Part 5

The next morning after a disturbed sleep Steve heard voices coming towards his cell, as he was about ready to head to breakfast and was surprised to see the two men from CDCR.

They motioned Red to go ahead and acted like they were rousting Steve to make it look good. When the coast was clear they spoke in very low tones letting him know why they were there.

"We had a request to check and make sure you are okay. Be honest if there are any problems." Mr. Goldwyn stated emphatically.

"Things are fine, except this inmate Buster Malloy last night was boring holes in me and was standing with the head "hack" that kind of worries me. Have something for you." Steve said under his breath.

He retrieved his notes from the hiding place and gave them to the two CDCR men and waited as they looked them over, before Goldwyn put them in his coat pocket.

"Good work, this Dougan made a threat to you as well, it is noted here." Mr. Bateman said concerned.

"Yes, the first day I was here. Been avoiding him as good as I can. Just hope I can keep on until this is over." Steve stated anxiously. "Red has been making sure I am left alone. I hope you can get him at least to a safer place when this is over, him and the other four. They took a chance telling me what they know."

"We'll see what we can do for them. We have their names. We can't make any promises but will do our best, That much I can promise." Mr. Bateman assured him. "Any message for your family?"

"Give them my love and I miss them." Steve answered, downheartedly wishing he could say much more but like Mike was not good at sharing his emotions.

After they have gone, he made his way to eat and found that Red had saved him a spot. Steve gave him the okay sign to let him know that things were fine. Afterwards they worked out some more and Steve filled him in that he passed on the information and they had just come to check on him.

"Watch out around Buster. I think he is up to something; I am going to stick with you as good as I can. When I can't, try your best to avoid him." Red said in a concerned voice.

"Will do my best. He was boring holes in me last night while we were playing cards. I got a bad feeling especially when saw he was with Dougan." Steve did his best to hide the fear in his voice.

"I saw what he did to this kid in here that refused his advances once. I don't want that happening to you. I am afraid that is what is on his mind, though, he was checking you out in the shower yesterday. He is what we call a "shower shark" so keep your wits about you at all times. Never let your guard down." Red spoke brusquely. "Capiche?"

"Capiche." And thanks Red, really." Steve spoke warmly.

Mike had received the call from Mr. Bateman informing him of Steve's well-being and of his message for Mike and Jeannie. He is about to call her when his phone rang once again and he had to laugh when he found out it was the person he was about to call.

"You must have been reading my mind, sweetheart. I was just about to call you, Steve is fine. He sent his love and he misses us, was the message he sent through Bateman and Goldwyn. So we can both stop our worrying. Hopefully, this will be over very soon. They have the information he had been able to get for them." Mike could not hide the pride in his voice.

"So now they are going to get him out of there right?" Jeannie asked anxiously. "I mean if they have the information there is no further need for him to stay, I would think."

"They want to make sure they have all their eggs in the basket before bringing him out." Mike said, trying to exude calm.

"Mike! I want him home now! As long as he is in there, he remains in danger do they not care?! "Jeannie exclaimed heatedly.

"Sweetheart, I want him home too. So do the guys here, but I can't just go in there and pull him out." Mike pacified.

"Can't you?!" Jeannie snapped frustrated. "Mike Stone, he better never ever do an undercover assignment of this nature again or I swear I will never speak to either of you again!"

Mike suppressed a laugh, knowing Jeannie was just venting but also knew knowing her, she just might follow through on her threat. Jeannie and he spoke of her coming home for a bit once Steve was home and them having a party to welcome Steve back. Jeannie was okay with the idea except for one thing, but she refused to say what the one thing was. As they hung up Mike was still trying to figure out what her objection was, but knew she would never tell until she was ready.

Just as they hung up Rudy Olsen came to Mike's office and knocked on the door frame. Mike waved him in surprised that Rudy Olsen was taking the time to knock. Usually he was a man who just walked right in no matter what you might have going on.

"Have you heard anything about the kid, Mike?" he asked with genuine concern in his voice. "I have been wondering how he was making out in there. I hope he is safe."

"So far he is doing good Rudy. I spoke with Bateman from CDCR and Steve was able to get a great deal of information from several inmates, who had experiences or knew of others' experiences from watching or being told about them. He had them names of ones they should be going after, so now they need to get warrants and round up the ones they want. Then hopefully Steve will be able to come home without further delay." Mike calmly replied. "He better anyway and very soon or Jeannie is going to drive me around the bend, and herself as well."

"She is giving you a hard time isn't she?" Rudy said with a laugh.

"You can say that again. She will not rest until he is back here in San Francisco. And I have been told never again any undercover assignments such as this or he and I will never be spoken to again and I honestly think she meant it." Mike said a bit worriedly.

Later part of the day

At Chino a new "hack" had come on duty. He seemed like an ordinary run of the mill prison guard. Nobody knew it, at least not yet, but for Steve Keller aka Josh Livingston he was going to be a nightmare. It sometimes is your past that comes back to make you wonder more than ever if you were going to be able to survive what is your present.