Free Blood Cell by Shaun Tennant

Santos saw now what he should have seen then. Leo was a live wire, and Santos had allowed him to short out the entire gang. He would soon correct the mistake.
    After talking with the new guy, Josh something, Santos found a plan developing his mind. It was quite beautiful in its simplicity: a variation on ‘suicide by cop’ that would allow for Leo to die without anyone blaming Santos. To begin with, Josh would be sent to steal one of the guards’ swipe cards. Then Josh, or one of Santos’ soldiers, would need to get into one of the guard posts and use the swipe card to get access to the gun locker. All they would need is a sidearm; it didn’t even necessarily need bullets. Getting into the guards’ office above the mess hall would be impossible, but there were small booths at the end of each walkway in the cellblock where guards controlled the cell doors. Each walkway only had one guard for most of the day, and it would be easy enough to drive them away.
    For example, they could beat the piss out Leo. That would be a good diversion to send the guard running. While he was gone, Josh could slip into the booth, open the locker and grab a gun as quick as he could. By the time the guard called for backup to pull the Eighteenth off of Leo, Josh and the gun would be long gone.
    The next step would be at the nightly lockdown. Leo only left his cell for a shower in the morning and meal times, and that was only because the guards made you go. Santos couldn’t hide a gun in the shower, and there were too many eyes on him in the mess hall, so they’d have to take the action to Leo and Josh’s cell. The plan was really quite simple.
    The guards have standing orders to shoot anyone escaping, or anyone who steals a gun. Santos would send one of his men to shove the gun into Leo’s hands, and then Santos himself would yell “Gun!” while his entire gang pointed at Leo. Leo, dumbass that he is, would be standing there holding a gun for all to see. And the guards on duty would bring him down with their sidearms within seconds. Leo would be dead, with over a hundred witnesses and security camera footage showing that Leo had pulled a gun, and that the guards had taken him down. The best time for the plan to work was either first thing in the morning or last thing at night, when more guards were in the stacks marshalling prisoners. Morning was out because it would mean that someone would have to hide a gun all night, and hope nobody noticed it missing. So that meant the plan would have to be carried out at night, when the guards came by before lights out.
    It wasn’t a perfect plan. Leo could always drop the gun and surrender before he was shot, and the person trying to plant the gun could get caught before they plant it. Josh had told them that he would get them the card to steal a gun, but wouldn’t plant the weapon himself. They agreed to that, because even though it would be easier if Josh did everything, the eighteenth wanted to kill Leo on their own.
    One thing the plan had going for it was the guards. Leo was already being watched by everyone in the place, and if they beat him up to make a distraction it would mean even more guards would be there to watch Leo when the gun was planted. More guards meant more trigger fingers.
     
    *****
     
    Josh woke up in his new cell. It was a few minutes before morning count, but Josh had been awakened by his new cellie. He was an Asian guy named Harold Kim, and on the bunk below Josh he was loudly snorting cocaine out of a small baggie. Josh smiled and lay back with his hands behind his head. This was much better than being awakened by a choke hold.
    In the late afternoon, Josh surveyed the guards on duty in the block and decided that the one with sandy brown hair looked the least intimidating.
    “Officer Williams?” asked Josh when the guard walked by his cell.
    “What is it, new guy?”
    “I got moved from my old cell in the night. I need to go get my change of clothes out of the old