CHAPTER 1 — THE WOMAN SENTENCED TO DIE
No one survived their first hour inside Blackridge Maximum Security.
Especially not women.
When the steel gate slammed shut behind 27-year-old Ava Carter, every inmate stopped talking. Even the guards exchanged uneasy glances.
Because everyone already knew why she had been transferred.
The prison boss wanted her dead.
Marcus Kane ruled Blackridge without wearing a badge. Guards obeyed him. Inmates worshipped him. Anyone who crossed him disappeared before sunrise.
As Ava was marched into the yard, Marcus smiled from across the concrete.
"So... this is the famous girl."
Ava didn't answer.
She simply stared back with cold, fearless eyes.
Marcus hated fearless people.
He snapped his fingers.
Four massive Belgian Malinois burst through the gate, muscles rippling beneath their dark coats. These weren't ordinary prison dogs. They had been trained to attack on command.
The inmates backed away.
One whispered,
"She's already dead..."
Another couldn't even watch.
Marcus laughed loudly enough for the whole yard to hear.
"Let's see how brave you are now."
He pointed directly at Ava.
"Attack."
The dogs exploded forward like bullets.
Everyone expected screams.
Instead...
The impossible happened.
The lead dog suddenly slowed.
Its ears folded back.
Then, before everyone's eyes, the animal gently lowered its head in front of Ava... and rested its nose against her trembling hand.
One by one...
Every attack dog surrounded her—not to kill her...
...but to protect her.
Silence swallowed the prison yard.
Marcus's smile disappeared.
No one understood what they had just witnessed.
But Ava whispered only three words.
"I remember you."
And every dog wagged its tail.
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The prison had just become far more dangerous—not for Ava...
...but for everyone hunting her.
