“Are we going to the bank?” Eddie asked as they ran up over the sidewalk and spun out, tearing up his lawn.
No one responded. They lurched into the street and careered around several turns, but when they headed away from the city, Eddie knew this wasn’t a robbery.
Eventually they found a dirt road leading into the countryside. Judging by the way they hurtled over grooves and potholes without any consideration for the vehicle, Eddie wondered if they were driving a stolen car. But it had very little wear and tear.
It smelled like a rental….
These boys were from out of town.
But that only added to his confusion. What was going on?
Spotting a rental agreement lying on the floor with several fast-food wrappers, he tried to get a glimpse of the name. But it wasn’t easy. The agreement had been stepped on and torn, and he was trying not to be obvious.
Something Thompson. That was what it looked like.
Eddie didn’t know anyone by the name of Thompson.
At last they came upon a wooded area, stopped and piled out. As they marched him into the woods, he thought they must have him confused with someone else. Except that they’d clarified his name. Were they trying to learn how ADX worked so they could break friends out of prison? Did they want his uniform to help with the attempt?
Once they were well-concealed by foliage, they shoved him up against the trunk of a tree and raised their guns.
His heartbeat crashed like cymbals in his ears as he studied his captors, all of them strangers. This is how my life is going to end? They gave him the impression that they were going to kill him without so much as an explanation.
But then the tall guy stepped forward. “You see how serious this is?”
“Yes, sir, I do,” he responded.
“You’d better call him sir!” Wild Eyes exclaimed, but Eddie ignored him. He addressed all inmates as “sir” and had done so for his entire tenure. It was a commitment he’d made when he’d started working at the prison. He’d decided he could judge and hate the men he guarded, or he could learn to treat them kindly, as his church taught.
“We pull the trigger and walk away, no one’ll even know where to find you, Mr. Glover.” That was Devil, who afforded him a bit of the courtesy Glover had first extended to him.
“You could be right about that,” he agreed.
“So why don’t you help us out?”
His eyes shifted from face to face. “If you’ll tell me what’s going on, I’ll see what I can do.”
“What do you know about Virgil Skinner?”
Oh, God…he didn’t have a chance. This didn’t involve an escape plot—it involved the life of a friend.
His thoughts splintered, slammed together. “After serving a number of years in USP Tucson, Skinner was transferred to ADX as a behavioral problem. We had him for almost a year but he gave us no trouble. The months he spent in Florence proved uneventful until he was exonerated and released last week.” He hoped that sounded cooperative and professional.
“You’re doing great so far,” Devil said. “Now, tell me where we can find him and we’ll let you go.”
Perspiration caused Eddie’s uniform to stick to him. “I don’t know where he is.”
Devil stepped closer. “I don’t consider a lie to be very polite. And you’re a polite guy. So why don’t we try that again?”
Clover Tattoo intervened. “He’s a C.O., man. How much can he know? Skin wouldn’t hang with no stinkin’ C.O.”
Hocking up some phlegm, Devil spat on the ground. “That was before he knew he was going to be exonerated.” Waving his gun, he drew Eddie’s attention again. “Word has it the two of you were tight. That true?”
Skinner was the brother he’d always wanted and never had. Eddie had never admired anyone more. But they made an unlikely pair, and that was all he had to hang his hopes on. “I’m not sure you’d call it tight. But I liked him. I feel terrible that he got such an unfair shake. Still…he was just another inmate, you know? You can’t get attached to them all.”
The first glimmer of sunrise lit the horizon with a pinkish hue. Eddie wished that meant someone would see what was happening and put a stop to it, but there wasn’t another soul in sight.
“You’re saying you don’t keep in touch with him?” Devil asked.
“No, sir.” Eddie thought about Virgil a lot, missed their discussions, but hadn’t tried to contact him. He knew he couldn’t.
Wild Eyes kicked dirt onto Eddie’s boots. “Who picked him up when he was released?”
Once again, Eddie felt the weight of his cell phone in his shirt pocket and wished for the opportunity to use it. “I’m guessing his sister. I think that’s all he has, one sister. I wasn’t there.” This was a blatant lie, one that could easily blow up in his face if they knew differently. They had to have selected him for a reason. But Eddie couldn’t give them any information. If they found Virgil, they’d kill him. And Virgil had already been through more than any man should have to endure. He deserved a shot at starting over, at building a better life. He also deserved to be able to count on someone who wouldn’t let him down.
“It wasn’t his sister,” Devil said.
“No? Then I can’t imagine.”
Devil wasn’t pleased. “I’m not buying it. You knew him too well not to show up for the big day.”
Eddie had been there. But he had to deny it—and pray his body language didn’t betray him. “I wanted to go. I couldn’t. I had the kids and my wife won’t let me take them anywhere near the prison.”
“Wife wears the pants in your family, does she?” Wild Eyes jeered.
“What kind of piece of shit friend are you?” Devil chimed in.
“I do my job, then I go home. I don’t carry it with me.” There was some truth to that. Treating the inmates with respect was one thing. Making them part of his personal life was another. Eddie had made an exception for Virgil because Virgil was an exceptional man.
Devil spat again. “You’re not gettin’ the point. We know where you live, man.”
Eddie’s knees nearly gave out. They had to believe him. He had to say something to make them believe. “I’d help you if I could, but I can’t. I swear.”
“You’re forcing my hand. Look at this guy.” Devil motioned to Wild Eyes. “See him?”
Eddie glanced at the crazy man who wanted to shoot him with or without cause. “Yes, sir.”
“He’s nuts. He’ll kill anybody. Women, children. Don’t matter to him. You know the type. You’ve met ’em, working where you do.”
“I’ve never had any serious problems with an inmate,” Eddie said.
“You’re going to have problems with my friend here, because we gotta have some info to take to our boss. We gotta find out where Virgil went. He’s not a magician. He had to go somewhere. And someone at that prison knows. I’m guessin’ it’s you.”
Eddie’s mind flashed to the day Virgil had told him about the Federal Bureau of Prisons coming hand in hand with the California Department of Corrections to offer him a deal.
They want me to help them bring down a gang in Pelican Bay.
You gonna do it?
I don’t know.
You’ve been through enough.
What do they care about that?
That’s a tough place to do time.
Every prison is a tough place to do time.
In the end he’d agreed to their terms, for the sake of his sister. Eddie respected that, respected him. “Why do you think he’d tell me?”