Drake Shepherd's Eco Ops - The Gaia Stone
an excerpt

The thick, chilled air felt like steel. Sounds of metal hitting metal echoed through the rooms as heavy doors opened and closed. The air damp, like the basement of an old house.

Three sets of footsteps fell into rhythm from time to time as they clocked down a corridor of dull-painted metallic bars. The drab-uniformed guards stopped at a cell, one calling out, “Thorogood!”

From the darkness of the cell, a woman's voice answered, “Yeah.”

The guard placed a key in the lock. “You're leaving.” Another guard readied his handcuffs.

“Leaving?” replied the woman who stepped into the light. She had long, dark hair and was a slender, but muscular. “You mean a transfer?”

“No. You're being released.”

“No. You see, I believe the last thing the judge said to me before I left the courtroom was ... oh yeah, 'Ten years without parole'.”

The prisoner turned back into her cell and sat on her cot. “You geniuses must have made a mistake.” Grabbing a decades-old magazine, she reclined and said, “Go recheck your paperwork, or find someone who can read it to you.”
The guard in charge of the detachment entered the cell, followed by the newly arrived warden.

“I did read it to them, and it says you're free to go.”

She looked up at the warden, eyes narrowed in disbelief. He held up a piece of paper, quoting, “'Lucy Thorogood, the great state of Oklahoma, blah blah blah, time served'.”

Lucy stood up and tossed her magazine aside. She snatched the paper from the warden, causing the guards to flinch. As she read over it, the warden added, “You must have friends in high places.”

She looked up at him and growled, “If you're referring to my father the Senator, he wouldn't do anything to help me.”

The warden turned to leave, “Well, then you must have friends in low places.”
One of the guards held up his handcuffs and said, “Standard procedure.”

Lucy turned around and placed her hands behind her back. She stared, unfocused, toward the floor as the cold steel of the handcuffs clamped down on her wrists, eyes shifting back in thought.

When they arrived at the clerk's desk, the guard removed her cuffs. She rang her wrists as the clerk placed a manila envelope on the counter, and had her sign for it. She opened it and dumped its contents. All that landed was a butterfly hair clip. She picked it up, opened it, and placed it in her mouth as she gathered her long hair in the back of her head. With an audible click, she clipped a ponytail into place.

Turning to the guards, Lucy asked, “Any of you have cab fare for a girl?”

The clerk spoke up, “Your ride is waiting outside. Your friends said they'd wait there for you.”

Lucy looked at the clerk, “Friends?”