red light.
Golding angrily flung down his newspaper. Those freakin?doors ?Cell T4, side entrance B. One of you go and shut that thing up.?
i gotta take a dump,?Scott said guiltily, looking towards the toilet. Can you deal with it, Amanda??
*
Good people sometimes get hurt when youte trying to catch bad ones. When the door began to slide, James?conscience tripped over the idea of laying out a girl; but the mission depended on him holding his nerve.
His fist smacked Amanda in the temple, with enough force to knock the opposite side of her head against the edge of the metal door. Theree no such thing as a good head injury, but a clean shot to the thinnest part of the skull was unlikely to leave Amanda with anything more than a mild concussion and a two-day headache.
James dragged Amandae unconscious body backwards and lowered her to the floor at the bottom of the spiral staircase.
Come on,?James whispered anxiously to Curtis. He wanted the door closed before any other inmates spotted the opening and decided to come with them.
Curtis stepped through and slid the door shut, as James put on Amandae ADOP baseball cap, then unbuttoned her black shirt and pulled it on. Combined with his black trainers and a pair of Curtis?black tracksuit bottoms, James could pass as a prison officer provided nobody looked too hard.
Tie her up before she comes to,?James ordered. Inkles and mouth gag, then tie her hands around the stair rail. Use the constrictor knot, like I showed you.?
Curtis had a couple of James?plaited ropes slung over his shoulder. While he tied up Amanda, James swiftly ran up the spiral stairs and crept across the rail to the weapons rack. He grabbed a can of pepper spray and tucked a stun grenade into his pocket as Scott came through the door. James looked behind to make sure Curtis was still out of earshot.
Hou OK??James asked.
Scott nodded. Lo for my nose and make it look real bloody. Be careful around Golding, he was a football player at high school. Use the handcuffs in the blue storage cupboard behind the console.?
James stepped back into a fighting stance and thrust his palm at the base of Scotte nose. Blood trickled over Scotte lips as he laid himself down on the metal floor. James ripped the safety pin from a can of pepper spray. He shot a quick blast into Scotte hair and face, then quickly crammed a piece of balled-up rag into his mouth.
Torry, mate,?James whispered, as he rolled Scott on to his chest and began tying his wrists.
Curtis was coming up the spiral stairs a little too noisily for James?taste. Scott went limp, as though James had knocked him out.
Tsssshh,?James said. is she well tied??
Curtis nodded. Lust how you showed me.?
Cid you get her ID badge and swipe card??
Course,?Curtis whispered, grinning as he looked down over the rail. i never thought It see the view from up here.?
James unhooked an electric shock device from Scotte belt and stripped everything out of his pockets, including his keys and wallet, before shuffling down to tie his ankles. He threw Curtis the bunch of keys.
One of those works the gun locker,?James explained.
Curtis opened the clear plastic front of the cabinet, while James bent Scotte legs up and began tying the bindings on his wrists to the bindings on his ankles.
Curtis took one of the large baton-round guns. 慙ooks complicated,?he said.
Nelp me move him, then I抣l show you.?
They pushed Scotte body to the inside of the gantry, so that the inmates below couldnt see him. James grabbed a small cylinder of compressed gas from the locker and snatched the gun from Curtis.
i watched the hacks do this the other day,?James explained. Tcrew the gas cylinder on the top of the gun, like so. Turn the valve, then you break her open and ?Give us a baton round.?
Curtis handed James one of the fat plastic slugs. James slid it into the barrel, closed the gun and handed it to Curtis.
Only fire if we have to,?James said. Hou know how noisy they are.?
Curtis shoved more pepper spray, stun grenades and rounds for the baton guns into his pockets while James armed another gun for himself.
James opened the door at the end of the gantry. The short corridor led to the control room. James kept his back to the wall as they crept forward with their guns poised.
When James reached the end, he poked his head into the control room and eyeballed Golding; who sat with his