Faded Grey

Chapter 8

Anticipation made Elias' blood thrum inside his veins as he followed the guards along with other inmates. They were being led to the visitors' room, where Noah was suppose to be waiting for him.

Elias had talked to him on the phone a couple of days ago, and they had planned for the detective to visit so Noah could fill him in on what was happening on the outside world. It was also an opportunity for them to discuss in more details what they planned to do next, because they couldn't really talk about this on the phones since they were probably being tapped.

Elias couldn't help the warm feeling that bloomed into his chest once he saw hiss friend sitting at one of the tables, and he felt some of the weight he had carried this past month lift off his shoulders.

"Hey man, I'm glad to see you." The former lawyer said when he had sat down.

"Same here. You look pretty good for a man who's in prison." Elias scoffed and rolled his eyes. Despite the light tone in Noah's voice, he couldn't help but notice that his friend looked tense.

"Any news on our guy?" Noah sighed as he leaned forward with his arms crossed over the table.

"No, he seems to be laying low. I haven't seen him meet with any of his shady associates." The detective said in a low tone.

Silence fell over them for a moment as Elias nodded to himself.

"There's something I hadn't told you. Before I was arrested, I made a copy of the USB key. Since you're saying he's laying low, it would be the perfect opportunity to release it to the public. His guard is probably down because I'm in prison."

He thought his friend would agree with him, but Noah sighed and leaned back into his chair, running his hand through his hair while looking obviously stressed.

"What's wrong Noah? Don't you wanna follow through with this? It's what we worked for all these years."

"I don't know if it's a good idea, Eli. I think we should stay cautious for a while." The imprisoned man looked at him with a frown on his face, feeling incredulous. It wasn't like his friend to act so hesitant.

"Is there something else you're not telling me?"

Noah sighed and leaned forward with his hands on his face.

"About two weeks ago, I began to receive anonymous phone calls, threatening me and my family. It lingered in the back of my mind, but I wasn't too worried, until my wife's car was vandalized in the parking lot of her workplace. The tires of her car were slashed, and all of the windows were smashed."

Elias didn't know what to say. He was so preoccupied with his situation here that he had never expected his friend would be targeted.

"Do you have any idea who could've done this?" Noah looked up from his hands, and Elias realized who exhausted he looked. There were dark bags under his eyes, and creases on his forehead that hadn't been there before. 

"You know who, Eli. I mean, is there anyone else? He probably found out I was helping you somehow and he's trying to make me keep my mouth shut." Elias sighed. 

"Well, as much as I want to continue working on his case, I don't want to put you or your family in danger. So if you think it's best to lay low for some time, that's what we'll do." 

For the remaining time they had, Elias asked about Noah's work and how his daughters were doing in school. There was no point in talking about his own day to day life, since it was always the same monotonous routine inside those walls. Besides, the only 'exciting' things that happened in his life so far were being raped and becoming someone's bitch, so he doubted this was worth mentioning.