One day later, on the ruins.
"A moment of silence for our fallen colleagues."
Holden removed his hat and led the surviving guards in bowing their heads toward a section of rubble that had been completely buried.
They'd expected the worst, but after a full day of digging, five guards were still missing—neither alive nor dead.
The loss of his men hit the warden hard.
Just as Holden was gearing up for an emotional eulogy, Luke noticed one guard in the crowd looked off.
No grief on the guy's face. Just shifty eyes and the constipated look of someone dying to speak but terrified to open his mouth.
Luke tapped Holden's shoulder and nodded toward the man.
Holden followed his gaze, spotted the same thing, and marched over with a thunderous expression.
"Cage, what the hell is that face? Spit it out. Don't stand there looking like you're holding in a shit."
The guard named Cage flinched at being called out. Under the warden's glare he finally cracked.
"Warden… they're not dead."
"What did you just say?"
Holden's voice jumped an octave.
"Not dead? Then where the fuck are they? Why can't we find them?"
Cage's face turned beet red. He mumbled like a kid caught stealing.
"They clocked out this morning and snuck off for coffee and donuts."
The air went dead silent.
Holden's grief froze, then shifted to ice-cold fury.
"Those worthless bastards! When I get out of here I'm docking every last cent of their pay for the month!"
His roar echoed across the entire pit.
The survivors started hauling rubble to the edge, building a ramp they could climb out on.
Holden, who'd been raging seconds earlier, now looked like a deflated balloon. He squatted off to the side, staring at the ruins and sighing like the world had ended.
Luke walked over, confused.
"Warden, we're about to get out of here. Why do you look like someone just kicked your dog?"
Holden glanced up, face full of pain.
"This prison? I bought it with my own money. Now it's gone. That's a lot of cash down the drain."
"What?"
Luke stared at him, stunned.
"You own the prison? Prisons can even be bought?"
"Hold up—you're not a government facility?"
Holden gave him a puzzled look.
"Kid, what planet are you from? This is America. With enough money you can buy God himself a back door. A prison? That's nothing."
Luke was speechless.
A real cop had gone undercover in a private company?
A more immediate problem slammed into his head.
"Wait—my bonus. What happens to that?"
Holden burst out laughing.
"Don't worry about it, Luke. I don't keep all my eggs in one basket. I've got other businesses. Your money's safe."
Then he smirked.
"The donation I promised your department, though… that might have to wait a bit."
Luke let out a breath of relief.
Then curiosity got the better of him.
"Fine by me. But seriously, how the hell does a prison even turn a profit?"
Holden grinned like the crooked businessman he was and pulled Luke aside so none of the inmates could hear.
"You really don't get it, do you? The margins are insane."
The warden's face lit up with greedy pride.
"Operating costs are dirt cheap. Feed the cons just enough to keep them alive. Guards? You don't need Harvard grads for that. Pay's shit. As for profit? Easy. I take factory and government contracts. Inmates make products, grow crops—pay them pennies an hour. Almost pure profit."
Holden was getting excited now, spit flying.
"And if I didn't have connections in Miami, I never would've gotten the purchase rights in the first place."
Luke's jaw hung open.
This wasn't a prison. It was a goddamn slave factory printing money.
Now he understood why Holden had wanted everything kept quiet.
Private prisons couldn't afford public scandals.
Holden was about to keep bragging when an excited whoop cut him off.
"Fuck yeah! We're finally out! Freedom's calling my name!"
An inmate stood at the top of the new ramp, arms spread like a madman.
Holden's face darkened instantly. He marched up with a fake smile and a snarl.
"You idiots want to add years to your sentences? Don't do anything stupid!"
"Let me out first."
The pull of freedom was stronger than any threat.
"Hey, once you're out there, you don't answer to me anymore."
Even with Holden's warnings, plenty of inmates bolted like the devil was behind them.
By the time Luke and the others climbed out of the pit and caught their breath, the sight in front of them stopped everyone cold.
Civilians surrounded the entire crater, pointing and gawking.
The moment the guards and prisoners appeared, chaos erupted.
The inmates who'd tried to slip away charged straight into the crowd.
Luke watched one make a grab for a civilian's motorcycle.
The owner didn't hesitate—he pulled a pistol from his jacket and dropped the guy with one shot.
Classic Florida.
Luke recognized the fallen inmate. The guy had only six months left on his sentence.
Even if they saved him, he was looking at another ten years easy.
Holden didn't have time for that mess. He commandeered a few passing buses and started loading the remaining prisoners for transport to the police station.
The ones who ran? Not his problem anymore.
Inside the prison he was in charge. Outside? That was the cops' headache.
On the ride over, Luke asked the question that had been bugging him.
"Place is crawling with civilians. Where the hell is the government response?"
Holden snorted.
"Ha. By the time those lazy bastards finish arguing, we'd all be mummies in there."
The police station was pure bedlam.
Dispatchers were drowning in calls—citizens reporting escaped convicts left and right. The phones hadn't stopped ringing.
They barely had manpower to process the new arrivals.
Then five guards in uniform came rushing over, faces lit up with relief.
"Warden! Thank God you're alive! We've been waiting here all day for backup!"
They looked ready to cry—whether from joy at seeing their boss or relief that their jobs were safe, it was hard to tell.
Holden stared at the five men who'd skipped out for donuts, feeling both grateful they were breathing and a blood-pressure spike that could kill a horse.
"Great. All those years I paid you weren't completely wasted."
Before anyone could say more, the station doors swung open.
A group of sharp-suited men walked in with the police chief.
The chief's face was grim. He headed straight for Holden.
"Warden Holden, glad you made it out. The city needs you downtown right away."
Then the chief turned and looked directly at Luke.