Chapter Text
Coyle had always been a very paranoid man, and the surveillance state that the facility enforced only seemed to worsen that paranoia. He’d spotted the officer many times seemingly trying to take mental notes of where each camera was mounted in an effort to avoid it, but he couldn’t evade the watching eye of the camera lens within his cell; so, he didn’t bat an eye when he observed the cop crawling beneath his bed in what he assumed to be some desperate effort to maintain his privacy.
That was before it kept happening; he’d observed it three times this week alone. Leland would drag himself back from a particularly difficult Trial, and then he’d immediately slink under his bed like a beaten dog; he’d stay there for varying amounts of time, ranging from minutes to hours. He couldn’t just keep watching this odd behavior without further poking his nose into it; this matter was personal to him, so he refused to send a guard down there.
Once Leland was ushered off to a Trial, the doctor made his way down to Leland’s cell; all the other prime assets had been secured in their own cells, so it wasn’t as if anyone would attempt to disturb him. He pushed open the door to Leland’s cell, and closed it behind himself. Everything appeared to be in order, and the officer’s bed was still nearly made; but his interest lied in what was underneath the bed.
He crouched down, lowering onto his hands and knees. He had ran through various scenarios of what he may find, the potential of locating dangerous or inappropriate contraband; he expected maybe a makeshift weapon to attack Murkoff personnel with, a sex toy that he’d either lifted from a Trial or fashioned himself, or even drugs he’d somehow smuggled from one of the Trials- he didn’t find anything remotely close to any of that.
What he found was a blue squeaky toy in the shape of a bone; it was clearly intended for a dog, but the indentations of human teeth on the silicone told a different story. There was also a plushie, one that looked well cared for, of a little, brown dachshund with black eyes; it was a cute stuffed animal, but it felt very out of place in Leland’s cell. Both objects rested atop of a pile of blankets, all meticulously stacked and folded to resemble a dog bed; it looked thick enough to provide comfort, but he wasn’t sure where Leland had been finding so many blankets to hoard.
“That’s certainly interesting,” Easterman stood up. He was terribly intrigued, but he didn’t dare to confront Leland; it wouldn’t go over well at all. As he left the officer’s cell, he weighed his potential options for how to proceed; he couldn’t just let sleeping dogs lie, not this time. Franco had grown increasingly close with Leland to the point both men had essentially entered a relationship; perhaps Franco could coax this unusual behavior out of Leland- he needed to see it happen.
Hendrick returned to his office, and ordered one of the guards to fetch the mobster for him, and he did. He didn’t tell Franco what exactly he was after, he just remarked that he noticed how Leland seemed much more comfortable lowering his, normally wielded shut, wall around Franco than anyone else; he said he was concerned about Leland, and he just needed someone to check on him- Franco took the bait with minimal effort.