The Facility

Chapter Six

"I, uh, had a few questions regarding the assignment you left me." Meredith could hear the sound of papers ruffling in the background. "So well, I didn't really know S.A. Lee, so I thought I would go and speak with him. And well, I guess it wasn't as much a question as a comment."

"Spit it out." Meredith picked at her chipping nail polish, unbothered by how the flaking paint made her nail rough; the polish was clear anyway.

"When was the last time you spoke with Lee?" Eddie blurted the words out-quick and direct.

Meredith was caught off guard and didn't expect such forwardness from Eddie. No one had really ever talked about Lee; he seemed like a ghost to her.

"I hadn't seen him since the trial," she said softly.

"Okay when I was doing some research I found a tap that recorded the whole trial. Before Lee was taken away, he spoke to you, what did he say?"

"He said he was innocent." The bounce in her leg turned into a distracting twitch. She moved over to her luggage to pull today's clothes out. "Why are you asking?"

"He's not in the Metropolitan Correctional Center."

Meredith about dropped her phone when he said this. She felt a bead of sweat as it trickled down the side of her neck. "They transferred him to Colorado already?"

"No, he's not at Florence ADX either."

Meredith held her breath, waiting for Eddie to elaborate, when he didn't she took a deep breath and asked, "Is he dead?", the words coming out as a helpless whisper.

"I don't know."

A series of deaths ran across her vision; brutal execution style killings. Meredith sat at the edge of the bed, feeling lightheaded she put her face in her lap. "So you don't know anything?" Her words coming out slightly muffled.

"I know a U.S. Marshal came and picked him up on October 16th at 2:38 p.m."

"Do you know his name?"

"He signed the papers as Richard Bore, but there are no current or former U.S. Marshal's under that name. I then ran his picture through the database but nothing turned up, and there's no use running for any prints. He wore gloves the whole time."

Meredith fist pounded down on the mattress in anger. "And no one thought that was suspicious?"

"It was the middle of October, it was cold outside."

She rolled over onto her side, exhaustion from the news running through her still tired body. "Is that all?"

Eddie didn't answer right away, she could hear the anxiety in his breathing and failed attempts to speak. "I-I don't know where to look next."

She sighed heavily. "Send me the information you gathered, I'll handle it. I need you to keep on the case itself."

"Yes, I'm emailing you the files now."

Meredith nodded before she realized he couldn't see her. "Good, call me if you need or find anything else."

"Of course, thank you for the help, Ms. Gray."

Meredith heard her tablet ding from the bag on the desk. "I just got your email. I'll call if I need anything else." Before she hung up, she added, "You did a really great work Eddie, thank you."

She could almost hear the smile on his words. "I hope your day goes well."

She scoffed. "Unlikely, but I hope yours goes better than mine. Good-bye, I'll talk to you soon."