Then Carter opened the medical record.
The photograph was different.
The face was similar.
But not identical.
Carter enlarged the image.
He stared.
And suddenly he understood.
The person occupying Cell 214 wasn't Michael Reynolds.
It was someone else.
Someone whose identity had been changed.
Someone who had been placed inside the prison under a false record.
Carter picked up his phone.
He called Marcus Miller.
No answer.
He tried again.
Nothing.
Then a message appeared.
DO NOT COME BACK TO THE PRISON.
Carter stared at the screen.
A second message followed.
THE MAN IN CELL 214 IS NOT TANK'S BROTHER.
Then a third.
HE IS THE PERSON WHO PUT TANK IN PRISON.
Carter slowly lowered his phone.
For several seconds, he couldn't move.
Because if the message was true, everything he believed about Tank Reynolds was wrong.
The man who controlled the prison yard might not be the real mastermind.
He might be the prisoner.
Or perhaps...
He might be the person keeping the real mastermind hidden.
END OF PART 1
THIS PRISONER CLAIMED THE YARD WAS HIS — HE HAD NO IDEA WHO THE OFFICER REALLY WAS
Part 2: The Man in Cell 214
Chapter 13: The Name Behind the Door
The message remained on Daniel Carter’s phone.
The person in Cell 214 is not Tank’s brother.
A second message appeared.
He is the man who put Tank behind bars.
Carter read it twice.
Then a third message arrived.
Do not let Whitaker know you have seen this.
Carter slowly lowered his phone.
Across the prison yard, Marcus “Tank” Reynolds stood beneath the floodlights, surrounded by three inmates. He wasn't playing basketball anymore. He was watching Carter.
And for the first time since their confrontation, Tank looked uncomfortable.
Carter slipped his phone into his pocket.
“Officer Carter!”
He turned.
Blake was hurrying toward him, his expression tense.
“You need to come with me.”
“What's wrong?”
“Whitaker just ordered a lockdown.”
“Why?”
Blake glanced toward the administration building.
“He says there's been a security breach.”
Carter looked back at Tank.
The enormous inmate was still staring at him.
Then Tank slowly raised one finger and pointed toward the administration building.
It wasn't a threat.
It was a warning.
“Whatever you're planning,” Tank called across the yard, “you'd better finish it before they get to you.”
Carter didn't answer.
He followed Blake through the gate.
But as the heavy metal door closed behind them, Carter noticed something unusual.
Every officer in the corridor was avoiding his eyes.
Something had happened.
And somebody had already decided that he was the problem.
Chapter 14: The Prisoner Nobody Was Allowed to See
Blackwood State Penitentiary had three security wings.
The first housed general population.
The second held inmates considered dangerous or difficult to manage.
The third was different.
It was called the Special Custody Unit.
Officially, the unit housed prisoners who required additional protection.
Unofficially, it was where the administration kept people who knew too much.
Carter had worked at Blackwood for eight years.
He had never been permitted inside Cell 214.
He had never even seen its occupant.
The official records described the prisoner as Michael Reynolds, Tank's younger brother. He had supposedly been transferred into protective custody after receiving threats from rival inmates.
But the documents Miller had uncovered told another story.
Michael Reynolds had been transferred out of Blackwood eighteen months earlier.
So who was occupying his cell?
Carter entered the officers' locker room and waited until Blake closed the door.
“Tell me what happened,” Carter said.
Blake looked toward the hallway.
“Whitaker ordered everyone to surrender their phones. He says someone accessed restricted transport records.”
“Did they find anything?”
“Not yet.”
“Then why are you worried?”
Blake hesitated.