Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
With his hands behind his back, Aidan pictured the faces of the seven prisoners in his head: David, Hunter, Owen, Adrian, John, Logan, and Cooper.
The prisoner he had just looked at was called Cooper.
Aidan had a good memory. He remembered the prisoner, Cooper, whose family had been set up in Cuba. He had returned with the intention of disposing his property in the United States, only to unexpectedly sell it for a good price. He had been so happy that he had treated himself to a couple of extra drinks. While driving, he had crashed into a police facility and received a sentence of one year in prison from the judge.
The CIA had learned through the Secret Service agents stationed in Cuba that Cooper’s wife had a secret identity. She had been the head of a Cuban cult’s Havana branch. Additionally, she had helped in the organization of drug trafficking behind the scenes.
The CIA Secret Service agent who had found Cooper’s wife passed on the information secretly and then disappeared.
As such, the CIA assessed that she had likely been killed, and a second group of Secret Service agents would arrive in a few weeks.
When Aidan left the Chief Justice’s office earlier, he had said that there was no need for the CIA to send people to Cuba to look into Cooper’s background abroad. He had also suggested that the CIA cancel their investigation of the seven prisoners’ foreign backgrounds because there was no need to investigate the dead!
The new warden’s speech lasted more than ten minutes.
When Andre met the new warden’s eyes, his heart inexplicably throbbed.
It was an instinct, a premonition of danger.
The new warden was not like Ryan.
After Andre decided to return to his cell, he began to eavesdrop on the new warden through the system.
He had to take the initiative in advance.
All along, Andre had been constantly alert. He never dared to slack off because he knew that even the slightest slip would push him into a very dangerous situation.
He was not about to take a gamble. As long as there was something wrong, he would nip it in the bud.
Following his speech, Aidan returned to his office.
He deliberately changed the style of his office.
When Ryan was there, the large warden’s office was decorated like a pig’s nest.
Aidan himself had been in the army and experienced the Gulf War. He was very minimalistic with everything.
For example, when Aidan first came to the prison, he found that the head of Cell Block A, Eric matched his style very well.
His neat uniform never had a single crease, and he always worked with a resolute attitude.
Just as Ryan fell, a group of prison guards fell along with him, but Aidan promoted Eric on the very same day.
There were now a lot of vacancies in the prison, and Aidan was in urgent need of an assistant warden, so he directly promoted Eric to fill that spot.
That was equivalent to Eric being promoted up two ranks in a row, and the elated Eric was working harder than usual.
In Cell Block A, where he was on duty, the prisoners had always been afraid of Eric, because he had a habit of cleanliness. Most of the inmates in Cell Block A had been reprimanded by him before.
After a few knocks on the door, Eric opened the door and walked into Aidan’s office.
Aidan was writing something on his desk, and he motioned for Eric to sit down first.
A few minutes later, Aidan put down the pen in his hand and looked up at Eric.
Eric took out a stack of documents from his bag and placed them in front of Aidan.
They contained the information of prisoner leaders in each cell block.
Each cell block had its own prisoner leader, and obviously, such a leader had been secretly approved by the other prisoners.
These leaders held a force that could not be ignored. In some cells with a lot of prisoners, this force could even influence the movements of certain prison guards.
Cell Block A was the area with the most prisoners, and their leader was a gang leader named Joseph. After entering prison, besides the prisoners who were part of his own gang, about 100 other people joined him. There were also more than 200 prisoners who would gather around him voluntarily.
Usually, the person in charge of recruitment would be Joseph’s gay friend, Hein.
Aidan looked at the information in his hands and proposed to meet Joseph alone.
Eric thought that since the new warden had just arrived, it was natural for him to familiarize himself with the complicated relationship between the prisoners there.
He did not think too much about it and directly arranged for Aidan to meet Joseph alone.
However, Aidan did not tell Eric about the plan in his mind. To put it bluntly, he still did not completely trust him.
The reason was simple: when the previous warden was around, Eric had not been placed in an important position. Of course, it could not be ruled out that Ryan was indeed a stupid pig.
Aidan still had to observe Eric for a while.
Under the night sky, the Chicago Correctional Center emitted a suffocating air. Those who passed by could not help but quicken their pace, wanting to leave the unlucky place as soon as possible.
Heavy rain then poured down, washing away past sins.
A strong bald man was following the warden’s assistant, Eric to various rooms.
The bald burly man was Joseph, the leader of the prisoners in Cell Block A. When he saw Eric, he already guessed that the new warden had sent him over.
Every warden would do the same when they had first taken office. On one hand, they could learn about the movements of other prisoners.
On the other hand, according to observation, both sides were very calculative about the pros and cons in their hearts.
The plus side was if everyone was happy, that meant a mutual benefit of care.
Conversely, if it came to “I’m sorry, I don’t like you,” it would mean that there was no use for you.
Joseph and the previous warden, Ryan’s relationship had been horrible.
Ryan had looked down on Joseph all his life and even marginalized Sergeant Eric, who was close to Joseph.
After waiting for about 15 minutes, Joseph saw Aidan’s figure enter his line of sight.
He had always been cautious, so he quickly stood up and took a step forward before extending his right hand.
He had to send out a friendly message first.
It was part of the instincts that Joseph had developed after his long stint. The longer a person lived in prison, the more observant they would be.
Aidan also gave Joseph a lot of face. He could not help but take the initiative to extend his hand and even deliberately lean sideways. He gently stroked Joseph’s shoulder with the other hand, signaling him to take a seat first.
Under such circumstances, those who had no context would think that they were two close friends who had not seen each other for many years.
Eric glanced at the two of them and walked out with anticipation. He did not forget to close the door before he left.
The heavy rain outside was getting increasingly heavier, and the entire prison seemed to be engulfed by endless darkness.
The conversation between the two of them only ended after half an hour.
When Eric, who was waiting outside the door, saw Joseph walking out, his expression was particularly strange.
Eric’s job was to keep an eye on Joseph. As long as Joseph was safely brought back to his cell, there would be nothing for him to do.
On the way back, Eric clearly felt that Joseph had something to say to him, and he had several opportunities to spill. Yet, until he returned to his cell, Joseph did not say anything.
When he left, Eric felt that there was something wrong with Joseph, but he could not figure out what it was.
Joseph returned to his cell and saw Eric walk away through the observation window. He turned around and called for his right-hand man, Hein.
“The new warden asked me to help him kill two people tonight.”
Upon saying that, Joseph did not look at Hein’s reaction. He scanned the area with his sharp eyes for the targets.
Soon, he locked onto the two prisoners he was going to kill tonight.
‘Cooper!
‘David!’