Brendan enjoyed the closeness with Elsa, sensing a warm emotional connection that probably hadn't even existed when they'd had sex. As she pulled away, he ran his fingers through a few strands of her honey-brown hair. He was glad she accepted the fact that he'd need to punish her still; he knew it would be hard to get away with excusing her from it all together. He regretted even having spoken to the warden now. He knew she'd keep a close eye on him. "C'mon," he sighed, opening the door and leading the way out. They walked side by side down to the cell block. "I brought a book and a little flashlight for you," he whispered. "I'll slide it to you when we get to the cell. I hope it might help pass the time if you want to read it. But please try to keep it hidden. I don't want to get fired."
Although he hadn't told her ahead of time, he led her to a decent sized cell, with a bunk, blanket, standing room, and a toilet. He opened the door, and slid the items under the blanket. "I'll see you in the morning," he said sternly, but with a smile. Brendan headed home, finding it difficult to erase from his mind the image of Carlos hovering over the bent-over Elsa. He tried to banish from his mind the fantasy of being able to do with Elsa what Carlos did, sick though it was.
Over the next week, Brendan administered his own style of "punishment" to Elsa, which was basically none at all. Mornings were spent in the inmate kitchen, where Elsa had been reassigned to work, safe among mostly female inmates. Afternoons were often spent in his office, talking, and having 'guard food'. He had smuggled Elsa more books to read, and they often talked about them in the afternoons. Brendan, meanwhile, falsified her activity logs, noting at least one punishment every day. The only real discipline she'd received was about three days after the rape, when the warden called them into her office together for another paddling session. She evidently liked that form of punishment, so Brendan was forced to strip her at the waist and hit her bottom fifteen times with a wooden paddle. However, a week to the day after the incident with Carlos, the warden intercepted Brendan in the hall first thing in the morning.
"I've been busy, Brendan," she said, "but I finally have some time to devote to you and your little 'victim'," the last word spewing out of her cold mouth with contempt. "Bring her here at the end of the day. I want visible evidnece that she was disciplined today." She looked at Brendan sternly and untrustingly. "And tomorrow, I want the code to the closed circuit TV in the room you'll be using. I'll watch from here. I'd like it to be particularly humiliating," she finished with a sickening smile. Brendan nodded to her and continued to his office.