Rescue Me

Chapter Six

"He escaped? What do you mean he escaped?!" I cried. No, she wasn't talking about the Sam Sterling was she? Surely there was another prisoner with the last name Sterling that escaped. I groaned and I felt sick to my stomach.

"I mean that Sam Sterling escaped," She replied calmly and then called something into her radio.

"Bu-but how? How the hell did he escape?!" I still couldn't that the sick man escaped.

"According to the highway patrol, the vehicle that was carrying Sterling crashed on Murphy Street and Queens Avenue, which are now completely blocked off."

"Don't you know how dangerous he is?! He's a rapist and a murderer for crying out loud. Do you want to be responsible for having that monster running around on the street?! What are you doing to find him."

"You can't be inferring that this was my  fault. Of course I don't want someone like him running around doing GOD knows what, but I have roughly 2,700 inmates to look after with not much help. I have prison guards looking for him as we speak. "

I shook my head, "and you're just now hearing about this? I mean how-"

"I'm not a secretary, Sergeant. I can't just sit here waiting for every call that comes. Now if you'll excuse me-"

I glared at her, "and we can both see that you're doing such a good job, how many escapes have you had in the last week, warden?"

"Sergeant Houston, if you don't change your tone, I'm going to have to ask you to leave. It is not my fault that Sam escaped and it is not my concern right now. If you'll excuse me, I have to call make sure no one else has escaped," the warden responded angrily and started away.

"Not your fau-"

"Alright, Carly, why don't we get going?" Lauren stepped in and grabbed my shoulder which stopped the words coming out of my mouth, "Warden, you can tell your guards that the Special Victims Unit will be assisting them in the search for Sam Sterling ."

The warden looked at me, looked at the detective, and then radioed the information to whoever was listening.

"Thank you, Warden," Lauren thanked and then walked me outside.

When we reached the parking lot of the Los Angeles Prison a thousand thoughts flooded my mind, and yet I couldn't say anything. Questions like why did this happen and how could this have happened bounced around in my mind between thoughts. But one question appeared more regularly than the others and that was what did I do to deserve this?

"Sergeant?" Lauren asked interrupting my thoughts.

I shook my head and cleared my throat attempting to rid the lump that had formed, "y-yes, Detective?"

"Sergeant, I'm going to call the lieutenant and let him know what happened. Right now you need to go and check on Michael. You need to get him and your daughter into protective custody," I nodded and she looked into my eyes, "I'll get a ride from one of the guards or officers and head to the car crash. Lieutenant will send some detectives there too and we'll try and figure out where Sam might have gone."

"Right," I agreed, "he-he couldn't have gone far, right?"

"I don't know Sarg, I honestly don't know. Everything is going to be okay, though. Try not to worry so much right now, just focus-"

I scoffed, "try not to worry? How can I not worry? Lauren, what if-" I paused and tears formed in my eyes, "what if he has Michael? Or worse, what if he has Maggie?"