Nadia had decided to wait and leave in the morning so that they would have all day to learn the prison schedule and form an infiltration plan. The ride to San Quentin had been long and full of frustration and she was starting to regret her decision. The traffic seemed unusually heavy, even for California. Nadia's nerves were to the point of breaking and Aidan's added comments weren't helping. Blinkers people, blinkers! How hard is that? Oh, come on it's the longer pedal on the right!

By the time Nadia pulled the bike into the prison parking lot, she felt she was about to either burst into tears or kill someone. I miss Michigan, she repeated again to herself.

"I told you we should have rented a car. We look so inconspicuous sitting on a crotch rocket staring at a prison…" Nadia groaned to Aidan.

"And you're just adding to the whole picture by talking to yourself," Aidan pointed out.

"Good, that's what I was going for," Nadia snapped back; as she did so, a couple walking by quickened their pace and glanced cautiously back at her. She rolled her eyes and ignored Aidan's further comments. She was emotionally exhausted and the sun and curious eyes weren't helping any.

"Can I help you?"

Nadia jumped and spun around to face the deep voice that had come from behind her. She was dumbstruck when she immediately recognized the face that stared back at her. On the opposite side of the bike, waiting for an answer, stood Robert K. Wong; the warden of San Quentin prison. All she could think to say was the first thing that naturally popped in her head, "Oh, you scared the crap out of me," her hand pressed against her chest.

"Sorry about that;" he smiled. "I just noticed you standing there for awhile and wondered if you needed to make a phone call or something." Nadia frantically searched for a reason that would explain why she had been sitting on a parked bike outside a prison in the hot sun for 4 hours. He mistook her desperate thinking for confusion, "For a, uh…a ride…"

"Oh, no I'm uh…waiting for someone," she tried to make the sentence sound more like a statement than a question; but wasn't doing it very well.

"An employee?"

Before she could answer, Aidan jumped in, "Just repeat after me." Nadia was hesitant to follow her instructions; but was afraid of hesitating herself into suspicion so she listened to what Aidan had to say.

"Yeah, my boyfriend. I am starting to get the feeling that he got his shifts mixed up; but he won't answer his phone so that I can find out if he's alright." The words were coming flawlessly off Nadia's tongue and she was acting every bit as blasé as they sounded. She was starting to think Aidan was coming out a little too much again. "Oh, don't worry about that!"

"Oh, don't worry about that!" Nadia snapped and then immediately realized she wasn't supposed to say that out loud. Aidan laughed, "You still afraid I'm taking over too much?"

The warden stepped back, "Sorry, I…I just thought you could use a little help…"

"No," Nadia threw up her hands in an attempt to stop him. "Sorry," she slyly reached her hand into her pocket and grabbed her Bluetooth earpiece, "I, was talking to someone else…" she brushed her hair behind her ear and slipped the piece on and turned her ear towards him. "Technology," she smiled and laughed it off.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he laughed. "It's California; I thought you were talking with some voice in your head or something."

Nadia laughed, "Yeah, there are a lot of crazy people around here…"

"You're not from around here, I take it."

"No, I'm from Mi…nnesota," he gave her an odd look. "Sorry, hiccup."

"Would you like me to get your boyfriend out here? I'm the warden; I can get him down here with one call…"

"Gross, dude you're like 50!" Aidan said in disgust.

Would you shut up! Nadia thought back.

"Oh yes, because all girls fantasize about prison wardens…" Aidan sarcastically groaned.

Nadia burst out laughing but quickly stopped herself and covered it with a fake cough, "Sorry, I had a tickle." She returned her attention to the warden, "You were saying?"

"Uh, do you want me to go and get your boyfriend to come down here?"

"Right," she said to herself. "Thanks, but no. I'm gonna try calling him again and if he doesn't answer I'm going to go get something to eat; I've been out here awhile…"

The warden started to turn and walk to the prison, "Alright; but if you still can't get a hold of him and you come back, just go to the front door and ask for me."

Aidan rolled her eyes. "Thanks, that's really sweet." She started to get on the bike but stopped and turned to try and catch him before he got too far away. "Can I ask you a weird question?"

"Great, now he's gonna think you want to ask him out…" Aidan groaned; but Nadia ignored her.

"Sure," the warden started to walk back to her.

"I know this is a really weird thing to ask…but; I've heard so many different things." She paused and waited to see what his reaction would be; when he only looked expectant, she continued. "Where is death row? I mean I've heard that it is the wing closest to the water so that if they escaped they would have to go back by the entire prison. But I've also heard that it is at a completely different compound…" She tried to talk fast and all over the place to make him feel more comfortable with why she would be asking such a thing.

He raised his hand to stop her and chuckled, "It is here, first of all. And who ever told you about the water thing is right on. The wing pointed directly at the pacific, directly across from where we're standing, is death row. You should've just asked your boyfriend, he would've known."

Nadia and Aidan were completely engrossed in what he was saying; already planning their escape. "Huh? Oh, yeah well we try not to talk about work too much… Anyway, it was nice meeting you," she quickly threw her hair back and pulled on her helmet. Before he could even get halfway to the front steps, she was pulling out of the parking lot and headed to nowhere in particular.