“Don’t give me that,” she cut in. “I need to know everything.”
He sighed heavily, then looked away from her to stare into the fire. “The Bitterroot Super Max Prison is the largest privately run prison in the country. As a corrections officer, you’re probably aware that the facility is inspected at the state and even federal levels, but that doesn’t mean those inspections are thorough. And it doesn’t mean things can’t be hidden.”
“Things like what?”
He turned his gaze to hers, and for the first time Emily saw the spark of a very dark emotion she couldn’t quite read.
“You know what kind of men end up at Bitterroot,” he said. “Murderers. Rapists. It was designed for the most violent offenders. In many cases, their friends and family have either disowned them because of what they’ve done or have simply grown tired of Sunday visits and have fallen out of touch. If something were to happen to those inmates, there would be no one to ask any questions.”
“What are you saying?”
“A year ago MIDNIGHT was approached by another agency. Some checking of the prison records revealed that several inmates had died under mysterious circumstances. Inmates with no one to question…or even take notice of their deaths. MIDNIGHT tried to assess the situation by sending in operatives posing as government inspectors. But the people at Lockdown, Inc. guard their secrets well. They’re tight with information and even tighter with what they tell their own employees and management. As a last resort, my superior approached me with the idea of my going deep undercover, and I accepted the mission. I was thoroughly briefed. A fake identity was created documenting my so-called crimes in police and court records. Then I was sent into the prison population as an inmate.”
Emily’s mind was reeling. “What’s happening to the inmates?”
“I believe Lockdown, Inc. is using inmates to test chemical weaponry.”
She knew most of the corrections officers. She knew Dr. Lionel and Marcus Underwood. She knew Warden Carpenter.
“There’s no way something so…heinous would be condoned by Lockdown, Inc.”
“I’ve seen the results, Emily. Healthy men sent to the infirmary for some minor problem return deathly ill. Some of them suffering from horrific skin lesions. Others with severe respiratory illnesses. Healthy young men bloodied and poisoned and screaming in agony when they’re brought back to their cells. And those are the lucky ones, because most don’t return at all.”
Emily could barely absorb what he was saying. Never in a thousand years could she have imagined something so cold-blooded. To think that the people she had known and worked with for three years were capable of such utter brutality made her sick to her stomach.
Rising abruptly, she paced over to the hearth and leaned against the cool stone. “How can you possibly know all of that? You were an inmate. You were not privy to infirmary records.”
He hesitated for an instant. “I’m not the only operative working out of Bitterroot.”
“But who else—”
“That’s classified information.”
“That’s convenient.”
“For your own safety. If Underwood thinks you know something and gets his hands on you, believe me, he’ll use any method available to him to find out what I’ve told you.” He looked away, his jaw taut. “Including torture.”
A chill rippled through her.
“The inmates see a hell of a lot more than you think,” he said. “They talk. We’re talking about men who’ve led violent lives. These men don’t frighten easily. But I’ve heard the talk. And I’ve heard the screams. I’ve seen hardened, brutal men cowering like frightened children in the months I was there.”
“Why didn’t this get reported? I mean, we have an inmate relations officer—”
“An officer who may very well be part of it. You think anyone is going to open his mouth and risk being tortured to death?”
The scenario made her shudder. “Who is Lockdown, Inc. testing weapons for?”
“I don’t know,” he said, frustration evident in his voice. “But I suspect there is a company somewhere in the United States manufacturing the chemical agent. From there, the agent is shipped to Bitterroot for testing. Once the weapons are deemed effective, they’ll hit the black market. Worldwide. Lockdown, Inc. receives money for their part, and no one will be the wiser. Bitterroot is the perfect location. Remote. Isolated. No residents nearby to notice the supplies being trucked in and out daily. It would be easy for such an operation to continue without interference.”
“Who ships the weapons?”
“We don’t know. But as you can imagine, there are plenty of terrorist organizations and rogue nations that would go to great lengths to get their hands on some easy-to-implement chemical weapon.”