Lockdown

Chapter Six

Chapter Six

24/06/2019. 21:50 hours. San Quentin State Prison, California.

Mel slumped into the swivel chair behind her multiple monitors with a sigh, a steaming mug of coffee grasped between her hands. The grainy footage on the screens showed that all of the inmates had been locked down for the night. Her green eyes scanned the screens until they fell upon a screen that had gone blank. She frowned and leaned forward, setting her mug down on the desk. She retrieved her radio from her belt and pressed the button in to talk, her eyes never leaving the screen.

"This is Carter to Death Row. Come in." She was met with the hissing sound of static. "Carter to Death Row, do you read me?" With an exasperated groan, Mel clipped her radio back to her belt and came to her feet. She unsheathed her flashlight and briskly made her way to Death Row.

Once she reached Death Row, Mel was met with the typical wolf whistles and goading comments from the inmates. She rolled her eyes and tutted at the inmate, who was making vulgar gestures at her. She spotted a light filtering into the corridor from under the door leading to the death chamber. Her brow furrowed as she silently crept towards the door, keeping the beam from her flashlight pointed down so as not to draw attention to herself. She took a tentative step forward and peered through the door. Her mouth instantly went dry and her heart skipped a beat at the sight of a man in a dark purple button up shirt, black dress trousers and Chucks bound to the gurney, an IV snaking out of the crook of his elbow and his face covered. Mel's eyes widened as she realised that she was looking at Dr Reid. Her thoughts began to race as she tried to understand what was happening. The FBI agent was surrounded by correctional officers and... Warden Michaels. Mel backed away as quietly as possible, zoning out the continued jeers from the inmates. Once safely away from Death Row, she fled towards the reception where she had been monitoring the cameras.

As Mel approached her monitors, she caught sight of a group of people approaching at speed. She immediately noticed that they were wearing FBI-issue bullet vests. She did not hesitate for one moment to unlock the door and allow them to enter.

"I'm Officer Melanie Carter. Do you work with Dr. Reid?" Emily stiffened, her palm resting on the handle of her Glock 17.

"Yes. I'm SSA Emily Prentiss of the Behavioural Analysis Unit. My colleagues here are SSAs Jareau, Rossi, Alvez, Simmons, and Dr Lewis. We're looking for Dr. Reid. We have received video surveillance of Dr Reid being brutally beaten and raped on a cell block." Mel's mouth dropped open in horror, her shaking hand coming up to stifle a gasp.

"Dr Reid is currently in the execution chamber on Death Row. I-I just went down there to find out why the camera had stopped working and saw him. There were some other officers and Warden Michaels. I got out of there as quickly as I could to get back here and call someone." Emily's dark eyes narrowed, searching Mel's face for any signs of deceit, but there were none. She was genuinely traumatised by what she had seen. Emily reached out and gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

"You're doing great. How many exits are there to the chamber?"

"Two. There's the one directly through Death Row, and there's another through the viewing room."

"Okay. I need you to show us how to get there." Mel swallowed hard and nodded.

Steeling herself, she guided the agents with only her flashlight to the fork in the corridors where Death Row was separated from visiting entrance to the execution area. She stopped to face the group, dust swirling in the dim beam of light.

"The entrance via Death Row is to your right. Follow the corridor all the way along. You'll see it." Emily glanced at Matt, Luke, and Tara.

"You guys take that corridor. We'll take the visitor entrance," instructed Emily, tucking her earpiece into her left ear.