Episode Thirteen
Smoke Break
October 24. 1984
H Block
0530 hrs
The body was gone before breakfast.
Medical rolled Nathan Ellis out beneath a white sheet while H Block watched through the narrow windows in their doors, still locked in. Nobody said much. A couple inmates stood with their hands tucked in their pockets. One crossed himself. Most just watched until the gurney disappeared around the corner.
Captain Whittaker walked into the unit carrying a clipboard under one arm. He looked inside Cell 46 for a brief moment before making his way to the officer’s bubble.
“Suicide?” he asked, not really caring but hoping it was.
“Looks that way,” Briggs answered, holding up the evidence bag with the letter inside.
Captain Whittaker let out a long breath.
“Thank fuckin’ God.” He rubbed a hand over his face. “Last one didn’t leave a note. Been too many of these lately, if you’re catchin’ my drift, Sergeant.”
Briggs didn’t answer as the Captain took the evidence bag, glanced around the bubble one last time, then handed it back.
“Bag his property. SIS’ll deal with the rest.”
“Yes, sir,” Briggs answered with a faint smile.
Whittaker turned and exited the block.
Briggs didn’t waste a second. He turned around as the door closed and locked eyes with his men. “Mercer. Booker. Tag and bag his shit. Hop to it.” He pointed toward the cell. “Gallo...”
Kyle never moved.
“Sir...” Kyle’s voice caught. “I found him. I don’t...”
Briggs was on him before he finished the sentence.
One hard step turned into two. The old Sergeant got right in Kyle’s face until there wasn’t enough room between them to slide a sheet of paper.
Kyle had never seen Briggs look at another man like that.
His jaw worked slowly.
His eyes...
Jesus Christ. There wasn’t any sympathy in them.
There wasn’t even anger.
Just something cold. The kind of look that made a man wonder if the next thing coming was a punch... or worse.
Kyle could see it and so could everybody else—Every inmate on H Block had drifted to the narrow windows in their doors. The entire range watched in silence.
Briggs never broke eye contact.
“Mercer, you found him?”
“Yes… yes sir…”
“And?”
Kyle swallowed hard, realizing now he had stepped on a hornet’s nest.
“I froze. That’s why you’re—”
“Damn right you did.” Briggs took another step. “You know what happens when you freeze? You get somebody killed.”
Silence.
“Maybe an inmate. Maybe your partner.” Briggs jabbed a finger into Kyle’s chest. “Maybe. Fuckin’. You.”
Kyle felt the jab but never stepped back. He stood his ground and took his ass chewing because the message beneath it to him.
“Good, means you’re still here,” Briggs said with a fervor. “This ain’t the academy. This is the real thing.” His hand swept across the range. “You think these bastards care how old you are?”
“No, sir.”
“This is a goddamn war and your in it.” Briggs voice dropped. “The only difference...” He pointed toward the inmates staring through their windows. “...they look just like us.”
Briggs grabbed Kyle by the front of his shirt.
“When you can’t tell who’s the enemy anymore...” He gave him one hard shake. “...you follow your goddamn training! Back your partner and carry your weight of the guilt that comes with it!”
“YES, SIR.”
Briggs grip loosened, and he smiled.
“I need that son of a bitch,” Briggs said, looking him dead in the eye. “I ain’t losin’ another Mercer.”
Kyle blinked. “...You knew my father?”
“Yeah.” His voice was quieter now. “Damn good officer, and man. Now get your shift done and we’ll talk after. Smoke and drinks for the old man.”
END OF EPISODE 13….