Chapter Four: Road to Nowhere

Roy groaned internally when the prison shoe supply inmate was pushed into the cell right next to theirs. Wonderful, now they had a whole evening of insults and slurs to look forward to. To his surprise, Pink ignored them in favor of curling up on the lower bunk in his cell and going to sleep. The detectives traded skeptical glances – the sun wasn't even all the way down – but kept quiet nonetheless in deference to the – apparently – sleeping man.

An hour later, Roy scooted under his covers, doing his best to pretend the mattress was just as lumpy and uncomfortable as it looked; no need for the guards to investigate and find out about the Cushioning Charms. Below him, Giles did the same, though a low grumble informed the taller detective that the beds weren't just too short for him; they were too short for Giles as well.

Outside, the lights clicked off, throwing the corridor into deep shadow. Beneath the thin covers, Roy shivered, irrationally wishing for his brother. Despite all their years of rivalry and friction, there had always been a part of him that looked up to Ed. Even now, when Parker's death had crushed his indomitable brother, Ed would've known what to do. How to get them out of this mess they'd landed in. Frankly, Roy was hoping Giles had a few ideas, 'cause he was fresh out. A clatter came from the next cell. The detective froze, instinct a prickle at the back of his neck.

"Pink?" A low whisper. Roy peered towards the sound, just making out a dark-skinned man in the corridor.

"Shep? What're you doin' comin' back so late?" the prisoner in the next cell asked; Roy could just see him peeking out around the lower bunk's supports.

The other man, Shep, slipped into the cell, the grin on his face visible despite the dimness. "Got 'em," the big man hissed.

Roy shifted to see better; keys dangled from Shep's hand and the officer was willing to bet a year's salary that Shep was not supposed to have them. Beneath him, the bunk creaked – Giles craned to watch, flicking a glance up at his partner.

"How'd you get 'em?" Pink whispered, a tint of fear and urgency to the words. Roy buried a smirk – Shep had yet to realize the next cell was occupied.

"Wasn't easy," Shep replied. Creeping closer, he announced – announced – "Look, I got it all figured out. We're bustin' out of here first thing tomorrow."

"Shhh!" Pink hissed, sounding almost like a snake in his frantic attempt to get his compatriot to shut up.

"What's wrong?"

Roy waited for Pink to gesture towards them, then cast the horrified Shep an ironic and deliberately sloppy salute.

"Damn. Who're they?"

"Newbs," Pink sneered and Roy just knew the guy was leering again.

"I don't care what they are. They could foul up my plan good."

"Why?" Pink asked, confusion radiating.

"If three's a crowd, then four's a mob when it comes to escaping," Shep growled.

" 'Scuse me," Roy called, keeping his voice low. "We aren't goin' anywhere."

"That's what you think."

"Shep, Shep, why d' they hafta come with us?" Pink demanded.

" 'Cause they know we're going, that's why. What's to stop 'em from blowin' the whistle the minute we make our break?"

"Our word," Giles piped up, not liking where the conversation was going any more than Roy did.

"See, we have their word," Pink cajoled, sounding as if he very much did not want to escape with two hangers-on.

"Shut up, Pink. I say they're coming and that's final."

The detectives traded glances, then Roy drawled, "Don't we get a say in this?"

Shep turned to face them head-on through the bars. "Look, you either go with us or you go six feet under. Personally, I'd just as soon not kill you, but I ain't comin' back here."

Roy opened his mouth to respond, but Giles spoke first. "Hey, Roy, it's not like they charged us with anything, right?"

The brunet paused, blinking. Frankly, with two of them, he doubted Shep could actually carry out his threat – especially since his partner was still armed, but Giles had a point. They hadn't been charged with anything beyond a drunk 'n' disorderly. Certainly nothing to warrant ending up in prison. They had no backup, particularly since Team One didn't know they'd been moved to the prison and Callaghan's suspicions about local law enforcement were proving to be more than a bit of an understatement of the problem. Staying, in light of all that, was probably a bad idea.

"No charges?" Pink echoed, shaking his head. "Sounds like the Sheriff is up to tricks again, eh, Shep?"

"This has happened before?" Roy demanded.

"Where you been all your life?" Pink retorted. "Judge Paxton owns this county."

"You in or out?" Shep broke in.

The partners traded a very grim look. "We're in," Roy replied. "What's your plan?"

Shep puffed up. "We go out in the truck."

"What truck?" Giles asked.

The man held up the keys he'd swiped. "The one that starts with this key. It'll be right outside in the morning. All we gotta do is get over the fence and we're home free."

Roy arched a brow. "And…how're we gettin' over a four-and-a-half meter fence in broad daylight?"

Shep froze, then turned sullen. "I was working on it."

Giles coughed to cover his laugh, but Roy was less than impressed. "Just great; you're brilliant, you know that? The most important part of the plan and you were working on it?"

"Well, you got a better idea?"

Techie and wizard traded looks. "Mission Impossible theme?" Giles offered.

"Ghost Protocol style," Roy agreed, smirking. "I always wanted to start a prison riot."

"I get to light the fuse," Giles declared.

"No, you get to open all the doors," Roy countered. "We don't have Spike to play Benji."

The wizard pouted, but nodded acceptance.

Shifting on his bunk to look at the bewildered inmates, Roy asked, "You guys know your way around this place?"

"Sure," Pink agreed. "I know where everything is. Same with Shep here."

"Okay then, leave it to us. We can set everything up tonight and get out of here tomorrow morning."

"And you two can fill us in on the sheriff and that judge guy," Giles added.

Shep, of course, insisted on getting everything set up first; after a hasty, whispered confab with Roy, Giles went with the big man and the pair snuck around the prison to set up their plan. The place was woefully underguarded and the security system was a joke, even without magic. The Auror no longer wondered how Shep had gotten ahold of the truck keys – instead he wondered what had taken the man so long. They even had time to set up the prison's PA system to play two songs, a fact that had Giles sniggering and Shep bewildered at how they were supposed to set the prank off.

With all preparations for the actual escape complete, the detectives and inmates returned to their respective cells, settling in for an evening…discussion. Giles was grateful for the lack of leering from Pink – a glance at Roy's smug expression told the Auror that his partner had educated the inmate in the facts of their relationship. Friends, best friends, even, but definitely not 'together'.

"So…you two said something earlier about the sheriff and some judge," Roy began, leaning forward. "Care to explain yourselves?"

"I ain't explaining nothin'," Shep declared.

One brow rose and Giles crossed his arms. "You want out of here?" he inquired, an acid edge to the question.

"Yeah."

"Then talk," Roy ordered.

The big black man pouted, but Pink scrubbed a hand through his hair. "How familiar are you gentlemen with the Right Honorable Judge Paxton?"

"Never heard of him," Roy replied flatly.

"He owns this county," Callaghan explained. "Virtually every law enforcement officer around here answers to him."

"And?" Jules pressed, the word sharp enough to cut steel.

"They started small," her father said. "A few bogus traffic stops here and there, just to pad their numbers. Fund a few things around town."

"Always out-of-towners, right?" Lou put in.

"That's about the size of it," the older man admitted. "Once they got a taste, they were in. I think Paxton and Sheriff Wallace go way back, but that's just a hunch."

Ed's eyes narrowed. "So they started small and worked their way up to…?"

"Drugs," Shep spat. "You name it, they'll run it through the county."

"Never stays here," Pink interjected at the confused looks they were getting. "They keep all the towns squeaky-clean, so the voters don't have anything to complain about."

Giles whistled low, reluctantly impressed by the strategy. So long as the corruption was kept out of view, so to speak, most people wouldn't know – or care. "But surely there must be some people who care about what's going on," he protested.

"Well, if they do, the good Sheriff pays 'em a visit," Pink drawled. "Has a wee little chat with 'em, maybe even invites 'em to tour this fine establishment for a day or two."

"What happens if they keep digging?" Roy asked.

"My last stay was a week," Callaghan admitted, staring fixedly at the table. "Wallace made sure all the inmates knew I used to be a cop."

"Oh, Dad," Jules whispered, fear for her father written all over her face. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Tell you what, Julie? That your old man's a jail bird now?"

"Dad!"

"Keeping quiet just helped them," Ed growled. "And you know it."

The older man cringed, but didn't respond.

"Dad?" Jules coaxed, moving to her father's side. "What happened?"

"That guy Reston, though, he wasn't smart enough to shut it," Shep jeered.

"Reston?" Giles inquired, tone casual. "Who's he?"

Pink waved a hand. "Just some reporter. Kept digging and sniffing around, the idiot."

"Had a friend the last time he was in here," Shep mused. "You see 'em, Pink?"

"Briefly," the prison shoe supplier replied. "They were both too busy mouthing off to the guards to give me their shoe sizes." A sneer. "Not that that mattered."

"Why, what happened?" Roy asked.

The blond leaned closer, a conspiratorial gleam in his eyes. "Heard the guards talking later on. Wallace and Saunders took 'em over to Sinclair for another little chat. They never came back."

"So much for their scoop," Shep sniggered.

"Scoop?" Giles pressed.

"Reporters, remember?" Pink drawled. "Of course they had a scoop, otherwise the good Sheriff would've left 'em alone. Reston might've been a drunk, but most everyone read his column. He'd been after Paxton for years."

The detectives traded glances and frowns. "Then why kill him now?" the Auror wondered.

"I went to him, Julie," Callaghan confessed. "Told him I knew he was on the right track and I said I'd help him as much as I could, but I couldn't go back inside."

Jules swallowed hard at the idea of her father put in prison by a corrupt sheriff and his crooked boss of a judge. "So he went in alone?"

The retired cop shook his head. "No, he had a contact in the States. Someone with an American watchdog group. I told Reston, you wait till that guy gets here. Don't go in alone."

Spike frowned thoughtfully. "So that guy was the second journalist?"

"Yes." The response was slow. Heavy with regret. "They, ah, they did the same thing your brother and his partner did. That was the last time I saw them."

The air stilled, thunderclouds gathering around Jules' infuriated Sergeant. But before Mount Lane could erupt, she hissed, "You knew what could happen and you didn't tell us?" Her father froze, staring at her in surprise, but she wasn't about to stop. "You sent my teammates in without intel, without backup." Tears gathered in her eyes. "How could you, Dad? I trusted you, I told you what happened to Sarge and you do this? You knew they were walking right into a snake pit and you just stood there without saying a word."

Sam's hand touched her shoulder, his sorrow just as acute as hers; part of her wanted to shrug him away, but the other part reminded her of how much she loved him. How much Sarge had given up for them – all of them. For their family, he'd given up his life, his reputation, his career, even his kids. To shun Sam was to turn her back on Sarge's sacrifice.

"Jules," he whispered, "We'll get them back."

Tears glimmered in the dark eyes that turned to the sniper. "How?" Jules choked out. "We don't even know for sure if my Dad is right."

"We go in," Wordy growled. "In our trucks, full gear. This guy wants to mess with our teammates, he's going down."

"Word's right," Ed concurred, expression just as fierce. "We have two missing officers and we have a potential hostage situation. That's all we need."

"I've got a location for the prison," Spike piped up.

"Spike, we got either of their phones there?" Lou asked.

The bomb tech shook his head even as he typed at his computer. "No dice, buddy. They're still in Lyndhurst Flats."

"Bingo," Sam hissed triumphantly.

For a moment, Jules was confused, then she grinned. "Proof the sheriff lied to Ed."

Ed nodded agreement. "All right, here's how we're gonna play it. Spike and Lou, you guys will do your thing: find those phones and make sure these guys don't come up with any more surprises."

"Copy," Spike agreed, Lou's nod just as sharp as his best friend's acknowledgement.

"Word, Sam, once we're in, keep your eyes open. Anything out of the ordinary, any moves they try to make…"

"We'll stop 'em," Sam promised.

"Jules, you're primary, but I've already talked to this guy…"

"We'll make it work," Jules replied. "You take lead and I'll jump on any inconsistencies."

"Copy," the Sergeant murmured, then he straightened. "Okay, guys, get some sleep; we're going in first thing tomorrow."