"This is our cellmate," Tank said carefully. "Name's Shuyin."
"I know her name," Mama Bear said. "I know everything about her. Rich family. Murder conviction. Supposed to be dead by now." Her smile was reptilian. "But you three are keeping her alive. I want to know why."
"We don't want murder charges added to our sentences," Blade said. "She dies in our cell, we automatically take the fall. It's simple math."
"Simple," Mama Bear repeated thoughtfully. "Except nothing in Blackwater is ever simple." She pulled out a chair and sat down uninvited. Her fighters remained standing behind her, creating an intimidating wall of muscle.
"Someone paid me good money to put this little princess in the pit," Mama Bear continued, her voice conversational. "Paid extra to make sure she didn't walk out alive. But my girl says she didn't fight back at all. Just curled up and took the beating. Is that true?"
Shuyin met Mama Bear's gaze with her one working eye.
Something in her grandmother's voice echoed in her memory: Never show fear to predators. They can smell it, and it makes them hungry.
"Yes," Shuyin said, her voice stronger than she felt. "I don't know how to fight. I never learned."
"Rich girl problems," Mama Bear said, but there was something speculative in her expression. "Someone really wants you dead. Someone with deep pockets and serious connections. They're gonna be unhappy that you survived."
"Let me guess," Tank said. "They're gonna pay you more to finish the job."
"They already did." Mama Bear's smile widened. "Doubled their original offer. Told me to make it clean this time. One fight, one kill, no complications."
The cafeteria had gone almost completely silent. Everyone was watching, waiting to see what would happen.
Shuyin felt her heart pounding against her broken ribs. This was it. This was how she died, not in the fighting pit, but right here in the cafeteria, surrounded by hundreds of witnesses who would say and do nothing.
But Tank stood up slowly, her considerable height making her nearly eye-level with Mama Bear even though the pit boss was sitting. "And if we have a problem with that?"
Mama Bear's expression didn't change. "Then you'll have a problem with me. And everyone who works for me. And trust me, Tank, you don't want that problem."
"Maybe not," Tank agreed. "But here's the thing. You kill her, whoever paid you is gonna keep needing people killed. And next time, it might be one of us. Or one of yours. This ain't business, Mama. This is personal for somebody. And personal grudges don't stop at one body."
Mama Bear considered this carefully. The silence stretched out, taut as a wire.
Finally, she stood. "Interesting point. But money's money, and I don't work for free." She looked at Shuyin. "You got any idea who wants you dead, princess?"
Shuyin thought about her family. Her uncles, who'd always looked at her with cold calculation. Her cousins, who'd inherit more if she were gone.
"I suppose it's my family," she said quietly. "Someone in my family."
"Rich people," Mama Bear said with disgust. "Always killing each other over money. At least when we kill, it's honest." She turned to leave, then paused.
"I'll give you one week. One week to figure out who's paying and why. If you can give me proof, real proof, that might change the equation. But if you can't..." She looked at Tank. "Then we're gonna have that problem you don't want."
She walked away, her fighters falling in behind her.
The cafeteria slowly returned to its normal noise level, but Shuyin could still feel eyes on her. Watching... Waiting...
"One week," Razor said. "How the hell are we supposed to figure out who's behind this in one week? We're locked up. We got no outside access."
"We've got some options," Blade said thoughtfully, "Visitor's day is in four days. Maybe someone will come see her. Maybe they'll slip up, say something useful."
"And if they don't?" Razor asked.
"Then we find another way," Tank said firmly. "Because I meant what I said, we don't let bullies win. Not without a fight."
Shuyin looked at these three women, Tank with her scars and strength, Blade with her sharp mind and hidden kindness, Razor with her bitterness and surprising compassion.
They were all she had now. Her only allies in a place designed to break people.
"I'll figure it out," Shuyin said quietly. "I'll find proof. I won't let you die because of me."
"Damn right you won't," Tank said. "Now finish your food. You need strength. This is just the beginning, princess. It's gonna get a lot worse before it gets better."
Shuyin looked at the gray paste on her tray and forced herself to eat.
Tank was right.
This was only the beginning.