IN FOR A PENNY (The Granny Series) by Nancy Naigle, Kelsey Browning

up?”
    “Are we in a hurry?” Lillian asked. “Because I’m quite sure I’m not going anywhere for fourteen months, or less if I get lucky.”
    Janisse spun around, loomed over Lillian. She raised her hand and Lillian swallowed, but didn’t flinch.
    Never let them see you sweat.
    Janisse grabbed Lillian’s wrist and lifted her hand, then smacked it in a high five. “Put it there, sister. Love your spunk.”
    Lillian relaxed. Well, fine then. She could do this.
    They entered a cottage and Janisse stopped at door 7C, grabbed the knob and pushed open the door but didn’t enter. “Go on in.”
    Wasn’t that sweet? Lillian stepped through the door. But when the door slammed behind her, she jumped two feet in the air.
    “Welcome to Walter Stiles Federal Prison Camp.”
    “Thank you.” Lillian scanned the room to find a woman sitting on the left-hand bed with her back propped against the wall. Her uniform was nicely pressed, her hair needed a trim but was recently washed, and her nails looked freshly painted. Maybe the federal prison system should do a little roommate Match.com to pick bunkmates in these places because this woman looked more Lillian’s style. Maybe she’d suggest it when she met the warden.
    “Have a seat.”
    The command in her voice shot through Lillian and made her knees shake. “Who did you say you were?”
    “Martha. They call me Big Martha around here mostly.”
    “Well, Martha, as much as I appreciate your hospitality, I really can’t stay. Count is in less than fifteen minutes and it took me ten to walk here from my dormitory.” Which meant she had a five minute cushion, if that.
    “Sit. Down.”
    “If you insist.” Lillian’s knees gave out and she plunked down on the other bed. “But only for a minute.”
    “I heard Dixieland is your bunkie.”
    Lillian just nodded.
    “That girl is no good. You hang with her, she’ll get you into trouble.”
    “Hang with her?” Dixie had certainly seemed nice enough.
    “Do you understand what I’m saying?”
    “Not entirely.”
    “I’m saying, Miss High and Mighty, there are a couple things you need to know. One, you need to mind your own damn business. Two, if you throw your loyalty to Dixie, then you’ve declared yourself my enemy.”
    Prison politics already? And just when she’d sworn she was going to keep her head down and mouth closed. Worked so well for all of an hour. Sure hadn’t seen this coming.
    Lillian buried her hands in her lap to hide the nerves making her fingers twitch. “I take it the two of you have differing interests.”
    Big Martha’s laugh wasn’t pleasant. “I figured you for a smart one.”
    “Well, thank you for your concern, but I’m not interested in pledging loyalty to anyone. I plan to do my work, do my time and that’s it.” Lillian slid off the bed and stood to leave.
    “No, Miss H&M, that’s not it. You can’t make up your own set of rules around here. You play by what we’ve already set. Understand?”
    Lillian lifted her chin but refused to respond.
    “Tell you what, I’ll be generous, give you a little time to think about which decision is in your best interest. Understand?”
    Oh, she understood all right. Understood that she’d already landed in a big ole heap of horse dung. Lillian nodded and shot out the door. Janisse was standing guard and Lillian lifted her hand in a little wave. Then she took off as quickly as she could toward the dormitory, every running hop-step ramming her toes against the steel plate in her shoes.
    As she hustled through the courtyard minding her own business, a big busty woman hip-checked her, causing her to stumble. She didn’t even give the woman a second glance, just kept rushing back to her cube.
    By the time she made it back, she had less than a minute to spare before count and she was pretty sure she’d lost a toenail.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Eleven
     
    On the Fourth, Maggie woke up to a sunny day but in a dark and