by Daniel Gage
“Some people just can’t take the pressure,” the assistant deputy warden said. “Especially when they’re guilty.”
“What was he arrested for?” Emma asked. “What was his charge? How did he kill himself?”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t say more than I have,” Caroline said. “It’s an active investigation. I’ll be more than happy to let you know the details once it’s resolved.”
“How long does that take?” Emma asked.
“Usually several weeks,” Caroline said. “We have to make sure we’re thorough. We’ve been peppered with too many lawsuits for rushing these things.”
“Then why share anything with me at all?” Emma snapped. She didn’t mean to, but her limit with this woman was reaching its peak. “You could have just sent a message saying he’s dead, or unavailable.”
“Professional courtesy,” Caroline said, her own voice hinting at frustration. “Though I suppose I’ve learned my lesson for next time.”
“I’ll see myself out,” Emma said as she stood.
The assistant deputy warden didn’t follow.
Emma had no issue getting back to the main entrance, and when she pushed the buzzer, the officer opened the door.
“Done already?” he asked.
She almost snapped at him before realizing he was likely just a pawn in this entire prison, and didn’t even know what was going on with Maxwell Smith.
“Yeah, thanks,” she said, conjuring up the sweetest smile she could. “Was there a note or something under Maxwell Smith’s file?”
“Yes,” he said. “It just said to see ADW Bachman if anyone asked about him.”
Emma mulled over the words for a moment before nodding.
“Thank you, Officer,” Emma said as she turned and left.
**********
Despite the break from the chilling wind, Cam quickly grew restless waiting in the car. His inability to sit still was his downfall many times, and sitting outside a prison didn’t help his restlessness.
He watched and listened to Emma interact with the guard in front, a post common for the lazy and inept. It was never difficult to determine just which officers would wind up on that duty; someone like him would be a huge liability on the yard.
It was strange entering a prison from the front door, even though it was through Emma’s eyes. He swore he’d never be back, even if they would let an ex-con visit inmates. Cam had no desire to spend any additional time of his life within those walls.
But still, the discomfort was there, and he cracked open his door to let the freezing air inside. He needed the distraction, at least until Emma did something that he would care about.
Almost as if on cue, something clicked.
Cam was familiar with ADW Bachman, having seen her a handful of times before she was an assistant deputy warden. She had a reputation of kissing ass and knocking down her peers so she could climb higher. His fellow inmates threw out several colorful terms to describe her, such as suggesting she wore knee pads under her pants, or would have a mattress strapped to her back.
The fact that she was involved with a visitor, let alone the death of an inmate, meant it would be good for her career. Or that she was hiding something. Cam opted for the latter.
**********
When Emma finally left the building and made her way to the car, Cam was starting to really feel the cold. His anxiousness only stood against it for so long, and while he was sure she wasn’t gone longer than half an hour, it felt so much longer.
“Apparently, Leonard went and died on us last night,” Emma grumbled. “Though I’m not inclined to believe that.”
“You shouldn’t,” Cam said. “She has a reputation. She was lying to you. She wouldn’t get involved unless she had something to gain or lose for her career.”
Emma’s face tensed as she let off a string of profanities that even gave Cam pause.
“Didn’t know your dad was a sailor,” he mumbled under his breath.
“Thought something seemed off,” Emma said. “I think we need to have another conversation with Caroline Bachman. When should she be getting off work?”
“Most administrators don’t stay longer than they have to,” he said. “So I’d say within the hour. Though they rarely leave alone.”
“So we won’t be able to talk to her here, and I doubt she’ll willingly chat with us,” Emma said. “But I have just the thing to persuade her. Who knew your prison time would come in handy?”
Cam raised his eyebrow as he glanced at her, and Emma returned the gesture.
“You wouldn’t last a week on the inside,” Cam said with a slight grin.
CHAPTER 19
Night had taken over from the day when Caroline Bachman left work, flanked by her administrative staff.
“Drive safe,” she said and waved as they scattered to their individual cars and vanpools. “See you tomorrow.”
They returned the gesture, and within seconds, Caroline was at her car. Being an assistant deputy warden had its perks, such as a reserved front row parking spot, and outside of administrative functions, she got to practically set her own hours.
She put her car into gear and dialed her phone from the steering wheel controls as she was maneuvering her way out of the lot.
“Hello?” a man’s voice answered through the vehicle’s speakers.
“Hey, it’s me,” Caroline said. “Just left work, still want to meet at the restaurant? I’ve been looking forward to it all day.”
“Of course,” the man said. “How far out are you?”
“Probably thirty minutes,” she said. “I told my husband I’m working late and to not wait up.”
“I’ll see you soon,” he said, his voice hinting at a mischievous grin.
The call ended as Caroline started on the long stretch of road between the prison and her destination, with only her car’s headlights to illuminate her path. Most of the administrative staff lived in the other direction, toward cheaper housing and overall cost of living.
Thankfully, she didn’t have to live that way. Her salary more than paid for her nice house and car, and vacations twice a year, as well as fancy clothes and higher-end food. After Caroline added her husband’s income, they never wanted for anything.
She only vaguely remembered the inconvenience of being poor, of living paycheck to paycheck, and thankfully, most of those memories were almost gone.
But a sudden pop and abrupt sluggishness of her car brought back pain from her days of meagerness, of praying her vehicle would make it another day.
“Shit,” she said, pulling over to the side of the road.
Caroline put the car in park, turned on her emergency lights, and grabbed a flashlight from the glove box. She left the car running as she got out and walked around the car, only to find the passenger rear tire had become completely shredded, revealing the metal wheel beneath.
“Dammit,” she grumbled. “I don’t know how to change a tire.”
She pulled her phone out of her pocket and dialed her date, but after a few seconds, it beeped, indicating it couldn’t locate a signal. She tried again, moving her phone around, but the reception remained dead.
“What the hell?” she said. “I always have a signal here.”
For a moment she contemplated walking to town, but she was a fifteen-minute drive in either direction to the nearest sign of civilization. And it was well below freezing; she’d never make it.
She calmed herself with an icy breath and realized, eventually, someone would have to come down this road. She could easily flag someone down, especially if it was a man.
Thankfully, before she climbed back into her car, headlights appeared over the hill.
“Oh, thank God,” she said as she started waving her arms.
It worked. The car slowed and pulled in behind hers.
The driver left their lights on as whoever it was opened the door and stepped out. For a brief moment, a wave of panic swept over Caroline, as she couldn’t see her pot
ential savior’s face, body, or anything about him. But she knew she could take care of herself, though now, she was swearing silently for leaving her sidearm in her purse, which was still in her car.
“Are you okay?” a man’s voice called.
“No,” she said, making her best attempt at portraying a damsel in distress. “My tire blew out, and I can’t get a signal to call for help.”
“Mind if I take a look?” he asked.
The man sounded friendly enough, and Caroline wondered if she wore her concern on her face. The man hadn’t moved, and she got the impression it was because he didn’t want to seem like a threat. It was common practice for women to carry some sort of self-defense tool, whether it be pepper spray, a Taser, or even a gun.
“Sure, of course,” she said. “Thank you.”
The man closed the door and stepped closer, and once Caroline saw his face, any concern she had vanished. He was of slightly above average height, probably in his mid-thirties, and his chiseled physique shone through his layers of clothing.
“I’m John,” he said. “Which tire is out?”
“This one,” she said, indicating toward the passenger side of the car. “I’m Caroline.”
“A pleasure,” he said, the white of his smile reflecting the light from his car. “Though it’s a shame it’s not under better circumstances.”
Warmth surged to her face as she felt herself blush despite the cold.
John knelt down by the wheel and pulled a small flashlight from his own pocket. He shone it around the damaged area, and Caroline could see concern creep up on his face.
“This isn’t good,” he said.
“What’s wrong?” Caroline asked.
“The blowout dented the wheel,” he said. “I could replace the tire, but it wouldn’t be safe to drive.”
“Huh? What does that mean?” she asked.
“It means you’ll need a tow truck and a mechanic, possibly a dealership for the parts,” he said. “Car looks new, warranty?”
Caroline let out a huge sigh. She had big plans for tonight, and the make and model of this car was supposed to be reliable. So much for her evening.
“I can give you a ride into town, or home if it isn’t far,” John offered. “You shouldn’t stay out in the cold.”
“Town is fine,” she said, managing a weak smile. “Let me get my things.”
Caroline retrieved her purse and turned off her car, then locked the doors and set the alarm. If anyone messed with it, it would send an alert to her phone, assuming she got back into reception.
“All ready?” John asked, again disarming her with his smile.
“Yep,” she said.
He stepped ahead of her and moved to open the door to the passenger seat.
But Caroline wasn’t aware that there was someone else in the car until the door was closed. She turned back to see who it was, and the blood drained from her face.
“Agent Jennings?” Caroline asked. “What’s going—”
Emma’s dart gun fired, and after the stabbing pain in her neck, the last thing Caroline remembered was the other woman’s scowling face.
**********
Caroline awoke from a rush of cold sweeping over her head. A gasp escaped her lungs and came back as sudden and violent shivering.
“What the hell!” she shouted, or at least tried. The shock sapped her voice, and what she intended to be a cry for help was more of a whimper.
It was dark, and best she could tell, she was inside a large building. A single light shone on her, and as her vision focused, she realized the chair she was tied to sat on a bare slab of concrete.
But when Caroline looked up at the hard stare of Agent Emma Jennings, her cold was momentarily forgotten and replaced by rage.
“You!” Caroline growled. “You did this! What did you do, sabotage my car?”
“Yep,” Emma said with a slight grin. “All it took was a small, remote charge that I usually use to blow open door locks, and a cellphone jammer. And bam, you’re stranded, depending on the kindness of strangers.”
“You’ll fry for this!” Caroline said. “I’m important! People will be looking for me!”
Agent Jennings walked with authority toward Caroline, her gaze never wavering.
“ADW Bachman, that may be true, but I’ve also got you on attempting to conspire with Second-Life dealers,” Emma said. “I’m certain if we dug into your financials, we would find plenty of strange transactions going into at least one of your accounts. But we can forget that, if you tell me where Leonard, or Maxwell Smith, is.”
“I told you, Maxwell Smith died,” Caroline said.
Emma sighed. “I wish I could believe you. But my associate and I … we don’t.”
John, her supposed savior, emerged from the shadows and stood just behind Agent Jennings.
“John, what …?” Caroline asked after she picked up her jaw.
“John?” Emma asked over shoulder. “That’s what you told her your name was?”
The man grinned. “Why not?”
Emma shrugged. “Whatever. Now, Caroline, you were saying?”
“They … they told me you were working alone …” Caroline said as the cold again took over. The shivering grew to an uncomfortable level, and as much as she tried to fight it, her teeth began to clack together.
“They?” Emma asked. “You mean the dealers?”
“I … I can’t …” Caroline whispered. “They’ll kill me.”
“I’ll tell you what,” Emma said. “I’m not unreasonable. You tell us what you know, and we’ll protect you. Get you into hiding. Make sure they can’t hurt you. And as an added bonus, I won’t send your husband all these scandalous messages from a man who is clearly not him.”
Caroline looked up into Emma’s cold stare. It was a look that could break the strongest of inmates in the prison she oversaw, and despite the agent’s petite frame, she imagined she might be able to take down those same inmates.
“You’re a monster,” Caroline whispered.
“I’m a monster?” Emma asked. She turned to the man behind her, a puzzled look on her face. “She thinks I’m a monster? I’m not the one having an affair. I’m not taking money from people to break the law and help them steal the lives from children before they’re even born. And I’m the monster.”
She wasn’t sure when she started to cry, but Caroline was thankful that the tears were warm, striking out against the cold that persisted in numbing her face.
“Please, don’t do this,” she sobbed. “Have some decency.”
Emma was silent, her eyes unblinking as she held her stare against Caroline. The assistant deputy warden could only hold the uncomfortable eye contact for a few seconds before she was forced to turn away.
“Decency?” Emma hissed. “You plead for decency? You want to rob an unsuspecting mother and father of their infant child! Where’s your decency? Or do you only think about yourself?”
Emma stood abruptly and turned her back on the sobbing woman.
“Come on, Cam,” Emma said. “Let’s let her freeze. That’s about the level of decency she deserves.”
“Wait!” Caroline cried through the tears. “Wait. I’ll talk. I don’t know much, but I’ll talk. Just don’t leave me to die here, or by them.”
The agent slowly turned her stare back to Caroline and paused.
“Where is he?” Emma finally asked.
“They took him to an airfield, about an hour north of the prison,” Caroline said. “I heard something about a flight leaving tonight.”
“Where is this flight headed?” Emma asked.
“I don’t know,” Caroline said. “There was about four of them. They had some other things to prepare. I didn’t hear anything else, I swear!”
“That isn’t much to go on,” the man Emma called Cam said. “You think she knows more?”
“Doesn’t matter,” Emma said. “It’s enough. Let’s get going.”
“Wait, what about me?” Caroli
ne said as the pair turned to leave. “You promised!”
Emma turned to Cam and sighed.
“Yeah, I did,” Emma said as she drew her gun and fired.
The dart struck her in the neck again, and within seconds, she was unconscious.
CHAPTER 20
“Will she be okay?” Cam asked as they climbed back into Emma’s car.
“Yeah, she will,” Emma said. “The tow truck isn’t far, and we warmed her car up. She should be fine.”
“Surprised she gave up that information so fast,” he commented. “I thought these dealers were supposed to be all hardcore.”
“Caroline was likely a target of convenience for them,” Emma said. “Easily bought and paid for, and she didn’t have to keep her mouth shut long. Hell, if we were a day later, it wouldn’t have mattered.”
Cam shrugged. “So, what’s our next move?”
“I’ll need to call this in,” she said. “If there are four of them, we’ll need a strike team too.”
“A strike team for four what?” Cam asked. “Four dealers?”
“Yeah,” she said. “We had a strike team for two in Prague, and that didn’t go well.”
“So these guys aren’t like the shooters we ran from in Boston,” he said.
“Not even close,” Emma said. “It’s comparing boy scouts to the Army.”
Cam eased back in his seat, his face scrunched up as he dwelled on Emma’s analogy of what they were going up against.
Once Emma felt they were far enough from Caroline and her damaged car, she pulled over in an abandoned lot.
“Colton, it’s me,” Emma said after the call connected. “I need your help. What’s the closest airport to my location?”
“Let me see,” Colton said. “There’s one about half an hour from you. What’s going on?”
“Got a potential Benefactor fleeing there, with dealer support,” Emma said. “Do you know if any flights have left recently, or are about to leave?”
“One second,” Colton said. The sound of typing came over the car’s speakers. “Nothing has left since this morning, but a flight is scheduled to depart soon. A, huh, a Gulfstream. These guys don’t go cheap, do they?”