stopping briefly to grab a can from the shelf. She waits as the person turns around and throws the can right into the face of the robber.

Just as the robber gets hit in the face by a can, she moves quickly and knocks the guy out. She tears strips from the figure's hoodie and ties his hands behind his back with them. She looks up towards the cashier “Does this happen often around here?”

Mary couldn’t believe what just happened to her. First, she was being held at gunpoint and told to empty the drawer. Then the next thing she knew, a woman with light brunette hair was taking the robbery down.

“No ma’am. What are you?” Mary was curious about this woman.

“I’m an off-duty police officer just passing through. Go ahead and call your local law official. I’ll wait around until they arrive.”

“Alright.” Mary does as she was told to do.

While Katlain was waiting for the police to show up, she fixed herself a large cup of coffee and a bear claw. She goes up to the counter to pay for it.

“It’s on the house, ma’am. It’s the least I can do for what you did for me.” Mary wasn’t going to charge the woman who just saved her life.

“Thanks.”

The police finally show up and Katlain explains what she did after she came out of the bathroom. She didn’t know the guy was there and just reacted. The officer taking her statement looks at her “Thank you for stopping this, guy. He’s robbed four other convenience stores in the area in the past twenty-four hours.”

“I’m glad I could help, Officer Badillo.” Katlain throws away the empty coffee cup and the wrapper for the bear claw.

She goes to the bathroom one more time before leaving the store. She needs to go in and get a checkup. She was going to the bathroom too much. She gets into her Jeep and gets back onto the Interstate.

An hour later, she arrives at Central State Prison. She looks at the place as she parks her jeep and gets out. She hasn’t been up here since her parents got arrested. Her father was in this prison, along with her uncle Charles Salerno. He was the mob boss of Atlanta, Georgia, before an undercover FBI agent busted him and several of his men. The rest managed to get off the charges they were arrested for, but not her uncle and his top four men. The government had a serious hard-on for them and they ended up being separated and sent to different prisons. Her uncle, however, was sent here along with her father.

She checks in with the prison guard and undergoes a search. The last time she came here was when she was just twelve years old. Her father wanted her to smuggle in some drugs for him. He knew the guards would never strip-search a child.

She is taken to the visitation area where a wall of glass and a phone are hung. She waits as the guards bring her uncle into the room on the other side of the glass. She could tell he was looking good.

Charles had wondered who was coming to see him. He never got that many visitors, so to his surprise, when he walked into the visitation room, he spotted his niece waiting. A smile appears on his face because he has been hearing a lot of things about her.

He sits down and picks the phone receiver up. He watches as she does the same.

“Hello, uncle. You’re looking well.” Katlain figures she should start politely before asking her uncle questions.

“So, are you dear? I heard you adopted a little girl and got married. Is that true?” Charles heard about the hit on Katlain’s husband.

“Yes, here’s a picture of my little angel.” Katlain shows a photo of her daughter and husband. She knew the guards would take her cell phone, so she brought a photograph of her family with her.

“You’ll have to bring her up here for me and your father to meet, dear. So, what brings you to a terrible place like this?” Charles figures it had to be about her husband.

“I was wondering if you might know who put the hit out on my husband and several truck drivers as well.” Katlain knew this was shot in the dark, but her uncle had ears inside the prison.

“Why does it matter to you, if a few truckers are killed?” A puzzled look appears on Charle’s face.

“Because they were friends of my husband, now what the hell is going on?” Katlain wasn’t going to play this mouse and cat game with her uncle.
Charles's face becomes a little angry with his niece’s tone “Watch who you are talking to, Katlain, or this meeting is over.”

Katlain takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. She looks her uncle right in his eyes through the glass separator “I don’t take kindly to people killing people I consider friends. I also don’t take very kindly to someone killing my husband either. If I remember correctly, that was something even you were against. So, you know how I feel right now.”

Charles looked into his niece’s eyes and could see that she meant business. He wonders if she can deal with the new group that has expanded into Georgia.

“I don’t know who put the hit out, but why they put it out. Your husband and the other truckers who have recently died are members of a group of truck drivers that help trafficked women. Since the police can’t be everywhere, and since there are more truckers than cops.”

“Which means truckers can do more for these women. So, whoever is going after truckers like my husband and his friends, it’s out of revenge for them sticking their noses into their business.”

“Right, which means you need to be careful. Because these people aren’t afraid of cops and feds. They will come at you when you less expect it.” Charles would hate to see his niece murdered.

“Do you know how I can get in contact with whoever received these orders?” Katlain knew there had to be a place or person who received these jobs.

“Go to the dark web and you’ll find it.” Charles knew you could find almost anything on the dark web.

“Thank you, uncle. I owe you one.”

“Remember that when I come to collect. Now, why don’t you tell me why you are on the other side of the road?” Charles wanted to know why Katlain was no longer stealing cars and doing a few other things.

“Because, I grew disenchanted with that lifestyle, uncle. I have a daughter now and I had a wonderful husband. I wanted to do right by them. I don’t want to end up in a place like this like the rest of my family who choose this lifestyle.” Katlain knew this life wasn’t for her. Stealing cars and other things was a thrill that she was addicted to.

Drugs and dirty bombs weren’t what she was into. Nor was forcing women to sell their bodies for pimps either. She could have gone into any of those fields, including selling illegal weapons.

“I never thought you would end up like me or your parents, you're way too smart for that. Even when you used to be the opposite gender.”
Charles remembered when Katlian had been born a boy, but he never had the same interest as the other boys in the family. He was always different.

Katlain stays until she is told her time is up. She would hug her uncle, but couldn’t. She watches as he is escorted away. She gets her things returned to her and walks out to the parking lot.