Coxsackie Correctional Facility, generally known as Coxsackie, held about a thousand men.
Lee only knew this because his smart phone told him so. Wikipedia wasn't much of a resource with only a few paragraphs on the prison itself. Still it was enough to get a feel for what he should expect and it wasn't the first prison he had been inside of. They left I87 and headed east passing a bank, some kind of budget motel, and a few dollar stores. Not exactly the best introduction to the area but prisons needed a place around them supporting families that probably visited from all over. Cheap accommodation for visitors already under the strain of having a loved one inside was a given right close to the prison.
"Stop feeling sorry for them," Adam said grumpily.
"I'm not," Lee lied. Adam saw things in black and white. You were good or bad. There wasn't a middle ground. No, that wasn't strictly true; when you got to know Adam you saw the multitude of layers that made the man. Lee had seen the inside of his lover. It hurt that he was getting the black and white version now. Cursing inwardly he wished for a lot of things to change. That he hadn't believed accusations against the man he loved and that he hadn't offered Sean a place to stay when he had lost his apartment after a fire last year. Just for a few seconds in the diner he had imagined there was something there between them. A spark of memory that could potentially turn into something much more again. Then Sean happened. Clearly when he had been in the head Adam had been handed the information tying Sean to Lee and wasn't that just the best thing to happen all day.
"You are. There's a reason these guys are here—"
"Leave it, Adam," was all he managed to say. Adam had always teased him about the statistics of repeat offenders and the social reasons that some crimes were perpetrated. Lee had all that at his fingertips; part and parcel of his sociology and criminology degree. Adam wasn't teasing this time though. There was a thread of bitterness in his voice and it hurt. If he was in Adam's head he imagined he would see resentment and, hell, Lee couldn't blame Adam one bit. He spoke so eloquently about miscarriages of justice and could spout information to support his trust going back twenty or thirty years. Yet, one photo and he couldn't see past his own pain to what could be behind it.
Shit.
Adam pulled into a long drive between two expanses of neatly kept grass and suddenly Coxsackie, in all its Prison Break glory, was standing in front of them. The bell-tower and weather vane stood tall above the administration building. Lee knew there had been a bell inside there until recently—Wikipedia said so. The car park divided into two sides and Adam pulled left and found a spot under a wide oak for shade.
Saying nothing, both men left the car and walked the short distance to the center and the gate itself. After displaying their credentials and being checked from a list they were met by a sour faced officer who escorted them through the initial gated and fenced area. The wire and mesh were three deep for strength and formed a somewhat sinister canopy above them. Light still filtered through the lacework but every so often it was blocked when the metal met in frequent flat, oblong catchments. Razor wire in wicked curves rose from the latticework and Lee felt as closed in as it was possible to be. He hated these places.
The officer had them sign in at the reception and then they moved through metal scanners and were finally patted down. All of this was completed in utter silence and only then were they allowed through to the first section of the interior. Locked gates opened and then closed behind them and the gray metal and brick became a long tunnel that finally widened out into a larger anteroom.
"Wait here," the officer said perfunctorily. He disappeared through double doors and Lee stood alone with Adam.
"You okay?" Adam asked.
Lee shot him a confused look. He hadn't expected Adam to talk let alone ask him that. Only Adam had seen inside Lee's head, heard Lee talk about visiting his dad in a place like this, of the metal and the gray and the oppression and the sheer hell of being a small kid. The Bureau knew his dad was a career criminal who had died in a prison not dissimilar to this one when Lee was only eleven. That was common knowledge. What wasn't common to all was the scars it had left on Lee.
"I hate these places," Lee murmured.
Adam placed a hand on his arm and Lee consciously leaned into the touch, letting Adam know he valued the concern. Appreciated it, yes, but Lee was somewhat shocked by the gesture given all the shit that had gone down in the last two days. He glanced sideways at Adam who had dropped his hand and was now busy looking at blank walls. He desperately wanted to say something but just as Adam knew him and how much prisons freaked him out, he knew Adam. Big, brawny Adam and his layers.
"This way, please." The officer had returned and he gestured through the door he had reappeared at. Inhaling and straightening his shoulders Lee followed Adam through the door and the next into a large room. A table and chairs sat in the middle—much like a business conference room only one where the table and chairs were bolted to the floor. Unlike the room he'd used to see his dad in, this one was filled with light that flooded in through the south facing windows. Of course the windows had mesh and bars but still, the view over the acres of prison lands was a beautiful one. Lee felt like this was the cruelest punishment of all, to see so much freedom and have it so close but know you can't touch it.
"Wait here." Evidently the officer was a man of few words.
Lee sat in one of the chairs to wait and Adam selected another at a ninety degree angle to him. The whole meeting would appear more like an informal chat than an interrogation.
Both men turned to face the door as Gareth Headley was ushered in. He wore the bright orange of a prisoner and was handcuffed to the table before being encouraged to sit down. Lee wasn't shocked at the changes in the man. He had seen this before. Gareth's police photos were of a healthy, robust and slightly overweight man with carefully styled steel-gray hair, who had the perfect family life and enthusiasm in his eyes.
This man was smaller somehow, a paler, more ill version of what was in the case file. His gray hair was buzz-cut now and his face marked with cuts and bruises. The officer stood behind him and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Please leave," Adam said. He had used the word please but it was entirely overshadowed by the snapped 'leave'. There was nothing saying a guard had to be there. The room was covered by cameras, the prisoner was locked down, and both he and Adam had federal clearance. The guard said nothing, simply inclined his head and left the room.
And then there were three.
"Mr Headley," Adam offered politely.
Gareth didn't even react to that. Lee imagined he had seen a lot of federal employees all probably sitting there with intent in their eyes.
"Special agent Lee Myers," Adam indicated Lee, "and I am Adam Brooke." Adam held out a hand to shake but Gareth simply sat and stared. There was a mutinous tightening of his lips but his eyes were devoid of any emotion other than resignation. "We're here to ask you—"
"Ask me what I know. I'll tell you nothing. You can posture and talk. I'll ignore that. Then robo-guard can take me back for the rest of my twenty." That was one hell of a lot of words to spill from Gareth's lips and obviously well rehearsed.
Lee glanced at Adam. They hadn't discussed how they were going to handle this. They had, it seemed, fallen back on old habits. So he expected Adam would be bullish and demanding and for Lee to wait for a moment when he could be the voice of reason. The same pattern had worked on many occasions before.
"We have your wife and son," Adam said plainly.
Lee straightened in his chair. Fuck. That was going to go down like a lead balloon.
Gareth was up and out of his chair in an instant, the chains rattling against the table.
"Sit down, Gareth." Adam's tone brooked no discussion but Gareth had fear in his eyes.
"Why? They don't know anything. They're not involved. You fuckers—"
"Sit down."
"They were safe. Leave them alone—"
"Sit down."
"Why would you have them?"
"Sit down!" Adam said again.
Gareth didn't so much sit as fall into his chair, despair carved into his face.
"I'm from a foundation called Sanctuary. We provide safe places for people that need them."
"Part of the FBI? The Feds can't help us…" Headley wasn't listening. He was shaking his head from side to side and the fear in him was palpable to Lee.
"Listen to me," Adam ordered loudly. Finally Gareth seemed to focus on Adam. There was a sheen of moisture in the prisoner's eyes and Lee felt a subtle twinge of pity. He hoped Adam got the hell on with explaining. "They're safe, Gareth. Listen to me, they're safe and being looked after. Sanctuary is privately owned and totally outside of the FBI. We have your family somewhere Bullen will never find them and they went of their own accord."
"How can you be sure—the FBI—" Gareth stared pointedly at Lee who didn't waver in returning the stare.
"We know there's a leak in the FBI and we have your notebook."
All the piss and vinegar left Gareth in an instant and he instead became this loose thing slumped in his seat.
"How could you do that to them? That was the only thing keeping them alive."
"No, we are keeping them safe and alive now. I have something for you." Adam pulled out a folded sheet of paper from his pocket and slid it across the table.
Lee frowned. What was this?
Gareth unfolded the sheet carefully on the table as if it may explode in his face and as he read the contents his face crumpled. An old man was sitting in the chair. A tired old man. Lee leaned in slightly and read the words upside down. The letter was signed Maggie and Josh but not much of it made sense. The page was filled with code; for all Lee knew it could be instructions on how to break out of prison. Josh had admitted his dad sometimes used a code that he had made Josh learn as a child. He suspected whatever was written there meant an awful lot to Gareth though. Gareth picked up the letter and clutched it to his chest lifting a glassy gaze to Adam. Evidently the coded letter was working.
"What do you want to know?"
Adam leaned forward with his elbows on the table and explained they had the notebook, evidence from Gregory Bullen's wife, names, dates, and photos.
"What we need is someone to stand up and testify that this all connects. A person who can join the dots and make a cohesive prosecution win this case."
"How long will you protect my family?"
"As long as they need to be. New identities, relocation, a new state and a new country if necessary. Whatever it takes to give them a completely new life."
Gareth Headley sat back in his chair.
"How can I trust you?"
"You need to trust someone," Lee said softly.
"No I don't. I can sit here in this prison and the evidence I have will sit in the bank and my family will be safe."
"Your family is only alive for as long as you are useful," Adam said. "Tell me how useful you are in prison? Tell me how useful you become when Alastair's back is against the wall and he looks for leaks in his organization."
"I'm not part of his organization," Gareth said quickly.
"But you are. Everything you did was for the Bullens. You were their bitch as much as any hired goon."
Lee looked at Adam sharply. Insulting the guy probably wasn't the best offensive to take. He turned his gaze back to Gareth who was staring at Adam in shock.
"You promise me they are safe?"
"What did the letter tell you?" Adam asked gently.
"It said I should trust you, that Josh and Maggie are safe. That they trust you." Lee imagined there was something in the letter that confirmed to Gareth that it was indeed the work of his son and wife. Something alongside the code—maybe a memory that only they would know to share? Sadness clutched him at the thought of a family destroyed with so many memories still existing. Then he shook the emotion away. Gareth Headley had shot Elisabeth Costain in cold blood. He was a murderer. Whatever had driven him to do it he had still made that final decision to kill.
Gareth sighed. He coughed. And then he began to talk. "It started when I took money from a young Alastair Bullen to turn a blind eye on a corruption case. I needed the cash. Not long married you see, with a baby on the way and a cop's salary that barely covered food and a roof over my family's head, let alone maternity bills. I wanted more than what I had, more for my family. I would see these guys, Alastair, his brother, Gregory, in these flashy cars, tipping more at a restaurant than I earned in a week." He stopped and then shuffled in his chair so he could lean on the table for support. "I was young and so damn wrong. Hell, it was an instant of madness, but it tied me to them for twenty years or more. They had that one thing over me," he shook his head sadly. "They always said they would look out for my family. But we knew what that meant. Josh was on their radar. A clever kid. He deserved more than me as a father. Then…" Gareth's voice tailed off.
"Go on," Lee encouraged.
"They said one last job. I'd turned direction on cases the other way, passed information. Never murder. Then one last job. I wouldn't be asked anything again. If I did this then they would stop holding my son's life in front of me."
"You're referring to Elisabeth Costain," Adam confirmed.
"Yeah. They threatened Josh." He looked at Adam then Lee directly. "These aren't excuses. I know what I did was wrong. Way past wrong. I am the worst thing to happen to my family. You have to promise me. If I stand for this, for you, and give evidence against the Bullens, I don't want anything for me, I don't expect that. But you protect my family."
"You have our word," Adam said.
He wasn't sure what had been written in the letter from his wife and son, hell he wasn't even sure what tipped Gareth to talk, but suddenly everything left Gareth in a flood. There was nothing new in what he was saying but he was coherent and Lee felt a frisson of excitement that travelled his spine at the thought of what damage this man could do on the stand.
"When I looked up and saw that guy watching me, seeing me shoot that girl? I just panicked and ran after him. No one used that alley, no one was supposed to see me, and right there and then, when I couldn't find the witness, I knew it was the beginning of the end. I don't know what I would have done if I had caught up with him. Used my gun, probably. I'd gone so far down and I was spiraling out of control." He stopped and there was an expectant pause as Lee waited for more. When Gareth said nothing Adam prompted him.
"There's one last thing. You are aware someone inside the FBI is having his strings pulled by the Bullens. The initials you used in your book are SH. Do you have a full name to match those initials?" Adam asked.
Lee waited, his heart beating in his chest so loud he was worried the other two would hear.
"No," Gareth shook his head. "I know it was a guy, he was only ever referred to as 'he' and they used the initials S and H on anything they wrote. That is where I got it from. I would be 'invited' to meetings; just a subtle way to remind me of who I was I guess."
"Thank you," Lee said softly. He had expected more of a fight from Gareth. Having his family safe was clearly the catalyst and offers from the FBI for that very thing would have been wrapped in the knowledge that the Bureau was compromised. For Adam to sit here and promise something else altogether, a place outside of federal control, seemed to tick the right boxes.
When the gate shut on them and Lee finally stood outside the prison he felt the tension uncoil from his spine one inch at a time. The DA was booked to arrive shortly, everything was planned and their job here was done. Literally. Done. There was no reason for Adam to stick around now. Lee had to go back to his office and put in place something to get his head around SH and what it meant to the office. He just wasn't sure whom he could trust.
Adam pulled his cell from his pocket and connected a call as they walked back to the car. That put a stop to Lee having to find something to say as he processed everything that had happened in the prison.
"Manny," Adam paused evidently listening to the other guy. Lee took a moment to stare. They were few and far between these times when he could look at Adam without feeling like Adam was going to turn and snap at him to stop. Lee had mapped every inch of his face with kisses and loved every part of the big bear who would hold him so gently. Why hadn't he listened to his heart? Why had he immediately assumed that the man who was the other half of him was capable of doing something as out of character as compromising the job he loved?
His dad. It had to be that. Trust was so hard to find in his family; his mom would side with her husband. She didn't have much of a hand in the child he had been, nor in the adult he had become. Hell, everything people saw now, the clothes, the education, the voice he had cultured. None of it was real but it was him. Christ. A psychologist would have a field day with him. The thought of sitting in a chair and telling someone this filled him with horror. He didn't do very well being told what to do.
"We've narrowed it down to a male voice. I need you to file a report in a couple of hours and copy the Bureau in on it by accident… Yeah." Adam chuckled. "Yeah, I know it makes you look like an idiot."
"Adam?" Lee interrupted with the question.
"Hang on a minute," he said to Lee. Then he carried on talking to Manny, "post an e-mail saying that we have a lead."
"Adam, what the fuck?"
Adam turned his back on Lee and held up a hand to forestall his questions.
"Yep," Adam was saying to Manny. "They'll know we got Gareth to agree to cooperate with the DA. That was old news as soon as I contacted the DA's office. On the copy imply only Lee and I have handwritten evidence and as soon as we're back and you have it you'll pass it over but just wanted to give them a heads-up. We're holing up. We need… yep, okay."
He ended the call. Lee waited for an explanation but he was thinking maybe he already knew.
"You're creating a trap for whoever this SH is," he stated simply.
Adam nodded. "Manny says Sanctuary three is our best bet. It's old and being decommissioned, one of the originals outside Albany. Maybe two hours out from here. We go there, we wait. We see what happens."