Tyler blinked.He followed Edgar for a few steps, then stopped.“What about him?”He hooked his thumb back at Cox.
“The room’s empty except for him, and I’ll seal it when we leave.No one can get in until I get back and unseal it, not even the warden.Come on, it’ll be quick.”
Tyler glanced back at Cox.The Lawgiver kept looking at him with those calm, cold blue eyes.He swallowed and followed Edgar.
Edgar led him to Cox's cell, where Smith, the HVAC guy, stood in front of the exposed ventilation shaft wearing a wry smile.He pointed at the shaft, and Tyler immediately saw the culprit of the blocked ventilation.Not candlewax.Toilet paper.Clumps of wet, moldy toilet paper.
“Looks like he was lying about the candlewax,” Smith said.“Can’t believe the smell didn’t bother him.There was a half-inch gap behind the panel, and he was stuffing toilet paper in it.Hell if I know why.”
He looked at the two CO’s hoping they might have an idea and be willing to share it with him.If Edgar did, he didn’t share.As for Tyler, he was too stunned to think at all, let alone try to deduce the reasons behind the actions of a madman.
After a moment, Smith cleared his throat.“Anyway, I’ll get this cleaned out and replace the grating that’s supposed to protect this panel from… stuff like this.Might suggest to your warden that he pipe the ventilation through the ceiling so your guests can’t reach it, but I guess that would be a bigger and more expensive project.Anyway, I’ll need about ten minutes, and then you’ll want to cycle the air through to get rid of any contaminants.Or just poison the guy.Might solve a few problems.”
Oh, if only.
Edgar grinned at Tyler.“Guy’s fuckin’ loco.”
“Yeah,” Tyler agreed.“Loco.”
Edgar clapped Tyler on the shoulder.“All right.Let’s get back to our duties.”He laughed.“Damn.How gone do you have to be to stuff freaking toilet paper into an air vent just for attention?”
Tyler laughed along with Edgar, but the fear he still carried overpowered his relief.Cox didn’t do anything just for attention.He was planning something.What, Tyler didn’t know, but when he returned to the processing room and saw Cox’s cold eyes and taunting smile still crinkling the skin underneath, he knew that the other shoe would drop soon, and when it did, he wanted to be as far away from ground zero as possible.
No more gifts.If that means no more Marcy, so be it.
God had shown him mercy today.Tyler hoped He was more merciful than Cox believed him to be.
