The cabin was a real cabin. Not the kind of cabin that rich people had that were no more than houses made to look rustic on the outside but containing all modern conveniences on the inside. No, this cabin had been hand-built by his grandfather, every log, every piece of wood hewn and hammered into place by his own hand. The only nod to modernization was the generator which provided just enough electricity for the lights and the few electrical appliances there were inside. It was a single story building with a porch out front from where you could sit and look out on the lake. There was one bedroom, one bathroom, a living room and a kitchen. On one side was a shelter where the boat and fishing equipment was stored and on the other a wooden overhang for parking.
Taking the front door key out of his pocket, he walked up the steps to the front door, the treads creaking underneath his weight. The door was a little stiff and it took a hard push to get it to open, sending years of dust swirling into the air, making him sneeze. Putting his bag down, he found his way to the kitchen in the dark and opened the drawer under the sink. His hand closed around the flashlight that was always left there and, clicking it on, he was happy to see that the batteries were still good even after all this time. Turning on his heel, he went back outside and made his way to the shelter at the side where, along with the boat, the generator was located. It took a couple of attempts to get it going, but finally there was a satisfying hum and it kicked into life. This time when he entered the cabin, he flicked the light switch and the room was filled with a warm glow. Turning off the flashlight, he returned it to its place before retrieving his bag and taking it into the bedroom and putting it on the bed.
Quickly checking the other rooms and happy that they were as he left them, he went into the kitchen and took a glass from one of the cabinets. He’d left a bottle of Jack Daniels up here last time, not knowing how long he’d be away, and it was high time it was opened. Retrieving the bottle from another cupboard, he poured himself a large measure and took it out onto the porch. He could already feel the tension melting away and the muscles in his neck start to relax as he lowered himself into one of the two rocking chairs.
The moonbeams bounced off the surface of the lake as he sat and enjoyed the taste of the liquor in his mouth. He was glad he’d come.
***
It was the itchiness of the wool blanket he was lying on that woke him the next morning. He’d sat out on the porch for a long time last night, working his way through half the bottle of JD before deciding to call it a night. He’d been too tired to make the bed up so he’d taken a wool blanket out of the cupboard and thrown in onto the mattress before lying down, fully dressed, and immediately falling into a deep sleep.
Standing up, he stretched his arms above his head, feeling his muscles unknot. The JD had left him dehydrated and his mouth felt as if it was filled with sawdust. Grabbing his toiletries out of his still-unpacked bag, he went to the bathroom to shower and freshen up.
There wasn’t much hot water, so it was barely ten minutes later that he stood on the porch with wet hair, clutching a hot cup of coffee. He had a lot to do today to bring the cabin back up to snuff and he was looking forward to the hard work.
Twenty-Four
He had to figure out a way to get close to the other guard and it was going to be hard to do if they were on different shifts, which is why he was now stood in front of the officer who organized the duty rosters.
“You’ve only been here a day and you want to change shifts already?” He was looking at him through narrowed eyes.
“No, I don’t want to change my shifts as such I just thought it would be good to get a taste of all of them, you know, so I learn more.” Was there really any chance that he’d buy that?
The officer turned his chair to the computer on his desk and tapped on the keyboard, bringing something that Kyle couldn’t see up on his screen. “You’re going to be scheduled to do nights in a couple of weeks anyway so you can learn what you need then,” he said, looking up to where Kyle stood.
“I’ll be on my own then. I would just feel much happier if I could experience each shift while I’m working with someone.” Actually, he was surprised he hadn’t been sacked on the spot, he was being such a pain in the butt
The officer sighed loudly, giving Kyle a look that told him that if it was up to him, he was sure that’s exactly what would have happened. “Fine. You’re here now, so stick to a late shift today but tomorrow you can do a night shift. You can team up with Red. Phil will introduce you.”
Red? This was better than he’d hoped for. He’d wanted to get on the same shift but now it looked like he was actually going to be partnered with him for a whole shift. It had to be him; who else would be called Red?
“Now go away and let me get on with some work, will you?” The officer gestured to the door with his hand.
“Thank you. Yes, of course.” Kyle tried to hide his relief as he turned and made his way to the locker room.
“Hey, I was starting to think you were going to be late,” Phil said as he grabbed his stuff from his locker to get changed.
“Sorry, I had to go and see HR about swapping my shifts.” He told Phil the same story he’d told the other guard.
“Makes sense, I suppose.” Phil stepped closer until he was merely inches away before having a quick look round to make sure no one was listening. “Word of advice, though. Be careful with Red.”
Kyle was pleased his first impressions about Phil seemed right; he liked the guy. “Careful? In what way?” he asked, feigning ignorance.
“To be honest, I’m not sure, but I don’t entirely trust him and he can be a nasty piece of work if you get on the wrong side of him.”
“Okay, thanks for the warning. I’ll be careful.”
Phil didn’t say anything more about it for the rest of the shift, despite some gentle probing, so Kyle didn’t push. He was fairly certain that Phil didn’t know what was going on, exactly, and he didn’t want to raise his suspicions or get him involved unnecessarily.
Twenty-Five
Red’s irritation was palpable. It was coming off him in waves and he was making no attempt to hide it. “Does the warden know about this?” he snapped, striding ahead of Kyle along the corridor that led from the locker room to the main prison.
“I don’t know. Why? Would he not be okay with it?” Kyle watched his reaction closely, noting the tightening of his lips.
“Just do as you’re told and stay out of my way. I don’t like passengers.”
Jeez, this guy was a complete prick. This was his one chance to get close and try and find out what was going on. He wasn’t naïve enough to think that Red was just going to tell him if he asked, so he would have to play it by ear as he went along and hope an opening would present itself.
The first couple of hours of the shift passed without incident. When Red had said he didn’t like passengers, he hadn’t been kidding. He’d barely said two words to him in the last two hours. He couldn’t let the whole shift pass like this or he wouldn’t get anywhere. Time to push.
“So, are there any particular prisoners I should look out for? Any that get any special treatment?” he asked casually.
“Special treatment? What do you think this is? A spa?” Red snarled back at him, not taking his eyes off the screens in front of him. It was just after one a.m. and all the prisoners were in their cells. The guards rotated walking the floors and monitoring the security camera feeds and it was their turn in the monitoring station.
“Of course not, it’s just that in my last prison there were a couple of prisoners that were allowed special privileges. I wondered if it was the same here, is all.”
Red turned to look at him, narrowing his eyes. He’d just opened his mouth to speak when he was interrupted by the beeping of his cell phone. Kyle watched as he slipped it out of his pocket and checked the screen, a mean smirk appearing on his face.
“You want to know about special privileges? Follow me.”
Trying not to let his s
urprise show on his face, Kyle stood up and followed Red as he left the room. The monitoring station was on the ground floor, separated from the main prison by a series of sliding barred doors so that, in case of emergency, it would be accessible even if the prison was locked down. Kyle expected to follow him through those doors back into the housing unit but instead, Red went in the opposite direction down a corridor that he hadn’t noticed before. At the end was a single door with a key code entry. Standing between Kyle and the keypad, Red entered the code and a loud click sounded as the door unlocked.
Kyle was getting nervous. Phil had given him a comprehensive tour of the facility during his first shift and this door hadn’t been part of it. It was also outside the main complex where the prisoners were housed, so he knew it couldn’t lead to any cells. Where was he taking him?
As the door opened, Red stepped forward and immediately started to descend a set of iron steps. “You coming?” he flung over his shoulder.
Knowing he didn’t have a choice if he wanted to find out what was going on but not liking it at all, Kyle followed him. As soon as he stepped on the first rung, he heard the door shut behind him. No going back now. As he descended, he looked around in surprise. It was as if he’d entered a completely different building. The single bulb that hung on this side of the door wasn’t bright enough to reach all the way down to the bottom of the stairs and by the time he felt hard ground underfoot, he was practically standing in the dark.
“This way,” Red said from within the gloom.
Kyle jumped; he hadn’t realized he was so close, his voice sounding mere inches away.
They were in some kind of a tunnel, one that had obviously been here a long time judging from the green slime that coated the bricks that made up the walls. It was only a few feet wide and barely a foot or two higher than his head. His eyes were adjusting to the inky blackness now and he could see Red in front of him, striding purposefully ahead towards another door at the end of the tunnel. There was no keypad this time; the old wooden door had an old fashioned big metal lock. Producing and old key from his pocket, Red unlocked the door. Despite its aged appearance, it was obviously well-oiled as there was not a sound as the key turned and the door swung open.
Twenty-Six
It took a few seconds for his brain to process what he was seeing. Whatever he had expected, it wasn’t this. The door had opened onto a room about twenty feet by twenty. The walls were made of the same brick he’d seen in the tunnel and, judging from the way parts of it had crumbled, it had been there just as long. The ceiling was supported by large, wooden beams that were held up with wooden pillars resting on the dirt floor. It was none of this, though, that caused him to stand there in stunned silence. It was the sight of the man in the middle of the room on his knees with his hands cuffed behind his back. Kyle could barely make out his features under the blood that ran down his face from a wound on his scalp, but even if the blood hadn’t been there, the swelling on his face would have made him unrecognizable to his closest family.
“You started without me.”
Kyle’s mind refocused as Red spoke to the guard standing behind the man on the floor.
“Yeah, well, he got a bit cocky so I needed to show him who’s in charge. Who’s he?” He jutted his chin out in Kyle’s direction.
“New guard. I’m stuck with him tonight.”
“What? Are you crazy? Did you clear it with the warden first?”
Red shook his head. “Nah. He’s shouldn’t have let them stick me with him if he had a problem with it.”
“Jeez, Red, you know how strict he is. I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes when he finds out you’ve brought some new guy down here without his say so.”
Kyle took all this in. So whatever is happening, the warden is involved. Good to know.
Red turned to him. “You wanted to know about special treatment? Well, here you go. This is what these scumbags get if they don’t toe the line.” He came to stand in front of him and put his hands on his hips. “You don’t have a problem with that, do you?”
“Of course not. It’s no more than they deserve,” Kyle lied. He must have been convincing because, after a brief pause, Red smiled widely at him.
“Thought not. Welcome to the team.”
“So, what did he do?” Red turned his attention back to the other guard.
“He wanted to know why his visitation rights have been suspended. When the warden told him that he didn’t need a reason …well, let’s just say Mike here had to be restrained. Didn’t you Mick?” He leaned down and grabbed the man’s head by the hair and pulled it back, causing him to cry out in pain.
“Oh dear, Mick,” Red said stepping behind him. “We can’t have that, now can we? Disrespecting the warden like that?”
Without warning, his foot shot out and he kicked him in the kidneys. Mick screamed before falling sideways onto the floor and curling up into a ball.
“What do you think, Kyle?” Kyle had to think fast. Red and the other guard were both looking at him expectantly, waiting for him to deliver a blow. The thought of it made him feel sick. The only people he wanted to hurt right now were the guards standing in front of him, but if he didn’t do what was clearly expected of him, he may as well not come back again tomorrow. He had to earn their trust and this was the only way to do it. Promising himself that after all this was over he would find a way of making it up to him, he pulled his foot back and let fly with a kick. He aimed for his leg, where he was unlikely to do a lot of damage, though it would probably still hurt like hell.
The next few minutes were some of the worst that Kyle had ever experienced. He tried not to watch as Red and the other guard dished out a beating that left the prisoner unconscious and bleeding on the ground.
“I think that’s enough for now. I’m sure Mick’s learned his lesson,” Red said, breathless from his efforts.
“What’s going to happen to him?” Kyle tried to make the question casual.
“Oh, don’t worry. Jeff will make sure that he’s okay. We know what we’re doing and we haven’t lost one yet. One of the doctors upstairs is one of ours so if he needs it, he’ll get treatment.” He grinned. “He’ll have learned his lesson, that’s for sure.”
Kyle felt physically sick as they made their way back upstairs and just wanted his shift to be over. He wanted to get home and wash away the terrible guilt he felt at what he’d had to do. The only comfort he felt was knowing that everything had been recorded and that when this was all over, every single person involved would get what was coming to them.
Twenty-Seven
He’d gotten to work on the cabin as soon as he’d got back from the store, where he’d stocked up on supplies. He’d always kept tools up here, so he had everything he needed at hand. Deciding to start on the car port, he moved his truck out of the way and started hacking at the overgrown shrubs. It was thick with brambles and his arms were scratched and bleeding by the time he stood back and eyed his work with satisfaction. By now, sweat was running down his back and face and he checked the time as he ran the back of his hand across his brow. He was surprised to see that he’d been at it for over three hours. His arms and shoulders were aching from the pulling and chopping, but it felt good. What felt even better was the realization that he hadn’t thought about anything other than the task at hand the whole time he was working.
He was hungry again now; the physical exertion had given him a real appetite. He couldn’t eat as he was, though, so, walking to the edge of the lake, he stripped off his t-shirt and jeans and, wearing just his shorts, he waded into the water. When the water was chest high, he lifted his feet and immersed himself completely, the cool water enveloping him as it closed over his head. Holding his breath as long as he could, he allowed himself to enjoy the sensation of being weightless for a while before the burning in his lungs made him rise to the surface. The cool water was helping the ache in his muscles so, striking out, he started to swim. He was a good swimmer, had been since he was a
child, and he sliced through the water with strong strokes, barely making a splash as he swam out to the platform at the center of the lake. Reaching it, he grabbed the edge and pulled himself up with both arms before falling onto his back and breathing heavily, his feet dangling over the edge.
He must have drifted off because he woke with a start a little while later. A shout from the shore caught his attention and he realized it must have been this that woke him. He was surprised; there weren’t many cabins around here and, at this time of the year, he was usually the only visitor. He squinted against the sun, trying to find the source of the shout. Finally, his eyes locked on to a figure a few hundred yards along the shore from his own cabin. It was a man, and he was waving his arms above his head and shouting, trying to get his attention. Finn raised his arm and waved back, acknowledging that he’d seen him. The man then started pointing to Finn’s left and, glancing around, Finn saw what he was pointing at. Barely a hundred yards from where he sat there was a small, aluminum boat, adrift on the lake. Realizing at once what had happened, Finn stood and dove into the water, quickly drawing alongside the craft. He didn’t pull himself on board in case it capsized but instead took hold of the bow and pulled it along with him back towards shore.
“Thank you so much! I’m such an idiot,” the man said as he reached forward and helped Finn pull the boat ashore. “What luck that you were out there. I can’t swim so I couldn’t have gone and gotten it myself. I probably would never have seen it again.” He stuck his hand out once the boat was secure. “James. Nice to meet you.”
The McKays Box Set - To Kill For, Blood Sport, Hard Time & Gang Land Page 31