"Hello, I'm Jessica Cortez." A Latina woman in her forties sitting next to Jack paused for a mont upon seeing the fully ard Jack, then introduced herself.
"Jessica, this is Jack Tavelor. We've known each other since he was an LAPD officer."
Hondo introduced Jack, his rather intimate address making Jack glance at her slightly.
"Oh, it's you. Zoe once told about you. It's a pity you two have both left the LAPD." Jessica Cortez wore an expression of regret for the LAPD's loss of talent.
Hannah secretly pursed her lips.
Jack made a few modest remarks, then introduced JJ and Emily behind him and explained the situation.
"Dr. Reid and Supervisor Hotchner are still missing. I need to go in and bring them out. But don't worry, I won't hold your team back."
"I'm Ash Jones, the contractor for this prison." A middle-aged man in a suit and tie standing next to Jessica Cortez also stood up, smiling and shaking hands with everyone.
"Tell what you have to say first, including the specific identities of the 18 hostages."
Clearly, Hondo didn't have a good impression of this kind of guy either, so he got straight to the point.
"Okay, okay." Ash Jones took out a handkerchief, wiped the beads of sweat from his bald head, and pressed a few buttons on the screen to zoom in on the photos one by one.
"The hostages are the warden, six guards, eight construction workers doing maintenance inside, two priests, and one nun."
"Wait, Sister Carlita is in there too?" Hondo asked in surprise, pointing to the last woman in the photo, who looked to be in her forties or fifties.
"You know her?" Jessica Cortez turned her head, equally surprised.
"Yes, she frequently travels between prisons, praying with the prisoners and helping them rediscover their faith. She's a truly good person, leading by example. Sotis she'll ask to communicate with the prisoners."
Hondo's expression was grim, clearly worried for the nun. A woman in the hands of a rioting group of prisoners, even if she's a nun, is still at much higher risk of being hard than other hostages.
"The negotiators are communicating with the prisoners. Apparently, she may be injured, but they refuse to release her." Jessica Cortez's expression was somber. "The negotiations with the prisoners are not progressing well. I need you to develop an action plan."
She then opened a 3D architectural diagram.
"This is the main building layout. The main riot area is currently confined to the fourth floor. All the prisoners inside are serious offenders, totaling over 300, roughly divided into three main gangs."
"The southern section is Block B, controlled by the 'Bahamut Gang.' The eight construction workers they're holding hostage are those who were doing maintenance inside."
"The northern section is Block A, which, along with six prison guards, has fallen into the hands of the 'Nine Gang.' Block C is controlled by the 'Spicy Eagles,' a group of white supremacists who have kidnapped the warden and three clergy."
After Jessica Cortez finished her presentation, Hannah projected the content from her tablet onto the main screen.
"These are files on three prison gangs from the FBI database."
"'The Nine Gang,' a predominantly Black gang with a small number of Latino inmates, is led by Keitel Porter, supposedly a very intelligent guy who was involved in street gangs before going to prison."
"This is the 'Bahamut Gang,' controlling Block B. Their main mbers are drug traffickers, a group of ntally ill people obsessed with murder. Their leader is Moco Hernandez."
"The most troubleso is 'Spicy Eagles.' You can tell what kind of people they are just from their na. Their leader is Gunnar Card, ruthless and vicious, with extrely high intelligence. He and his n are also the only ones who refuse to communicate with the negotiation experts."
"Gunnar Card, heard of him? Everyone in the LAPD knows his 'famous' na."
"So what did the other two gangs ask for?" Jack asked.
The prison contractor, who identified himself as Ash Jones, chid in.
"Just improved food, more outdoor ti, and more spousal visitation ti. Nothing special."
"That's all? What about the casualties? How did it escalate to this point?" Hondo sensed sothing was wrong.
"There was so infighting among them. Apart from the six guards who were taken hostage, all the other injured guards were rescued."
"I have limited details. It was probably the white supremacists who started it. When the warden sent people to try and control them, the 'Bahamut Gang' and the 'Nine Gang' took advantage of the chaos."
"Because of the hostages, my ergency response team couldn't handle the situation."
Ash Jones said, wiping the sweat from his brow with a handkerchief again.
"Is this the control room? What's that next door?" Jack pointed to the two middle rooms connecting the three sections A, B, and C.
"The armory, both rooms are down, which is why we lost all the surveillance on this floor." Jessica Cortez glanced at the paper map in her hand and casually marked it on the screen.
"So, now the prisoners have the keys to all the cells on this floor, as well as the weapons and protective gear that were originally issued to the guards?"
Jack rolled his eyes and turned to Hondo, saying, "I need gas masks, enough tear gas, stun grenades, and more 7.62x51mm ammunition."
"There are ammunition boxes on the armored vehicles; you can fill your backpack."
Hondo also seed troubled. Over 300 prisoners, an armory that had been opened—who knew how many traps these guys had set up for them?
"You said we lost the surveillance on that floor? What's that?" Deputy Captain Deacon asked, pointing to a monitor that had suddenly gained a signal.
"Soone turned on the surveillance in Block C?" Ash Jones asked in surprise.
Jessica Cortez patted the shoulder of a technician in front of her, and the image on the monitor was magnified onto the main screen.
"That's Gunnar Card, the leader of 'Spicy Eagles.' What does he want?"
Gunnar Card, dressed in a bright orange prison uniform with his neck and arms tattooed with various eagle heads and swastikas, waved to the cara. Two of his n pushed an elderly man with gray hair in front of the lens.
"That's our warden, Phil Harvey." Ash Jones said, pointing to the screen.
In the video, the warden shakily held up a piece of cardboard with only two words written on it: "Stay outside."
The next mont, Gunnar Card pulled a pistol from his waistband and shot the warden in the head, blowing his head off.
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