Page 14 of Silk and Steel

“How could you allow Lovejoy to do this to his cell?” The ice in his tone matches his gaze.

“I, um, this is actually the first time I’ve seen it,” the Warden admits. “But the inmates are free to decorate their cells, so long as they don’t put up anything obscene or offensive.”

Cole shakes his head. “Considering Lovejoy’s obsession with my client, this is pretty god damn obscene.”

Cole enters the cell. My curiosity overcomes my apprehension, and I join him. Cole pokes around everywhere, peering intently at every inch of the room.

“Do you know how the prisoner escaped?” Cole asks.

“I’m afraid we’re still investigating that. We only know that he managed to stow away in the garbage truck that came to empty our dumpster.”

Cole glances over at Miller, his eyes boring into the man.

“So you never noticed the map?”

Miller frowns. “What map?”

“This one.”

Cole lifts up the photos of me, pulling the bottom section away from the wall. He reveals a series of black and white lines, moving in perpendicular patterns.

“What is that?” Miller asks.

“My guess, this is a map of the HVAC system. Can I see the actual schematic?”

Miller stares at the wall, then curses up a storm.

“Damn it. Someone is getting fired over this. All right, Cole. I’ll give you the keys to the kingdom, so to speak, as long as you help me figure out how this son of a bitch got out.”

Miller takes us to his office, located in the admin building. I’m more than happy to get away from the orgy of photos in Julian’s cell. I knew he had mental issues, but seeing all of that…it makes me even more afraid.

Thank god I have a one-man army to keep me safe. Cole couldn’t be more different than Julian. Julian is all about emotions–he calls it passion–and changes his mind on a whim. Cole is patient. Methodical. The only thing the two of them really have in common is their intensity.

But while Julian has an insane, unsettling intensity, I don’t find Cole to be off-putting at all. Quite the opposite. His intensity only makes me want to know him even more.

Which could be a problem, since he’s supposed to be my bodyguard.

In the office, Miller shows Cole the schematics for the prison HVAC system. Cole studies them, and then looks over at Miller.

“Who did Lovejoy escape with?”

Miller frowns. “Nobody. He’s the only escapee.”

“That’s impossible. See this section? It’s too narrow to use a ladder, but too high for one man on his own to reach the top.”

“Maybe Lovejoy had a rope?”

“There’s nothing to secure it to. He must have had help.”

Miller stares hard at Cole for a long time. Cole doesn’t so much as blink. Miller then picks up a phone and dials.

“Frank? I need a head count.”

His frown deepens.

“All of them. All the cellblocks. No, I’m not kidding. ASAP! We might have more than one escapee, god damn it!”

It takes about half an hour for their head count. When Miller comes back into the office, I can tell from the look on his face Cole was right.

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