His staff liked him, and that was crucial to making his plan a success. After all, who would suspect a friendly, rules-abiding warden if an accident happened to take place?
When Aiden finally made it to the break room, the poker game was already in full swing, though he could see two of the five guards currently playing had already folded. Nigel, the Chief of Guards, had a pile of cash in front of him which told Aiden he’d likely already won a couple of rounds.
“Boss!” the massive guy called out just as he won the current hand with a full house. “Are you playing?”
Aiden inclined his head at the fridge. “I skipped breakfast, so I’m starving. I’ll deal for you today.” He picked his curry rice from the top shelf and deposited it in the food reheater. “It’s your opportunity to win some cash before I swoop in and take it all next time.”
“Cocky,” Nigel grinned, collecting the cards.
Aiden suppressed a smile at the casual remark. The way he treated his staff and granted them certain perks were unconventional at best and inappropriate at worst. But it worked and wasn’t outright prohibited since he had a certain degree of freedom in running the prison. As long as everyone was behaving, the higher-ups didn’t care so much about the details.
Aiden sat at the table and shuffled the cards, earning himself a few wolf’s whistles for his technique. Nigelwas good at poker, the best among all the current players, and Aiden was average at most. He’d played with the guys twice so far and won, making everyone believe he was unbeatable, but the truth was that it had been pure luck. In fact, Aiden lost more often than not and preferred to deal since dealing made him feel in control of the game, even if he wasn’t technically playing it.
A chorus of exaggerated grunts erupted as Nigel pocketed another hand. “I have to say, boss, this was a brilliant idea.”
What Nigel was referring to was that Aiden had officially allowed gambling on the premises, for as long as the games were being played responsibly and the stakes never went over two hundred credits per person. Everyone loved him for it, and the distraction these games provided ensured the staff rarely got in his way.
“Perhaps a tournament format with the inmates once the repairs have concluded is a possibility,” Aiden mused, tapping his fingers on the table. All heads turned to him, and eyes tracked the journey of a scoop of rice to his mouth. “I’m still working out the logistics, so it might take a while before we test-run it. Probably won’t be before the inspection.”
“Careful, boss.” Nigel sniggered, bumping his shoulder into Aiden’s. “We don’t want to overwhelm the higher-ups with too many progressive ideas.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Nigel, by the way, are we hitting the bar tonight?” Bobi, the guard with a scruff on his face, jumped in.
“Was planning to. You coming too, boss?” Nigel threw Aiden a hopeful smile.
“Maybe next time. I’ve got plans for tomorrow and no time for a hangover,” Aiden said, earning himself a chorus of disappointed sighs.
“Thought it was your day off?”
“It is. But I’ve a few things I need to take care of.”
“I swear, boss, you are such a workaholic.”
The rest of lunch break was a mixture of swearing, grunting and laughing. Aiden agreed to a gym session with Nigel next time their days off aligned and also found that the constant buzz of conversation reminded him of the team meetings at his firm, his board and employees discussing the newest project and the best way to ensure the client’s needs were met. It would have been a lie to pretend he didn’t miss his former career or the magic of sketching something on the screen and then bringing it to life in the real world…
But that was all behind him now, nothing but a fleeting moment of soul-deep fulfillment that lived only in his past. Because Aiden Kesley wasn’t the ambitious architect from two years ago who’d been engaged to the most amazing woman in the world. He was a man whose sole purpose was to get to the bottom of her murder no matter the cost.
The next day, Aiden slept in. He’d spent the entire night going over Cleveland’s files, but as tired as he was, he got up and took the tram to downtown Sinhle. It was just after noon on a Saturday and thus not overly busy as the evening rush of people on their way to clubs and other such establishments hadn’t begun yet.
The mag-tram came to a stop, and the doors swished open, letting Aiden out onto the elevated platformoverlooking Sinhle’s only green park. As the sole place on Europa terraformed to resemble Earth, it was bustling with activity every day of the week and especially on weekends, when families could get together and enjoy games or picnics under the mix of natural and artificial sunlight Europa’s refractors provided.
Riding the elevator to the ground level, Aiden watched the scenery of the Residents’ Park lose some of its magnificence with the change in his perspective. The small pond he’d seen from the platform was now obscured behind trees and a playground, and the Monument of Exploration—which doubled as a comms tower encased in signal-positive white stone—seemed ten times more massive from up closer. The architect in Aiden couldn’t help but be intrigued by its sleek body and the twelve beams that connected it to the slightly angled ring-shaped observation deck and control station at its top.
Aiden’s chest felt tight as a rush of guilt surged through him. None of this fascination mattered and yet, he couldn’t shut the flicker of excitement entirely; his passion, whatever was left of it, seemed to be something that he couldn’t change even if he’d managed to change so many other pieces of himself so he could be where he was today.
Scowling, Aiden tore his gaze away from the comms monument as he headed toward the wooden structure at the park’s western entrance. He was here to meet with Rick, not to reminisce about things he needed to let go.
“Welcome to the Green Café,” a slender redhead greeted him. “Do you have a reservation?”
Aiden gave the booking’s details and the woman took him to his table at the edge of the decked terrace.
“Aiden!” Rick pushed up from his chair and gave him a hug.
“Hi, Rick,” Aiden greeted back, flinching away.
“Still not a hugger, I see,” Rick commented when he pulled away, offering a sympathetic smile.
