Before Hector could respond, Caleb grabbed Marcus by the elbow and dragged him to the library door.It was not two o'clock yet, so the inmates were still in the library. Caleb nodded to the correctional officer who was helping him keep watch. Then, he stood at the door, watching the inmates while asking Marcus a question he hadn't had a chance to ask earlier."How did you know Samuel didn't use much force?"The corner of Marcus' lips was bleeding, which didn't exactly suggest a lack of force."I could feel it," Marcus answered, then immediately followed up with another question, "Did you and Dr. Lewis ever date?"Marcus had already asked this question three times.Caleb knew he couldn't dodge it any longer, so he quickly replied, "Yes," before asking, "Was it really that obvious that he wasn't going at it for real?""Yes," Marcus said flatly. "When did you two date?""A few years ago. Why did Samuel hold back?""I don't know. How long did you date?"Caleb instinctively starte
It seemed that a new consensus had formed among the inmates—don't provoke Marcus.The inmate sitting in the front row by the window stood up and offered his seat to Marcus, who was unfazed. He took his usual comic book and settled into the seat as if it were a given that others would make way for him.What a typical demeanor for a big shot.Caleb sighed softly as he read his newspaper.Logically, inmates who were wrongfully imprisoned spent their days thinking about clearing their names. Meanwhile, Marcus, who was indeed wrongfully imprisoned, was busy establishing his dominance in prison, ignoring his actual purpose.If Caleb didn't know Marcus was innocent, he might have thought the man was quite suited to prison life.On the bright side, since Marcus was off-limits, then Caleb, as the man rumored to have slept with him, would likely be left alone as well.Just as Caleb was considering this, an inmate walked into the library and approached his desk."Officer Johnson, I'd like
"Come on, Marc-whatever-his-name-is isn't exactly big in that department, is he? Probably no bigger than this," Mikey said, extending his pinky. "If you have such a good time with that much, why not try with a real man?""Exactly, what's the point of messing around with an impotent guy like that-"Caleb instantly drew his baton from his belt and spun around, aiming a blow at the head of the inmate behind him. The man crashed into a nearby filing cabinet, which collided with the other metal cabinet, creating a loud clanging noise."Who the hell are you calling impotent?" Caleb spun around, pointing the baton at Mikey's nose. "Say that again if you dare."Caleb could have called for backup with his radio at this point, but chose not to. By his standards, these two hadn't been dealt with properly yet."There's no need for me to repeat what everyone already knows," Mikey said, glancing over Caleb's shoulder.Immediately, Caleb became alert, whipping around to see someone lunging at h
Caleb pretended not to understand Marcus' innuendo. After all, if he wasn't embarrassed, then the embarrassment fell on someone else.Hector and the patrol team arrived at the recreational room quickly. Since Marcus had been too violent, Hector couldn't handle the treatment. They had to call an ambulance and send Mikey to an external hospital.The investigation was straightforward.An inmate had distracted the correctional officer stationed at the stairwell, and another had lured Caleb to the recreational room. Then, Mikey had revealed his lewd intentions. During the ensuing fight, Marcus heard the noise of the filing cabinets crashing and came to help Caleb.With this little interlude during yard time coming to a close, the warden would decide the specific rewards and punishments.Once the excitement in the library had died down and the clock struck two, the inmates were ushered out by the correctional officers to begin their work in the factory area behind the administration bui
Whenever Marcus started wrapping his hands with boxing tape, it was a sure sign that he was about to take off his shirt and work up a sweat in front of the punching bag in his bedroom. After every session, he would stand by the window and unwrap the tape with practiced ease.It was a casual motion that Caleb couldn't take his eyes off of.What he used to see only through binoculars was now happening right before his eyes—an ordinary action that somehow felt more thrilling than a striptease."Do you want to learn, Officer Johnson?" Marcus asked, noticing Caleb's dazed expression."What?" Caleb snapped out of his trance. "No.""I can teach you."Without waiting for a response, Marcus reached between Caleb's parted legs with his left hand, grabbing the edge of the rolling chair and pulling him forward without any warning. The sudden acceleration caused Caleb to lean back, and when the chair came to an abrupt halt, he lurched forward from the momentum, nearly bumping his nose against
So, Marcus' idea of seduction was just kissing him directly? Wasn't that a bit too straightforward and crude? Or perhaps Marcus was simply that aggressive by nature.Caleb's eyelashes fluttered as he fought the urge to close his eyes.But just as their lips were about to touch, Marcus suddenly changed direction. As his lips brushed against Caleb's cheek, he whispered in his ear, "Officer Johnson, could you check if I got bitten by a mosquito?"After saying that, Marcus pulled back slightly, tugging at his collar to expose the area around his collarbone.The warmth of Marcus' lips still lingered on Caleb's cheek as he mechanically shifted his gaze to the spot Marcus indicated. With Marcus leaning forward and tilting his chin up, Caleb could see not only his collarbone but also the prominent Adam's apple above it.Mosquito bite, his ass—that was the thought that popped into Caleb's mind.Marcus' smooth, tanned skin was completely unblemished. There were no signs of a mosquito bite.
"Why are you here?" Caleb asked with a frown."I came to see you, Officer Johnson," Lucas replied in an eerie tone."Me?" Caleb was puzzled. "Why?"Lucas' gaze shifted toward Marcus, clearly signaling that he didn't want to speak with the other inmate present.Caleb checked the time and said to Marcus, "You should go."Marcus stood up and walked toward Lucas. Knowing the older man was not someone to mess with, Lucas instinctively shrank back, pressing himself against the wall as Marcus approached."See you tomorrow, Officer Johnson," Marcus said, turning back to Caleb before leaving.Caleb couldn't help but recall the moment Marcus' lips had brushed against his cheek, causing his ears to start to warm up involuntarily. Thankfully, Marcus quickly exited, and Caleb regained his composure.He turned to the lurking Lucas at the door. "Did you need something from me?"Lucas still had that eerie expression on his face as he asked, "Officer Johnson, do you trade stocks?""Stocks?" C
Some well-behaved or low-risk inmates were assigned tasks to assist the correctional officers, such as distributing supplies or cleaning.Caleb suspected that Lucas' so-called "undercover work" was just him helping out in the administrative department. But what puzzled him was how Lucas had connected him to the Chess Wizard."I tracked the IP address of the Chess Wizard from the stock trading forums, and it led me to Southern Prison," Lucas said, raising his right index finger and pretending to push up imaginary glasses on his nose. "Then, I filtered through the people in the prison who have access to computers and found out that they're all administrative correctional officers."In terms of computer access, the patrol team could be completely ruled out, so the search was narrowed down to the administrative building.But that wasn't the key point.Caleb quickly zeroed in on the most crucial piece of information from Lucas' story—the Chess Wizard was in Southern Prison."Next, I w