(Disclaimers go to Prologue, please.)

CHAPTER 7:

Five pair of eyes were focused on Martin as he slowly stood up and walked around the room collecting his thoughts. After a minute of silence Martin turned back to the team and began to talk:

"I did an internship almost fifteen years ago at Collins Correctional Facility. I taught the prisoners accounting -- remember, Danny, we talked about prison art?"

Danny nodded silently leaning forward not wanting to miss any detail from Martin's story.

"Yeah…I taught accounting there and while I was there a few of the inmates started to confide in me to a degree. Seems there was quite an illegal operation going on inside the prison. All prisons have illegal dealings going on some were just shadier than others. This one was pretty bad. Some of the correction officers had a pretty complex operation going on that included -- not only the usual contraband of drugs, alcohol and even visits from area prostitutes -- but they also managed to work some deals that certain prisoners would get transferred to maximum security facilities instead of others and those that should go up to maximum because they were problematic at the medium security got transferred to low."

"How did they manage that?" Jack was astounded at that revelation but more so that he hadn't ever heard about it.

"As I said, it was a complex operation involving multiple levels within booking, reception, medical, you name it. people were in on it. It would have been a huge scandal and one that DOCS didn't want publicized so, while they were able to shut it down, they did it quietly. The state's political figures didn't want a big scandal either so most cooperated to keep the juicier bits under sealed records.

I got wind of what was happening regarding the prisoner transfers because one of the inmates in my accounting group was selected to go to a maximum facility instead of another inmate, Antwon James. James had served his previous term for manslaughter, the one that involved Shook and Schuford but was back in for a felony weapons charge. He was at Collins instead of a maximum security prison due to his latest state bid. However, he caused so many problems at Collins that DOCS initiated the orders to move him to Shawangunk which is maximum.

Of course James didn't want to go to Shawangunk and since he was also one of the ring leaders in Collins and basically the right hand man to the leader of the organization, it was arranged for someone else to take the fall. That someone was David Mears. Mears was in for a short indeterminate term, one to three years, and had been at Collins for about four months already. He heard that he had been selected as the replacement for James and was worried. Mostly he was worried because not only would he be finishing out James' sentence at Shawangunk which is a particularly nasty place, but because James had made it clear that if he breathed a word about this to anyone, his mother would be harmed.

Mears was in my class, knew I taught at a couple of institutions and asked if I knew anything about Shawangunk. I told him I had never been there but knew it was maximum security and had a tough reputation. When I asked him why he wanted to know about it he just mumbled something about he guessed he'd find out when he got there. That was it that was all he said. However, I knew a bit about his sentence and was surprised he'd be going there so I did an inmate lookup into his history and, after looking at it, realized there was no way he'd be going there. Couple of weeks later he was gone. I asked a couple of the inmates in class if he had been paroled they said that he had been transferred off and that was it."

"But you didn't buy it, did you?" Vivian spoke up softly.

Martin shook his head. "No, I didn't. I did some checking on the DOCS site and according to the site David Mears was still at Collins So I dug deeper and checked into all the transfers out of Collins and into Shawangunk and the only transfer I found was Antwon James. I downloaded James' his mug shot, memorized it and one day watched the gym call backs in the company that David Mears used to live in and, according to DOCS was still assigned to, and there was Antwon James only now everyone called him David Mears."

"And you started an investigation?" Elena asked.

"Didn't have to; I wasn't the only one tipped off on what was going on. Internal Affairs had been slowly putting together a case on the drugs, prostitutes and other contraband at Collins I was questioned because of my close contact with the inmates, the investigators wanted to know what I heard or saw. I mentioned to one of them that I didn't see anything unusual being passed in the classes but that I was aware of something strange going on. I gave them the info I had and that was it; about two months later the whole scheme unraveled.

However, it was too late for David Mears; he had been killed by a riot up at Shawangunk. No one ever proved the riot was anything other than an unrelated event but most suspected it was staged to ensure his silence, although it didn't do them any good since the game was already up back at Collins.

Turns out the illegal activities went all the way to the head officer at Collins, Thomas Sayers. Pillar of the community was what people thought so it was going to be a big blow."

"How come there's no mention of his involvement? That would have turned NYS DOCS on its head and would have been a huge scandal. Why haven't I heard of it?" Jack was puzzled. He had heard of drug rings, prostitutes and various contraband in lots of prisons but illegal prisoner transfers and falsification of records, nothing.

"Sayers killed himself and his wife to spare them the humiliation. She had been his administrative assistant at the prison and the one that did all the paperwork on the transfers. The two of them were partners in all the illegal activity. Right before the indictments were going to be handed down against them both, they were killed tragically in a train versus car accident. Publicly it was announced as a horribly tragedy, dark night and poor conditions with an icy road. The press was told that his car had slid through the safety barrier and gotten stuck on the tracks as the train came barreling through.

Everyone bought it, the husband and wife were publicly mourned and the mayor and the local police department let it rest there. The governor and DOCS didn't want the public outcry and intense scrutiny that would come by revealing what they knew about the prisoner transfers. Drugs, contraband, prostitutes none of that was a big deal since everyone knows these things happen in prisons on a daily basis, but the illegal transferring of prisoners, falsifying of records even the death of an inmate because of such a transfer whether his death was accidental or not no, the officials in DOCS wanted it covered up quickly and quietly to avoid lawsuits not to mention the public relations nightmare of trying to convince the public that the State of New York was able to keep violent felons incarcerated and the public safe.

They decided with the ring crushed and, since the ones who masterminded it were dead, there was no point in airing all the dirty laundry publicly. They could discipline the rest of the participants for the contraband part of the scheme and slowly trace back the illegal transfers that had occurred prior and make amends there. I was thanked for helping tip them off to that part of the scheme they didn't even know about and basically that was the end of my involvement."

"So, who's after you then?" Danny spoke up quietly amazed at what he had just heard and further impressed at the things Martin knew and never spoke about.

"Thomas and Julia Sayers had a son, Allen. He idolized his father. The outpouring of grief and sympathy for Allen was amazing. Everyone knew that Allen and his father were very close had great love and respect for each other."

Danny winced a bit at the almost bitter tone in Martin's voice.

"Allen was certain the death of his parents was no accident that someone had murdered them. He vowed to never stop looking for their killer. He even contacted me a couple of times over the years to question me about what I knew of the inmates in the jail. I never told him anything. Allen was kept out of the loop of his parents' illegal activities. No one wanted to hurt him either since he was the pride and joy of his parents. They had doted upon him and were proud of him no matter what he did. Most just wanted and hoped that he would move past his grief and continue on in his life.

My bet is that Allen wouldn't let it go. He was – is smart, resourceful and tenacious. If I'm right, he's figured out what his father and mother were up to and he's figured out that I'm the one that tipped IAB off to the activity.

James is the key; he was Thomas Sayerss' right hand man at Collins. He ultimately did get transferred to Shawangunk and served his sentence there. The pieces fit. Allen's parents were killed by a train. My parents were killed by an 18-wheeler. Shook was murdered by someone strangling him; I was attacked and almost strangled. You want to know how David Mears was killed in that prison riot -- he was shot by a sniper – one bullet in the heart. Guards ended up firing on the prisoners to stop the riot. They were supposed to be using rubber bullets; someone in the tower had live ammo. Like I said, it was put down as a tragic accident."

Martin sat down spent after having told such a lengthy history. The rest of the team sat quietly absorbing what they heard.

"So Allen Sawyers realized his parents weren't the icons of the community everyone thought they were, and he's probably concluded that they committed suicide together. So now he's after you?" Sam spoke quietly trying to piece together the motivation.

"And he's trying to make you suffer and he's –"Danny stopped as his brain wrapped itself around Martin's earlier revelation that someone had followed him to an NA meeting and sent pictures to his father. Now, he understood who had sent Victor the pictures and why. He felt his anger rise inside and when his eyes met Martin's he saw the same anger, hurt and realization reflected there. They nodded silently not wishing to divulge that information to all present.

"All right. We know the who and we know the why. We need to find Sawyers and James fast. Danny, I want you and Martin to stay here. You both need the rest and there's a detail outside as well. The rest of us are going back to the office and get a BOLO out on Sawyers and James." Jack rose along with Sam, Elena and Vivian. Each in turn gave Martin a quick hug with Jack waiting until they were done before stopping by Martin and resting his hand briefly on his shoulder in reassurance.

"We'll find him."

"I know. When you do, I'm in. No arguments Jack, I help you bring him in."

Jack just nodded and as he turned to leave he caught Danny's eye. Danny winked back at him assuring Jack he had Martin under control. Jack waited another moment and then followed the three women out of the house.

"So, Home Sweet Home. I'm taking the room with the bathroom."

"Fine with me glamour boy. I'm just happy with a hot shower." Martin grabbed his bag and headed upstairs hoping the hot water would take the remaining chill out of his body. He wasn't sure what chilled him more, the morning's plunge into the icy water or the knowledge that he was the cause of the death of his parents.

TBC…

(Author's note: Remember everyone, this is a work of fiction. I know of nothing in this above chapter that has ever happened in the State of New York DOCS or any other part of the penal system. So, don't come after me thinking I've breached a confidence and for goodness sake, don't suggest anyone try it either!  )

Laurel