With Good Behavior Read Online Free PDF

the snipers in the guard towers. Blessedly the assault on his body ceased, but Grant soon found himself roughly hauled to his feet by two corrections officers. They quickly cuffed his hands behind his back and led him to the administration building, where a CO dumped him into a chair in the warden’s office.
    “This one just got in a fight, sir,” the CO informed his boss. “Inmate Grant Madsen.”
    “Wait outside,” the warden instructed, and the officer dutifully left the room. The warden opened a file drawer and extracted a manila folder.
    Grant shifted uncomfortably in his chair, trying to release the pressure from the handcuffs. Noting the absence of other inmates, Grant determined that apparently he would be the only one punished for the fight. His father probably had worked out an arrangement with the COs in Gurnee, some sort of  quid pro quo  in which Enzo paid them to leave him and his business alone. Some things never changed.
    He studied the older gentleman across the desk as he read the file. Warden Raymond Arthur appeared to be in his late fifties, with receding black hair, ruddy cheeks, and a belly protruding beneath the vest of his three-piece suit. Large glasses magnified his shrewd eyes, which now gazed at the prisoner.
    “You’re a college graduate and a former naval officer, Mr. Madsen.” Raymond’s voice was weathered from years of smoking cigars. “I wouldn’t expect you to be disturbing the peace on your very first day.”
    Grant felt a sharp pain in his ribs with each breath, but he managed to say, “Yes, sir.”
    “What was the fight about?”
    Swallowing, Grant said, “I had a, um, disagreement with another inmate, sir.”
    “Which inmate?”
    Grant’s stared straight ahead and remained silent. Evidently nobody at Gurnee knew he was the son of Vicenzo Barberi, the head of a Mafia organization, and Grant intended to keep it that way.
    Frustrated by the prisoner’s silence, Raymond coldly ordered, “This is your first day at Gurnee, Madsen, and it seems you’re unable to play nice with the others. Sixty days in solitary. And when you get out, I don’t want to see your face in here again.”
    Grant’s heart pounded and sweat trickled down his back at the thought of being locked in a tiny, dark cell for that length of time, but he showed only a resolute coolness as he met the warden’s stare. “Yes, sir.”
    “Guard!” Raymond’s voice boomed authoritatively.
    “Jesus,” Joe exhaled, bringing Grant out of solitary’s claustrophobic walls and back to the open-aired brightness of the courthouse steps in downtown Chicago. “No wonder you took your father’s protection when you got out of solitary.”
    Grant looked down.
    Joe chewed the inside of his cheek. “Did they, uh, those guys ever, uh …?”
    Grant quickly shook his head. “My dad’s a powerful man.”
    Squinting, Joe’s expression became stormy. “He is.” He sighed heavily. “So, how was solitary?”
    Grant found his hands balled into fists. It became difficult to breathe as dark walls closed in on him.
    “Grant?”
    Shaking his head to stop the disturbing images, Grant jammed his hands into the pockets of his khaki pants. “I’m sorry. You deserve better after taking care of me all those years, after helping to get me into the Navy, after saving my life, really.”
    Joe peered at him strangely. “What  happened  in the hole?”
    “Please, sir, please don’t make me tell you what happened.” Grant’s eyes begged right along with his voice. “I understand if you never want anything to do with me ever again. Just please, please don’t ask me to explain.”
    Joe was pained as he watched his nephew trembling before him, seemingly on the verge of tears once again. What the hell had transpired in prison?
    “It’s okay, Grant. You don’t have to tell me. Of course I want to be part of your life. I …” He looked away, clearing his throat. “I love you.”
    “Th-th-thank you.” Grant couldn’t