Chapter 37
Just a Tuesday

Piper awoke the next morning, and she anxiously started pacing the floor of their cubicle. She wasn't worried about King anymore with Steely and Red there, but her thoughts were focused on making the bitch pay for what she had done. She was ready to talk to Caputo, and she had come up with a good plan to get him to re-investigate the case. She was also trying to mentally prepare herself for later today when she had to go on a van run and smuggle a gun back into prison. And, finally—on top of all of this—she and Steely were going to roofie a psychotic killer guard later. In her pre-prison life, this would have been a truly dramatic series of events, but after many months in prison and after everything she had been through in here—this was just a Tuesday.

She made her way to Caputo's office where she wasn't received with much enthusiasm from Caputo.

"Chapman? Haven't we seen enough of each other for a while?" he asked while shuffling papers on his desk.

Piper came in and sat down across from him. "Well, I just found out a few little somethings that I thought may interest you."

"Oh boy, I can't wait to hear," Caputo said sarcastically.

"Well, first of all when I took Vause and Carlin down to Max yesterday, Carlin admitted that it was Judy King that put her up to getting caught with those panties. She wanted to set me up because she hates me."

"Chapman, your girlfriend confessed. She gave me a phone with plenty of evidence on it. This case is closed, you're beating a dead horse here."

"Well, if Alex is the guilty one, then why did I find these this morning in King's bunk?" Piper asked pulling out a baggie full of colorful Whispers undies.

Caputo's face reddened. He had to loosen his tie. "Did you plant those there, Chapman, because that's a serious offense? You'll be down there with your girlfriend, is that what you want? Because I can arrange that."

Piper stood up, angrily. "I didn't plant these. How could I? I haven't worked at Whispers in weeks. Remember you transferred me to van duty. Where—by the way—I've discovered you have one of the most sick and twisted guards I've ever met. Did you know that's he's sexually assaulted and harassed over half the women here? Does MCC know this? Because I'd be more than willing to enlighten them."

"What do you want?" Caputo asked angrily.

"I want you to re-investigate this case. How about actually checking the cell phone records, and how about looking into the owner of that website? You know, it's pretty simple to find out who owns a web domain. Anyone can look it up. And, when you find out who's really behind this, I want Alex sent back up here. Carlin too, if she agrees to testify against King."

"Is that all?"

"No, I also want you to grow some fucking balls and investigate that sick fucker, Coates. He needs to be fired, but more than that, he needs to pay for what he's done to these women. These poor, defenseless women who are already under some of the worst circumstances possible."

Caputo held his head down in defeat. "And, then you'll keep your mouth shut, and not make an even bigger deal of this to MCC? I'm taking enough heat about it as is with this whole panty caper. I'll take care of Coates too."

"Deal."

He reached across the desk, hand extended. Piper hesitated because she knew the possibilities of where that hand had been, but she shook it anyway. She left his office feeling confident. With Steely's help, all the evidence was going to point directly at King, and more importantly, Alex would be back soon. She felt relieved, and now all she had to do was save Alex's life. She would do it, no matter what. Today, Aydin and Kubra were going to pay for what they had done to her love. Then Alex would finally be free, and they could have a future together some day that didn't involve illegal activities or drug lords.

As if on cue, Officer O'Neill stopped Piper in the hallway and said they needed to make a van run to the bus station. Piper headed to the garage, grabbed her coat, and went to start up the van. It was colder out now, she could see her breath hanging in the cold air. She got in the van and cranked up the heater. She wondered which inmate was getting released today, while she blew hot air into her cold hands. Out of the corner of eye she saw O'Neill and a blaze of red hair.

"Holy fuck! Red?" Piper said in disbelief.

She watched as O'Neill opened the door to let Red inside. "Hello, Blondie," Red said as she winked at Piper.

"Red, oh my God, you're getting out? Why didn't you say something?"

Red sat there with her fierce hair and bright lipstick—stoic. "I hate goodbyes, Blondie. It's bad enough I have to say goodbye to you. I just couldn't bear to do it with Nicky. Please tell her I'm sorry, and that I will come to visit her whenever I can."

"I'll tell her," Piper said. "I'm so happy for you, Red."

O'Neill hopped in and they took off for the bus station. With the excitement of seeing Red, Piper had almost forgotten about her mission with the gun. She went over it again in her head. Pull up to the bus station. O'Neill gets out. I quickly roll down my window and some random guy is going to appear with a gun. I quickly stuff the gun into my pants. I wore extra think granny panties today. I'm good. I've got this.

She pulled up to the bus station. She looked up in the rearview mirror and saw Red watching someone to their left. She quickly looked up at Piper and gave a slight nod of the head. O'Neill was busy eating a Long John—in fact, he was so busy with it, he said the worst thing possible.

"The door's unlocked, Red, you can go. Enjoy your freedom," he said as he took another bite.

Red and Piper quickly exchanged glances.

"Officer O'Neill, I was wondering if you could perhaps give me a hand into the station. I injured my back again yesterday and I can't really carry all of my things. Please, if you don't mind," Red said almost sweetly.

Piper had never heard Red use so many nice words at once. She almost laughed. But it worked, O'Neill grunted, but he put down the Long John and opened the door for Red and helped her out.

"So long, Blondie. Try to remember all of my wise words to you, and you'll go far in life," Red said smiling at Piper.

"So long, Red. I hope to see you again someday," Piper said smiling back at her.

Then she watched as O'Neill carried her box of stuff as they slowly walked into the bus station.

She was startled when someone knocked on the window. "Fuck," she said as she rolled down the window.

The guy handed her a brown paper bag with something heavy inside it. "Thanks," she said awkwardly as she watched the guy walk away. She looked inside the bag, and there it was. The gun. The gun that killed Steely's mom and that got Alex sent back to prison.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw O'Neill opening the door. She panicked and stuck the gun in her coat pocket instead of down her pants. But now it was too late to do anything about it. O'Neill was buckling up, while grabbing the rest of his Long John. Fuck me, she thought. Okay, don't panic, no big deal, you'll just get it from your coat pocket after you get back. As you hang it up, you can quickly grab it and shove it down your pants. You still got this.

Piper pulled back up at the prison and parked the van. O'Neill got out and she almost tried to move the gun then, but she saw Officer Bell was there waiting and watching. She got out of the van and saw Nicky, Steely, Boo, and Pennsatucky sitting at a table outside. She assumed by now that word had gotten out that Red had been released. She wondered how Nicky was taking it.

"Chapman, I'm going to need to do a search on your person," Officer Bell said.

Piper's heart dropped. "What? Why? I've never been searched after a van run before, this is bullshit!"

"New orders from Caputo this morning. All inmates must now be searched before and after a van run. You can thank your panty stealing girlfriend for that," Bell said.

Nicky, Steely, Boo and Pennsatucky seemed to be watching in horror. Piper stood frozen. She wasn't sure what to do. She was literally fucked if she got searched right now. Just then she heard Boo screaming for help. She looked over and it seemed as if Pennsatucky was having some type of seizure. Officers Bell and O'Neill quickly ran over to her, and Piper saw Steely walking quickly towards her.

When she was close enough, she said, "Give it to me, quick."

Piper fumbled in her coat pocket and quickly passed off the gun to Steely. Steely headed towards the greenhouse with it.

"I'm okay. I'm feeling better now," Pennsatucky said. "These seizures of mine are crazy… they just come and go real quick sometimes."

O'Neill stayed with her for a while and offered to take her to the nurse. Bell went back over and took Piper inside to get searched.

"Okay, Chapman, you're clean. You're free to go now."

"Obviously. What could I possibly be bringing back from the bus station? A bus pass?" Piper asked flippantly, but inside she was still shaking a little from the close call.

Meanwhile down the hill, Alex sat on a bed in a small cell with none other than Stella. They had been together the whole time since being processed. Neither of them had much to say to the other, and it was very awkward at times. Stella finally broke the silence.

"I'd like to give the money back," she said quietly. "Piper's money… the money that I stole from her."

Alex cringed just hearing her say Piper's name. She should be calling her Chapman like any other person that didn't know Piper well, but here she was calling her Piper… because she did know Piper. Intimately. Deep down, it still really pissed Alex off, but she knew Stella wasn't the only one to blame.

"Great, I'm sure she'll appreciate that," Alex managed to say.

"I never meant to cause problems between the two of you. It's just that I really liked her, and she seemed like she needed me too," Stella said.

"Okay, that's enough. Really. It's fine. Piper and I have worked through it, and really there's no need to dwell on it. You were nothing to her… just some prison fling. It happens. Try to move on."

"I have," Stella said defensively.

"Yeah, with Steely. I've noticed. Do you think she's happy about this shit you just pulled with King?"

"Did you talk to her? I never got the chance? Is she pissed at me?" Stella asked.

"She was disappointed. I can't really say if she was pissed or not. She just wanted me to know she didn't know anything about it," Alex said.

"Yeah, I would never involve her. I really like her," Stella said.

"Well, don't fucking steal from her, and don't try to bullshit her. She's too smart for that."

"I won't. I'm going to be a different person going forward, and it all starts with me giving Piper her money back."

Alex simply nodded her head. Then she noticed someone standing at their cell door.

"Vause, I need you to come with me," said the unfamiliar guard.

Alex stood up, she wasn't sure if she was being moved to another cell or what. She turned around and the guard handcuffed her and led her out the cell. They went into some type of holding room. Alex heard the door close behind her and she almost died when she saw who sat down across from her. Kubra Fucking Balik.

A/N – I hope you enjoyed. Only a few more chapters left. I'll try to update as soon as possible. Thanks again for the reviews. They mean a lot to me. -J