The 10

28

Detective Sherman reads the final page of Winters file and cross-references the contents with Samuels file. He's trying to find a connection between the two and can't- aside from the fact that they were once in Bushmount together. Sherman wants to know if there's any possibility that he and Samuels planned to escape together.

Sherman curses to himself and picks up the phone, making probably the most important phone call that could break the case wide open.

                                                                                              ❥

Meanwhile, Kate and Frankie finish their final class for the day and head out of school. Frankie is a stride or two ahead of Kate, but Kate isn't taken back by it. She knows Frankie has always been distant and kept to herself. When they get to their cars, Kate clears her throat and decides to ask the question she wanted to be answered since the first period.

"So, what's the deal with, you know." Kate motions to Frankie's trunk.
"When I'm dealing with family stuff, I camp out in my car. No big deal." she shrugs.
"So, it's not a permanent thing?"
"No, definitely not." Frankie lies.
"Well, if it does become one, you can crash at my place." Kate offers.
"Thanks, but I don't think it'll come to that, Winters." Frankie nudges Kate's shoulder before getting into her car.
    Kate shakes her head before getting into her car and following Frankie to the stop sign before going in opposite directions. Christopher waits for most of the students to leave before leaving to head to Kate's house. Kate's car is already in the driveway when Christopher pulls into his regular spot. He scoffs after noticing the deputy car is already gone. Circling Kate's house, he enters through the back door.
    Peeking his head through the slightly open door, he eyes for Kate or her mother more importantly. Relieved not to see her mother, he heads up the stairs and knocks on Kate's door, opening it slightly.
"Hey," he says.
Kate turns slightly in her chair. "Hey."
"So, the Young girl, huh?"
Kate turns, facing him, brow raised. "Excuse me?"
"I saw you with the Young kid."
"How'd you know her last name, though. That's my question." Kate charges.
"I saw her file."
"What do you mean, you "saw her file?"
"I was a security guard at your school for a while. You know that. I saw a lot of files."
Kate turns, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, okay."
Bouncing on his toes, Christopher walks to her bed, taking his usual seat. "You present your essay yet?"
Kate turns her head slightly. "Today, actually."
Christopher smiles. "And?"
"And what?"
"What'd your teacher think?"
"I don't know. I won't know until I get it back."
"Do you think you could re-print it and send it to the Parole Board?"
"What for?" Kate laughs. "You escaped. Your parole went out the window the minute you exited that prison. You may never be up for parole ever again. Why couldn't you just wait the month?"
"Because there was no guarantee that they would've granted me parole."
"How do you figure?"
"What do you mean?"
"You saved your mother's life. You never meant to kill your stepfather. It just happened. There was a good chance they would've granted it." Kate scoffs, turning back to her computer.
Christopher looks down, biting his lip. "I'm sorry. You're right." He runs a hand through his somewhat long hair.
"It's fine," Kate says, never taking her eyes from the screen.
"I uh, I have a question."
"Okay." she remains locked to the screen.
"Will you cut and dye my hair?"
"Excuse me?" Kate turns.
"I think it's time for a change."
"More like, "I think I need a disguise."
"Yes, but no."
"I guess." She shrugs, returning to her work. "There might be a box of dye in the closet from when my dad was here."
    Christopher rises and opens several doors before finding the closet he was in search of. Grabbing the only box of hair dye, named Chestnut, he shuts the door before re-entering Kate's bedroom. Kate raises her pointer finger, typing a few more sentences before saving and printing the assignment. She shoves it into her folder before going into her closet. She enters with a chair covered in colors.
"It's the chair my mom and I call, "the salon chair," it's seen better days. But, sit." she pats the chair.
    Kate disappears into the bathroom, returning with old towels, also stained in various colors, placing them on her desk. Opening the dye box, she grabs the gloves from the directions pages and mixes the dye. Setting the conditioner on her desk, she lays the stained towels around Christopher's neck and back. Adjusting his hair to find his roots, she begins squeezing and rubbing in the dark brown mixture.
    Kate tosses the bottle in her trash can, along with the gloves, and hands Christopher the mirror.
"Twenty minutes."
"Is it supposed to itch?" he laughs.
Kate nods. "Yeah, it means the dye is setting."
"Cool."
"Have you ever dyed your hair before?" Kate asks, sitting on one of her legs on her bed.
"Nah." he shrugs.
"I mean, I've had my moments where I wish I hadn't dyed mine, but I also enjoyed taking care of roots."
"I've never had my hair taken care of at all, now that I think of it." he looks down.
"Head up," Kate says, reaching and gently pushing his head up, careful not to touch the dye.
"Thanks." he laughs. "But anyway, yeah, no one's ever cut it, dyed it, nothing."
"Until today." she winks.
"Yeah, I guess so," he smirks. "I appreciate you doing this."
"You swear you're not doing this as a disguise?"
"Swear. I just wanted a change. I wanted to experience things I couldn't in there and didn't before I got locked up."
"I'd probably do it, too, if I was you."
"Just wanting to cross some things off my list before I go back."
"So you do plan on going back?"
"Yeah. But on my terms."
    Twenty minutes pass before Kate grabs hold of the towels and drags Christopher to the bathroom.
"Step in." After Christopher's in the shower, she tells him to drop his clothes and the towels into the garbage bag. "Be sure to rinse out all of the dye before using the conditioner." she reminds him before stepping out.
    Christopher spends what feels like hours in the shower. He's enjoying the feel of the dye rinsing. He smiles lightly, watching the water turn brown as it disappears into the drain. He lets out a moan while he smoothes out the conditioner throughout his hair. Running his hands through his hair, he realizes his hair is as soft as ever. Grabbing one of the washcloths Kate gave him, he grabs her vanilla-scented body wash, ridding his body of its odor.
"Kate?" he calls.
A moment later, he hears the door creak. "Yeah?"
"I'll try to keep this brief. But, uh, is there any chance you still have a package of your father's old razors?"
Kate blushes, thankful Christopher can't see. "I'll check." Christopher stares at nothing until he hears the door creak. "I found, literally one, package." she laughs.
Christopher slides the curtain slightly open, taking the razors. "Thanks." he smiles.
"No problem." Christopher takes out one razor and hands the package back. "Thanks. If my mom noticed these were gone, I don't even want to know how she'd react." Kate smiles lightly, placing the razors back in their place.
    When Kate comes back, with some of her father's clothes, Christopher's sitting in the chair, his hair wrapped in a towel.
"Oh, okay." Kate laughs.
"I'm ready, Ms. Stylist."
    Laughing, Kate goes into the bathroom and grabs everything she'll need. Kate plugs in the hairdryer, and she lightly takes hold of a few strands of his hair, running the heat over it. She watches as he gets chills from the sudden heat. Once his hair is mostly dry, she grabs the straightener. While waiting for it to heat up, Kate runs a brush through his newly darkened hair. Setting the brush next to the straightener, she straightens and layers his hair. Christopher enjoys her touch. She's so gentle and careful to him.
    Once his hair is straight, she grabs the scissors. Reaching for her phone, she searches for 'men's hairstyles.' Handing the phone to him, she tells him to pick the one he wants. He chooses an undercut with a quiff. Kate laughs, knowing he would pick that style.
"How'd you know?"
"Everyone has that style nowadays. You'll definitely fit in."
    Christopher smirks when Kate's behind him again. Kate nudges the garbage bag at her feet as she goes. She grabs the hair gel into her bathroom and runs it through the quiff, keeping it in place. She pats Christopher's shoulder, and he rises, going to the mirror at her dresser.
"Wow."
"I know, right?" Kate laughs. "I mean, I amazed myself."
"I look like a different person."
"That's what you wanted, right?"
"Yeah, a fresh start before I go back."
    Kate grabs the towels, clothes, and his hair. She hides it in her closet. Before setting the bag down, she comes up with a crazy idea. Grabbing a duffel bag, she puts the bag inside and covers it with new gym clothes and a towel. Setting it next to her backpack, she huffs, throwing herself onto her bed. Huffing once more, she gets back up and disappears into her closet. Stripping off her jeans and bra, she throws on loose shorts and a cropped hoodie. Christopher's on his usual side of the bed, and Kate lifts the blanket, sliding in.
    The pair lays there, staring up at the ceiling. Kate becomes annoyed when her ears start ringing. Lifting slightly, she turns off her desk lamp, leaving them in the dark. Grabbing her TV remote, she clicks a button, and the room becomes lit with various colors. Christopher stares, watching whatever Kate has put on. Kate occasionally laughs, and Christopher turns, smiling at her every time she smiles.
"I don't have to worry about your mom coming in, do I?"
"No." Kate turns her head, looking him in the eyes. "She's on a business trip until Friday."
Christopher nods. He turns to her again. "Kate?"
"Mhm?" she hums.
"What's going to happen when I go back?"
Kate's brows furrow, she turns to face him once more. "What do you mean?"
"Well, you said you were going to write to me. But, now that I've escaped. . . Are you going to write to me when I go back?"
Kate sighs, thinking. "If it's possible, I guess."
"You don't think it will be possible, though."
"I know it won't. I can't write to my own father." Kate tucks her lips in, trying not to tear up.
Christopher shuffles closer, wrapping an arm around her. "We can drop this conversation if you want." He feels Kate scoot closer before feeling her nod her head against his chest.

                                                                                              ❥

That following morning, in Manhattan Penitentiary, Detective Sherman sits on a very uncomfortable metal stool. His hands folded, knuckles pressed tightly, turning white, he awaits for the man he came to see. Hearing the buzz and the sound of metal scraping against metal, he looks up and finds the one he came to see.

"William." he greets.
William Winters smirks. "Detective Sherman."
Sherman unfolds his hands, opening the file in front of him. "Does the name Christopher Samuels sound familiar to you?"
William smirks, putting his hand sarcastically on his chin. "Hm, I'm not sure."
Sherman bangs his fist on the metal table. "Cut the shit, Winters."
William smirks. "Alright, yes, I knew him. He was my cell mate, so what?"
Sherman takes the photo of William's family out of the folder and slides it towards him. "Did he know about your family?"
"Yeah, they may have come up."
"Coincidentally, your daughter was assigned to interview him for school. A week later, he escaped."
"So? What does that have to do with my kid?"
"We believe he may have become infatuated with her." Sherman pauses. "While you and he were cell buddies."
William looks back at the photo, then back up to Sherman, genuinely shocked. "Wait- wait. Do you honestly think- I'm not even sure what you think."
"We believe that you two had planned to escape together all those years ago, but he backed out."
"No."
"No? How am I supposed to believe that?"
"Because I never told Samuels 'bout my plan to bust out."
Sherman grabs another piece of evidence from the file. "This look familiar to you?"
William grabs the photo of Kate's necklace. "Yeah, my mother sent me a letter about this. How'd you get it? Did something happen to Kate? Is she okay?"
"She's fine, Winters. Samuels stole it."
"Wait. He was at my house?" William screams.
"Calm down. No one was hurt. But we found footprints in the dirt outside the house, and then we found the necklace. He must've dropped it."
"Why are you here, Sherman? I mean, really here?"
"I need to know everything you and Samuels talked about."
William's brow furrows as he looks down, licking his lips. "Okay, I'll tell you everything I can remember."