The power went out in the prison at 11:58 PM.

That was known by the sound of cell doors opening in the night.

Franklin's eyes darted in the direction of the door and got up to to his feet. He took off the prison clothing to reveal the stolen prison officer outfit underneath and rolled the clothing into a ball as he made his way into the crowded prison hall that was full of inmates standing around wondering what was going on. He made it to the door putting on a hat that he lower to shield his face. It was hard to believe that things were going as he had expected. He slipped past several prison officers with head lowered and came out of the prison. It was a very elaborate escape plan full of deceit. He could deal with isolation, being chastised, the dirty looks from the inmates around him, and his mother getting to have another chance at continuing to live a pain free life. The last few years had been rough on her and more importantly on his step-father. He could deal with the look of betrayal from Waltercoth.

Franklin bolted into the passenger side seat and closed the door beside him.

"Go!" Franklin said.

"I'm going, goiing-and gone," Waltercoth sped off from the prison heading toward the city. "Mind telling me why I just found out that his old employers have been trying to kill him for the last thirty years?"

"If Mister Smith is as fragile, old, and threatened constantly," Franklin replied. "He would have been put into a super max years ago."

"Kept there, eating alone, sitting alone in his cell, not being sent around to work, no social interaction asides to one hour a day in the in-door courtyard, and never being able to see the sky again . . . ." A typical human would find it a fate worse than death, was what Waltercoth was trying to say. "But he would live."

"Right that he would," Franklin said, turning his attention on to her. "He has a abnormal tendency to get out of harms way."

"You mean to say that he is lucky," Waltercoth said.

"Suppose I am," Franklin said. "For thirty years, they've been told no to take care of their unresolved issue and this time, someone said yes. Only from the outside."

"How do you know about the hired assassin?" Waltercoth said.

"They told me," Franklin said. "Wanted me to know that it was going to be handled after I turned their request down."

"So bad you wanted to avoid it," Waltercoth said.

"He doesn't deserve that way to die," Franklin said.

"What do you think?" Waltercoth asked.

"Alone in a cold room," Franklin said. "Like Major West."

"Like you will be," Waltercoth said. "You have a-what? A sentence that goes over one thousand years?"

"Unlike Smith, I can get parole," Franklin said.

Waltercoth leaned forward then pressed on several buttons on the radio.

"You mean that you can get out," Waltercoth said. "Can you tell the parole board with a straight face that you regret what you did?"

"Yes," Franklin said.

"Can you see yourself doing it?" Waltercoth asked.

"Not right now," Franklin said.

"Someday, you will," Waltercoth said, then turned the volume up.