Alabaster Isle…
“You can do whatever you choose with the inmates,” Russo said, blasé even for the room. It quirked my lips. “But we would want it to hold the outward appearance of a maximum security prison, or—”
“Penitentiary,” I murmured. “Alabaster Penitentiary.”
The room went quiet, and when I looked up again, they were all radiating some excitement.
“So, do we have a deal?”
“Not so fast, compañero. After all, this is a negotiation…” My smirk widened as I cracked my knuckles. “And I have demands.”
An hour later, I walked out of that office with a new property,anda new title.
Warden.
It’s still funny sometimes when I think about it.I mean, what cartel leader in the world would ever say yes to being a warden?? Isn’t that generally like, a terrible job?
But in all honesty, I was excited about it; the island more than anything. Adding it to my collection of territories…
And building my castle.
That was the one demand I wasn’t willing to budge on. From what I could tell, the island was about two miles across. Comparatively, the prison itself was quite small, just based on how large I knew prisons like Rikers, Sing Sing… Hell, even Alcatraz to be. But for these special circumstances, they felt that it worked, and I agreed.
Regular Supermax prisons could hold up to ten thousand inmates at a time. They anticipated sending in only a few inmates a year.
The point being that this was no ordinary prison. It wouldn’t be functioning like acorrectional facility…
It would basically be an alternative to a hole in the ground somewhere.
Hence my suggestion to make it an asylum. I had no interest in rehabilitation. That was boring, andsonot my style.
I wanted the worst of the worst, the monsters under your bed. I wanted the creeps, the freaks, your favorite Netflix documentaries come to life.
I wanted to trap evil under glass and watch what it did.
But we could revisit that.
Anyway, the facility was at the south end of the island, and the rest was untapped land. The way I saw it, why not take advantage of all that space and build somethingnew? Something that was just mine.
Like a mansion for me to live in while I was there.
The board agreed to let me design my very ownIvory mansion, with no cap on budget. Because they didn’t really have a choice.
The funding to operate the prison would come from a few avenues that they would work out. But as I explained, gettingAlabaster Penitentiary off the ground would take extra expenses, which they begrudgingly accepted.
On top of this offer, they also adhered to my demands and ceased all child trafficking connected to my business operations. This included a club Arturo had acquired in Hell’s Kitchen called The Fall, which I reclaimed. Fired everyone, hired all new staff to manage it, and renamed itClub Edge, which now has a strict eighteen-plus policy.
I was never able to locate the girl… The little bird’s twin sister. It was incredible how quickly she vanished.
I’d heard from Pablo—before I killed him—that she was simply given to a family who wanted a child and couldn’t afford to adopt. I sure as shit hoped that was the case, but you never know.
It’s been nearly six years. She could be anywhere.
But I won’t stop looking. Just like I won’t stop anticipating a potential future retaliation from the boy. That is the risk you run in letting people live, after all.
Look, I’m not saint—sin duda. But who says sinners can’t have their own fucked-up brand of morality? A code of ethics, no matter how warped or sinister, is still a code.
There’s no honor among thieves, but there are many different layers to honor.And thievery.
