"Howard was involved in the construction planning, that I know," said Tyree. "It would be just like him to allow himself some flexibility."
"But why would anybody do that?" asked Alex. "Prisoners could escape that way."
Annabelle turned around to face him. "From what Caleb has been telling us about Blue Spruce, there's no way that escape is that serious of an issue. Every prisoner is kept segregated, and then shackled and searched when they need to take a leak. There are almost as many guards as cons, and they only get one hour out of their cells a day. The setup is perfect for a drug-dealing operation that requires some of his men to routinely leave the prison in the middle of the night to take care of business."
"But if some of the guards are involved why wouldn't they just leave from their houses?" asked Caleb.
"Howard Tyree sounds like a real control freak to me. He'd want every man right under his thumb."
"You're right about that," agreed Tyree.
"If these shipments come in routinely to the courthouse with some of the boxes diverted, where do you think those boxes are going?" asked Alex.
"To the prison," answered Tyree simply. "It's easy enough. Prisons get deliveries every day of food, supplies."
Alex added, "And the courthouse records filings are a great way to ship the drugs. DEA or ICE agents would just let it right on by."
"So they make the switch somewhere en route," reasoned Annabelle, "and the diverted boxes go to the prison until they're ready to be shipped out using addicted miners as couriers. Which brings me back to my point. You're not going to have a bunch of guards walk out the front door every night with boxes of illegal pills. And you can't fly the chopper out every night, because people will start wondering."
Harry said, "So you go out the back door."
"You go out the back door," echoed Annabelle. "Which I believe is that mineshaft."
Alex looked at her incredulously. "So we're going to find this mineshaft entrance, get in somehow, even though it's been sealed, and then somehow make it through there alive? And then break into a supermax prison where there are guards armed to the teeth and who also happen to be drug dealers?"
"Sounds like a plan," said Reuben eagerly.
"It sounds like suicide," shot back Alex.
"Actually," said Annabelle, "you're both wrong."
CHAPTER 76
"I SWEAR IF IT'S the last thing I ever do, I'm going to kill Macklin Hayes," Knox muttered to Stone. The two men were back in their cell and many hours had passed since Hayes had come to put the proverbial nail in their coffins.
"But that would be against the law. And people will come and hunt you down and put you away," said Stone, as he peered out the slit the prison called a window. It overlooked the front parking lot but it was very difficult to see through because of the opaqueness of the window covering attached to the bars.
"Yeah, I realize the irony, trust me, but I'm still going to do it."
"If we get out of here."
"Yeah, I also realize the impossibility of that at the moment."
"I think you might be wrong about that."
Knox sat up. "Really?"
"Don't get your hopes up. It's for a bad reason, not a good one."
"What are you saying?"
"Have you noticed that ever since Hayes left they haven't bothered to feed us or let us out of the cell?"
"Yeah, my stomach is reminding me of that pretty much every second. So?"
"So that tells me that our stay here is coming to an end."
"Don't waste food on corpses? How unlike our esteemed warden."
"There's no reason to keep us here any longer. There's always a chance that someone might show up and search the place. Why risk it?"
"Where do you think they'll take us?"
"I know from firsthand experience that there are abandoned mines around here. A drop down an old shaft, seal it back up. Apparently people up here are used to dead men being inside these mountains. That's how this place got its name, in fact."
Stone pressed his face against the wall, trying to wedge it between the edges of the slit so he could see out better. He squinted and could see the outline of the mountains in the distance. They might as well have been on Mars. Three feet of concrete, a hundred yards of open space, killer wire and a battalion of snipers with aggressive trigger fingers was all that stood between them and freedom.
No way out.
Knox said, "You get into this business you know any day your number could come up. And you deal with that. But you keep going because it's your job, a job you swore to do to the best of your ability. Serve your country to the end."
"Or until your country screws you," amended Stone.
"When I was assigned to come after you, I really didn't know what to expect. I knew you were a dangerous guy but figured you'd just gone bad like some do. But the more I found out… Well, if anyone ever deserved an apology from his country, you sure as hell do."
"Funny, I was thinking the same thing about you, Knox."
"My friends call me Joe, Oliver."
Stone turned back to look at him. Knox was standing and holding out his hand.
Stone took it and the two condemned men shared a brief but heartfelt handshake.
"When do you think they'll come for us?"
"Tonight." Stone looked out the slit again. "And best as I can tell that's about six hours away-" He stopped talking and then desperately tried to squeeze his head into the slit. He was barely making out a group of people climbing out of a car and heading to the prison entrance. Yet one tall, bushy-haired gent stood out from the others.
It has to be.
"What is it?" Knox said, "what do you see?"
Stone turned to look at him, a smile spreading across his face. "I see hope, Joe. Damn if I don't see hope."
CHAPTER 77
"MR. TYREE, I think you better come down here, sir," the guard said into the phone.
"What is it?" barked Tyree as he sat behind his large desk with a bird's-eye view of his little kingdom. "I'm busy."
The guard turned to the group facing him.
"He said he's busy."
Alex Ford yanked the phone out of the man's hand.
"This is Alex Ford, United States Secret Service. I'm here with a joint federal agency task force and we have some questions for you, Warden. And if you don't get your butt down here, the next person you'll be talking to is a U.S. attorney as he reads the charges against your ass."
In his office Tyree nearly dropped the phone. "I have no idea-"
"Get down here, now!"
Sixty seconds passed and then Tyree walked stiffly into the front entrance area.
Alex flashed his creds before motioning to the others. Reuben, Caleb and Harry Finn wore blue FBI windbreakers. Annabelle had on a DEA jacket. "Agents Hunter, Kelso, Wright and Tasker."
"What the hell is this about?" said Tyree angrily.
Alex looked askance at him. "You really want to do this out in the open? Wouldn't you prefer some privacy, or is every son of a bitch here in on it?"
"In on what?" Tyree said indignantly.
"Tyree, you can't be that stupid. In fact, I've got a file on you an inch thick that says you're a pretty smart boy."
Tyree glanced at the nervous-looking guards and hurriedly motioned Alex and the others into a small room off the main entrance.
Alex shut the door behind them. "Okay, your little drug ring is falling apart."
"What drug ring?"
Alex looked at Annabelle. "Agent Hunter?"
Annabelle walked up to the diminutive Tyree, towering over him. "I thought you'd be a bigger guy. I rarely see shrimp like you in charge of an op this large."
"I am the warden of this prison. You will address me-"
"Screw you! You're lucky I'm not cuffing your scrawny ass right now. We have the shipments coming up from down south. Either the real oxy or manufactured pills. They're addressed to the courthouse, which gives them cover. That's where the old judge came in. The old judge on the run. When we find his ass he'll turn government witness faster than I can say lethal injection. And you can kiss your butt so long, unless you killed him too. Like you did Shirley and Bob and Willie Coombs. And let's not forget Debby Randolph and your bean counter in crime Rory Peterson. How much did he skim off the top before you stopped him?"