Elijah’s mouth lifted a little at the corners. A road block, hmm? He stood from the bench then, and he headed back towards the cell he shared with Will. Once there, he gestured that Will should lean against the bars in front of Elijah’s desk, blocking him from view. Then, with Will in position, Elijah pulled open the drawer of his desk.
There wasn’t a false bottom as such, that was far too fancy. But he’d fashioned something like it out of cardboard, and placed magazines on top. Under the cardboard was where his hidden contraband was. Most of the prisoners ended up with something eventually, but Elijah had more than most. And he had money. It was useless to the other prisoners, sure. There wasn’t a commissary here. But it was not useless to the guards. Elijah grabbed some bills and a few cartons of cigarettes and he slipped them in his pockets.
Once he straightened up, he went to lean against the bars beside Will. His voice was low as he said, “see the guard over there? The one with the black beard? That’s Travis. He’s bribable if you have the right price.”