Jennifer decided not to let him know she knew who he was.
"Thank you. I'll be sure to give you the proper credit. Are you up for parole any time soon?"
"Not really. I just signed my plea deal and got sent here last week".
"How did you end up here?"
"I asked for it. My grandmother is elderly, and lives somewhat close to here. If I do my sentence here, she can come visit me".
"I see. Did your crime make the news?"
"Sort of. I was adopted as a kid, so when I got arrested, I gave them my biological name. That bought me some time before the press found out. My birth name was Mason, but I go by Worth. In here, they call me Dollar".
"How cute".
He reached out to touch her and she flinched.
"I promise, I'm not going to touch you. I was just flicking a mosquito off you".
"Thank you".
She turned and looked towards the common room again. Some people were still fighting, others weren't. All the furniture was broken, and all the tv's were on.
"If you don't mind me asking, just in case it comes up in my article, what exactly are you in for?"
He sighed.
"I was a spoiled little rich kid who always had everything handed to me. And my boss was literally the first person in my life to tell me no. All my life, my parents would pay my teachers to pass me with 100's when I should have been getting zeroes. And then I got a full ride to college thanks to my uncle who was the president of the University I attended. I graduated, even though I shouldn't have. And I got my first job ever, and I was there three days and my boss told me no. So, I set my boss up to take the fall so me and my buddies could get rich. I tried to get the price of our stock to drop, and then we were going to buy all the stock that we could. And then sell it when the price went up. My plan didn't exactly work like that, but I still set him up".
Jennifer decided to play along.
"I don't understand".
"What I mean is, I wasn't able to get the price to drop. But it didn't matter, because my buddy came into some inheritance. So, he bought some stock, and then I sold a car of mine and I used that money to buy some stock and then I convinced a few other friends to buy a few shares. And then I wiretapped my boss' office to record all of his conversations, which I then edited into one conversation with him saying what I needed him to say, which I used as 'evidence' against him. I feel bad about it, because I really didn't think I would get caught. I turned him in, and they busted my chops for wiretapping him, and for buying the stock after I assumed the price had dropped, and for selling it when the price went up, even though I didn't know for sure whether the price had caught".
"So, how did you get caught?"
"The day after I told the authorities about my boss, one of my friends squealed in his interview and they charged all of us. And they cut all of them a deal except me, since I set it all up".
"Those things sure do have a way of catching up to you".
"Yeah, I guess everything in life comes full circle".
"So, now that you have been charged, will you tell the truth about your boss?"
"Eventually. I've thought about it a lot, I just haven't decided how I would do it".
"Well, Watkins has a video camera. Maybe he'll let you record a video".
"That's a good idea".
Just then, Jared stuck his head in the cell.
"Hey, I need you. We have to make a little appearance at the front".
He grabbed Jennifer's arm and took her to the front of the prison.
"Stand back".
He picked up a chair and busted out a window that faced the front driveway.
He grabbed Jennifer and put her in a headlock.
"Ok, listen up! I've got Jennifer Edwards and I'm not letting her go till my demands are met! She's alright, but she's not going anywhere till I get what I want. Here's my list of demands. You have 2 hours".
He tossed a rolled-up piece of paper out the window and then he and Jennifer retreated out of sight.
They went back to the room where the cells were and Jared finally let her go.
Jennifer waited till he had his back to her and then slowly backed into the guard room, where they had made the video earlier.
She watched while Jared organized everyone into groups. He sent one group to find water bottles and other supplies. He sent another group to the upstairs of the cell block to get sheets to make a sheet ladder. He instructed the stronger group of men to break out the windows and break the beds down.
Worth was in the group in charge of finding the guards and putting them into one single cell.
After about 20 minutes, he broke himself away from them and joined Jennifer in the guard room.
"Worth, let's make your video."
"Oh, no, we can't. I haven't practiced it yet."
"Ok, so let's not really make it. Let's just practice".
She held the camera and made sure that her finger was over the recording light, and recorded him saying that he set up his boss and that Jonathan Hart of Hart Industries was innocent of all charges, and that he had started all the rumors too, and that none of them were true.
"See, you were a natural".
"Yeah, I think I was. I'm going to work on my speech and then we'll make the video, ok?"
"Ok".
As soon as he wasn't looking, she took the tape out of the video recorder and put it in her pocket.
The phone started ringing in the guard shack so Jared rushed in and grabbed it.
"Hello?...Well, hello Captain Miller…Oh, you want to send us pizzas? We will take them….put them in front of the door and I will send someone out. No tricks, though. Or I'll kill Jennifer Edwards. I'm not playing, no tricks".
He negotiated with the police captain for a few minutes and then hung up.
Jennifer sat back down, hoping this would end soon.
Jonathan
Jonathan was pacing back and forth a few steps behind the police captain.
He heard them say they were going to send pizzas for the inmates and became incensed.
"Captain, you can't be serious! They are holding my girlfriend hostage, along with all the other guards. And you are going to reward them by giving them pizza?!"
"It's a give and take, Mr. Hart. I have to let him know that he can trust me. His other demands are $5 million in cash, 12 blonde hookers and a plane to get them all to a tropical island. I can't do any of those, but I can do the pizzas, make him happy for a bit and hopefully he will trust me and I can talk him into releasing Jennifer and the guards".
Jonathan hoped and prayed he was right.
Jennifer
Jennifer was still in the guard room, and watched in horror as Jared and several other inmates marched the warden, his two assistants, and three other guards into a cell and stripped them of almost everything and locked them in.
Jared stood outside the cell and began to lecture the warden and the others in there with him.
"Here's how we are going to play this game: the puppets have now become the puppet master. You got a headache? Too damn bad. After all, that's what all of you tell all of us. You have to pee? Do it right there in front of everyone else, like you make us. It's beyond time for you all to experience what you put us through".
He turned and walked away.
Jennifer discreetly picked up the phone and called 911, while Jared was occupied.
"Hello, 911, what is your emergency?"
"Hi, this is Jennifer Edwards. I'm being held hostage in the Briar Creek Federal Prison and Jared Watkins is the leader of this riot. He just locked the warden, the two associate wardens, and three other guards in a cell. There are 6 guards total being held hostage and at least 3 of them will need medical attention. Please, help us!"
"Ok ma'am. I am going to forward your comments to the hostage negotiator. There are officers outside the prison and they are working to get you out. Can you tell me where you are?"
"Cell block A. He brought all the inmates to cell block A. They've broken the furniture apart, and yanked the beds off the walls, and broken them apart. They raided the kitchen and got all the food and they have all the guards guns, handcuff keys, batons and badges. They are making sheet ropes and some are planning on going up to the roof and climbing down that way".
"So cell block B and C are completely empty?"
"Yes ma'am".
"How are they moving from place to place?"
"With the badges. And some of the doors they have propped open or tied open with the sheet ropes".
"Got it."
"Ok, I have to go, if I can, I'll call you back".
"Stay safe. We are trying to get you out of there".
"Thank you".
She hung up and sat back and waited, hoping it wouldn't be too much longer.
Jonathan
Jonathan was going crazy. He couldn't tell that they were making any progress.
He was just about to talk to the captain again, when the police car phone rang.
The captain spoke a minute and took some notes, and then hung up.
"Ok, so the hostage, Miss Edwards, called 911 from inside the prison. And she gave them some very valuable information. Jared Watkins is in charge of the riot, and has moved everyone to cell block A, which is on the west side. Cell blocks b and c are empty. He has the warden, the two assistant wardens, and 6 guards in a cell as well. They have taken the beds apart, taken the furniture apart and she stated they had the guards guns and the employees' badges and that's how they were moving from place to place".
The captain and the other officers talked for a few moments and came to a unanimous decision.
"As soon as the pizzas get here, and they take the pizzas inside, give them 20 minutes and then we will make contact again, and if he doesn't comply, we will move to step b".
About ten minutes later, the pizzas got there, so the officers stealthily carried them up to the door and dropped them off.
The captain got back on the loudspeaker.
"Jared Watkins, your dinner has arrived. It's at the front door".
The captain told everyone that since there were broken windows, they were all going to have to put on bulletproof vests.
Everyone slipped on their bulletproof vests as the captain and the other officers prepared for the next phase of their plan.
Jennifer
Jared sent three inmates to pick up all the pizzas.
They brought the pizzas into the common room and everyone began to share them. So far, Jared hadn't realized that she had gone into the guard room, and she was ok with that. She certainly didn't want to be locked in a cell.
She was watching as Jared and another inmate got into an argument and began to punch each other.
Without warning, some other inmates began to jump the guy fighting Jared. They knocked him out, and then dragged him to the window and Jared handcuffed him to the bars.
"That'll teach him to disagree with me".
Jennifer silently watched and began trying to figure out how to get out of there.
Just then, the power went out, and all the cell doors began to open. Each cell had a manual switch outside of the cell.
Jared quickly got to the manual switch before the door to the cell holding the warden and the other hostages could open.
All the other doors opened, and then some emergency lights began to flood the room with light.
Jared barked towards another cell.
"Truman, do your magic".
Jonathan
Jonathan watched with the others while the power was turned off to the prison.
"Ok, now that will force him to talk to us".
A few seconds later, the lights came back on.
"How in the hell did he do that?!"
The captain went to pick up the loudspeaker.
"Wait! Captain, have one of your officers take me to where they turned off the power. If I'm right, there's something we can do on our end to keep them from turning it back on".
"Agreed. Daniels-take Mr. Hart here to the power switch".
Jonathan and Officer Daniels walked over to the power switch. Jonathan fiddled with it a bit, and then figured it out.
"Ok, so I'm going to need some tweezers and a screwdriver".
Daniels relayed that to the other officers and they got him what he needed.
"Ok, hold this light. If I'm right, this blue wire is the one that needs to be pulled".
He gently unscrewed one end of the blue wire and then disconnected it with the tweezers.
"Ok, now flip the switch".
They flipped the switch and the power went back off again.
They walked back over to the captain.
"How did you know how to do that?"
"Simple. The black box next to the power switch is called the RoboMaster 2000. My company, Hart Industries, invented it, patented it, manufactured it, and then sold it to many companies and electrician companies all over the country. See, if the person who owns this property didn't pay the power bill, the power company would come shut it off. And the person could come and flip it right back and turn it back on. But they can't do that, if that box is there, and the switch is activated. So, I'm guessing that someone in the prison has figured out how to rig the fuse box to still connect power even when the power is turned off, because they don't know anything about the Robomaster. I just engaged the switch, so at this point, they can fiddle with the fuse box all they want, but until this main switch is activated, they aren't going to get anywhere".
"Very smart".
The Captain pulled up the loudspeaker again.
"Ok Watkins, let's talk. You have no power, and we are going to have to compromise on your next few demands. I gave you the pizzas like you want, it's time for you to give me Jennifer Edwards like I want. Look in the box of pepperoni pizza and call the number inside the lid".
As the captain hung up, he leaned against the car door and sighed.
"This is probably going to take all night".
A few minutes later, the phone rang in the captain's car.
"Hello?"
"Turn my power back on, or no deal".
"Be reasonable, Jared. You asked for pizza, I gave you pizza. I asked for Jennifer Edwards, you gave me nothing. That's not fair".
"You're not getting Jennifer Edwards. Not till I get my cash and my plane".
"Give me Jennifer Edwards first, and then we can talk about what you get next. You have 15 minutes".
He hung up.
"Captain, I told you, he can use my helicopter. And I have a plane in Manhattan he can use as well".
"I appreciate that, but we can't play that card too early. Baby steps".
"Captain, with all due respect, if you don't act quickly, Jennifer might run out of steps!"