HOW TO TEMPT A CROOK

Chapter 6

"WE BROUGHT YOU THE CONDITIONER," Kelly announced when she and Sin went to visit A.J. on Saturday.

Seeing as it was the prison's official visiting day, the hall was abuzz with the cheerful sounds of chattering, laughing and eating. The circular tables spread around the large room were filled with happy people (some of them children). In fact, if it wasn't for the beige khaki uniforms that marked some of the people there as inmates, one would've mistaken this for a normal gathering.

A.J. snorted. "You probably got the fake kind again."

"Hey, that happened one time, and it wasn't our fault." Sin jumped in. "You're the one who skipped handwriting class."

"My handwriting was perfect," A.J. retorted. "You're the one who was sleeping during reading comprehension."

"You little-"

"Okay, children," Kelly cut in with a laugh. "Time to stop pulling each other's hair."

Sin and A.J. traded glares but the amusement glittering in their eyes left no doubt that they were just playing around. The two ladies were as different as night and day. Sin was outgoing, stylish and prone to using her looks and sly tongue to get whatever she wanted. A.J. tended to disappear behind Sin's shadow, but, as Kelly had discovered, that was deliberate. A.J. liked being in the shadows where no one knew of her razor-sharp intellect or of her body that was as lithe and flexible as a gymnast's. No wonder she'd been so good at being an art-thief.

However, despite their differences in personality the two got along just fine. They had given Kelly the emotional support she needed to survive in prison.

The topic of the conversation soon meandered into other things including how A.J. was handling her remaining time in the system. As expected, she was doing just fine and had even made a friend in her new cellmate. Eventually the conversation circled back to Kelly.

"So how's working with Spencer?" A.J. asked. "I hope you haven't killed him."

"Not yet." Kelly made a face. "But I'm not ruling it out."

Though she didn't like the fact that Spencer had used her father as a joking point in their conversation the previous day, she was well aware that she'd overreacted. The fact that he hadn't called her on her overreaction then apologized and even walked her to her door, had left her feeling just a tad bit guilty. Not that she'd ever confess that to him.

"What?" Eyeing A.J., Sin pitched in cheekily, "Are you worried about your boyfriend?"

"He's not my boyfriend," A.J. countered calmly before turning to Kelly. "You know, I think it's a good thing that you two are working together."

"How could that possibly be a good thing?" Kelly asked. "And we're not working together. We just work for the same firm."

Ignoring the correction, A.J. said, "It's a good thing because you two can finally duke it out instead of fuming in your respective corners."

"You make it sound like we're in some kind of war." Kelly wrinkled her nose.

"And Spencer has no reason to fume," Sin added. "He's the jerk here."

A.J. shrugged. "Maybe."

"Maybe?" Sin glared at A.J. like she'd just insulted Beyoncé. "Whose side are you on anyway?"

"I'm not on anyone's side," A.J. said calmly, unaffected by Sin's burst of temper.

"You're supposed to be on Kelly's side." Sin kissed her teeth. "You know what? Forget about that conditioner. You don't deserve it. The moment we get out of here I'm taking it back."