40
Stop! Hold it right there!” A cadre of C.O.s caught Paul and swarmed Julia and Bennie, then pushed them toward the security center. “You’re civilians, you can’t be here!”
“My wife is back there! Let me go!” Paul struggled to free himself, and Julia turned to see Alex escaping down the hall. Her heart lurched, knowing he was going after Courtney.
“Get into security!” the C.O. shouted. “Get in! Now!” The C.O.s muscled Paul, Julia, and Bennie into the security center, slammed the door closed, and locked them inside.
The room was empty, the guards gone. It was dark, the only light emanating from the grayish glow of small black-and-white monitors, thirty of them covering one wall.
Each screen had a digital timeclock at the bottom next to a location caption.
“Let me out!” Paul banged on the door, and Bennie picked up a black security phone from the desk.
“Hello, I represent inmate Courtney Horan and I need to know how she is. We’re in the security center. We were here for her hearing. Yes, I know we’re in lockdown but we heard there was a female inmate knifed. I’m entitled to know the status of my client. Okay, okay, I’ll hold.”
Julia’s panicky gaze flitted across the array of monitors, showing views of the cafeteria, the laundry room, and hallways.
Suddenly she spotted a screen showing C.O.s and a SWAT team running down a hall with long guns and body shields.
Standing out from the dark helmets and black caps was a blond ponytail and a jean jacket. “Oh my God, there’s Alex!”
Bennie looked over, phone in hand. “Oh no!”
“Where?” Paul turned, Julia pointed to the screen, and the three of them watched as Alex ran with the SWAT team and C.O.s past a row of cells.
Male inmates appeared at the bars. The screen went abruptly empty and still, then the screen next to it came to life as Alex and the SWAT team and C.O.s blew through a set of double doors and ran down another hall past cells of female inmates.
Suddenly a group of male inmates brandishing homemade knives, metal rails, and sharpened chair legs raced toward the SWAT team, the C.O.s, and Alex.
The scene exploded into violent chaos. The inmates attacked the guards, who beat them back with tactical batons and body shields.
Flash-bangs exploded, releasing chalky smoke that obscured the action.
“Jesus Christ!” Bennie gasped.
Julia watched in spellbound terror, then lost sight of Alex. “Where’s Alex?”
“Oh God,” Paul said hushed, then they watched as a stick was swung toward the camera and the screen went black.
Julia’s mouth dropped open. “They broke the camera!”
Bennie put the phone to her ear. “What did you say? Which pod is Courtney Horan in? Just tell me which pod! All the women are in Pod C? Thank you, but I still want to know her status. Yes, I’ll hold.”
“Courtney’s in Pod C?” Julia spotted a Pod C screen on the far end, and Paul hustled there.
“Oh no! Look!” Paul groaned, and they all watched as SWAT team members ran across the screen, evidently heading toward the fight. The screen emptied but the next screen showed the SWAT team running down the hallway past cells of female inmates, still heading toward the fight.
The screen went empty, but Julia found her attention shifting to another screen underneath, captioned “Temp Holding.” She noticed that the barred door to one of the cells hung open, which made no sense.
She looked closer and spotted a discoloration on the wall above the sink, then a dark blotch on the concrete floor.
“That has to be blood,” Julia blurted out, shocked.
“It’s not Courtney’s cell, is it?” Paul whirled around to the screen. “She’s in Pod C. That screen says Temp Holding.”
Bennie grimaced. “Temporary Holding is typically where she’d be.”
“But you said Pod C!” Paul shot back. “The guy on the phone said Pod C.”
“Right, but all the female inmates are in Pod C. When I asked him about Courtney, maybe he heard that the name was a woman’s and answered me without checking.” Bennie picked the phone receiver off her shoulder. “Hello, are you there? Hello? Hello!”
Paul turned to Julia, his face a mask of desperation. “Is it Courtney’s cell?”
“How would I know?” Julia recoiled, taken aback. “I don’t know.”
“Why not? You’re psychic! You should know!”
“No, I don’t, I don’t know—”
“Oh, come on! Julia, is it her cell or not?” Paul grabbed Julia by the shoulders. “You have a gift, why the fuck can’t you use it—”
“It doesn’t work that way!” Julia wrenched herself free, and Bennie grabbed Paul by the elbow.
“Paul, leave her alone!”
“Why?” Paul threw up his hands. “She’s psychic! You saw her, last night! She took us to McKenna’s! She’d never been there but she knew where it was! Why can’t she tell us if that’s Courtney’s cell? I want to know if my wife is dead or alive!”
“Get a grip!” Bennie shot back. “You’re bullying her!”
Meanwhile Julia watched them argue. Anguished tears sprang to her eyes. It broke her heart to think Courtney could be dead. She couldn’t even hold the thought in her brain. The last spirit she would ever want to summon was Courtney’s.
“Can’t she try?” Paul shouted at Bennie.
“That’s all I’m asking!” He whirled back to Julia, opening his palms. “I’m sorry I lost my temper, but I’m asking you to try!
You love Courtney, don’t you want to know if she’s dead or alive?
” Paul made praying hands. “Can’t you try? Please, I’m begging you!”
“Okay, I’ll try. Please, be quiet.” Julia stepped back, turned away from Paul and Bennie, and faced the wall.
The room felt like a pressure cooker. She tried to ignore the commotion in the hall.
The shouting, the radio chatter, the lockdown announcement.
The sirens blaring a continuous state of emergency.
Julia squeezed her eyes shut, then covered her face with her hands. She tried to slow her breathing and her heartrate. She told herself to banish every thought. She let herself open her mind and allow herself to receive whatever came.
Julia found herself turning back to the monitors, removing her hands from her face, and looking again at the blood on the concrete floor of the open cell.
Suddenly she stood in horror as her view focused on the blood, and the stain grew larger and larger in her mind’s eye, revealing a long, dark hair.
Julia knew it was Courtney’s. She felt it inside her soul.
She stifled a scream.