Intro

Neal Caffrey worked fast to get clean-shaven. With a six-week beard, it was not the easiest thing to do. But he had scissors, a simple razor and a piece of a broken mirror. In a maximum security prison, it took skill and luck to have as much. The inmates were not supposed to deal with any sharp objects. Even in the workshop with its machines, there were no portable things you could cut someone with.

He washed the soap off his face with water from the tank of the toilet and felt the smooth skin of his chin. Perfect. He combed back his unruly hair with wet hands. It would stay slick long enough.

From the toilet tank, he brought out several packages in plastic. Then he disposed of the razor tools and his orange prison jumpsuit in there. He pulled on the black uniform of a prison guard, tied the boots.

With a deep breath, he left the staff's bathroom and walked down the corridor. He passed through the workshop with confidence. A few faces on top of orange clothing glanced at him. Either they recognized him or wondered where his utility belt was. The belt was the only thing faltering in his otherwise perfect black outfit of a correctional officer.

No inmate would ever snitch on someone escaping. It was the other guards that could cause a problem. The prison was big enough to host too many guards for a new face to be something odd. He also kept his route out of where he usually moved, to stay away from those who knew him well. They had seen him without a beard for three and a half year and would spot him in an instant.

He passed a row of cells with prisoners and guards walking in the other direction. Not ideal, but at least he could keep his own pace. Huge confidence was one of his biggest assets in these situations.

Neal passed the door to a staff area. At the end of the corridor was a barred door which would be his final obstacle on his way out. The magnet strip of his card met the reader. The door buzzed. Neal pushed it open. Only to face one of the guards he met regularly in the shop. He kept his face composed and stayed cool.

The man probably recognized him, but could not place from where. A second and then the guard smiled and let him pass.

Neal Caffrey, an inmate of a maximum security facility, pushed the front door open and left the prison.