Inside

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?”

“You aren’t the only one who has friends in Florence. We know you two were pals. C.O. or not, you and Virgil hung out as much as possible.”

He hadn’t kept his friendship with Virgil a secret. He’d never dreamed there’d be any reason to. So now all he could do was try to downplay it. “We got along. But I haven’t seen or talked to him since they let him go.”

“That doesn’t solve our problem.”

“I can’t help you. I’m just a C.O. who once knew Virgil Skinner. It’s not like we’re family.”

Devil made a noise with his tongue. “I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this,” he said and, just like that, he waved for Wild Eyes to shoot.

Squeezing his eyes shut, Eddie began reciting the Lord’s Prayer.

Clover Tattoo interrupted. “You kill him, we won’t get anything.”

“He’s not talking, anyway,” Devil responded. “What good is he?”

Eddie went on with the Lord’s Prayer. He didn’t want to be the kind of person who’d betray a friend. He wanted to be better than that, better than these men who felt they could tempt him to do anything to save his own neck. If their roles were reversed, Virgil would die before giving him up. He was sure of it.

“Last chance,” Devil warned. “You gonna tell me about Virgil or not?”

Some things were worse than death. Losing his honor was one of them. Virgil had taught him that. And Eddie believed it. “He’s gone. They let him go.”

“You know more than that!” Out of nowhere, Devil kicked him so hard he doubled over but, strangely enough, he couldn’t feel the pain. He was already numb with terror.

“This isn’t working,” Clover Tattoo complained. “Let’s leave this dude alone and get the hell out of