Beckett Behind Bars

CHAPTER FOUR

A/N: Since this story is finished, I've decided to post a chapter every day. That will allow the readers to read at their convenience, be it one chapter or three. Sorry Charlie

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Kate, her wrists now freed, followed guard Chloe down a hallway and into a locker room/bathroom of some sort. Chloe asked her shirt size and pants size. Kate gave them to her.

Chloe walked over to a wall of cubicles that had clothing in them. She pulled down an orange shirt and an orange pair of pants and threw them at Kate. She also grabbed a pair of under shorts and a basic bra. She then handed Kate a plastic container, not unlike the grocery boxes you could get in your local stores.

"Strip down and put your things into the container. These will be stored until your sentence is fulfilled, then they will be returned to you. Any cash you have on you will be assigned to your personal account which can be used to purchase items from our store and any other need you might have for money."

"Put on the clothes I gave you." She walked over and pulled more pairs of pants and more shirts and such, and put them in a plastic bag.

Chloe handed the bag to Kate. "This is the rest of this week's allotment of clothing. You will turn them in every week and get clean ones to replace them while those are cleaned to be recycled another week."

"What's your shoe size?" Kate told her. Chloe went to a different set of cubbies. She pulled out a pair of what appeared to be orange sneakers. They were canvas slip-ons with a thin rubber sole.

"These are your shoes. You will care for them. It they become unfit to wear through either damage or wear you must present them to the supervisor of supplies and she will decide if you need a new pair for legitimate reasons, or have somehow misused them and caused premature replacement. If that is the case a fine will be assessed to cover the cost of replacement based on the differential between the estimated life of the shoes, and the actual time you had them."

Chloe led Kate over to an office that had a counter and windows similar to what you'd see in a bank. Kate was instructed to fill out an inventory sheet describing what she had put in the plastic container, including the amount of cash that had been on her person. She signed the list and shoved the container over to the person behind the counter.

Kate had left her personal credit cards, and driver's license at home. She had a fake license with the name Katya Koslikov on it that went with the container.

Chloe led her over to what appeared to be a small class room. It was where she was supposed to get her orientation. At Chloe's direction she sat in one of the folding chairs behind some folding tables which faced a large wall of black boards, a screen, and a white board. There was also a large round clock hanging on the wall.

"The next orientation lecture will be at 3 o'clock. So make yourself comfortable." Chloe went over and sat on a padded chair at the side of the room. The clock on the wall said it was only 2:35. She had some time to wait.

While she sat there, the two other gals who rode the van in from the city were brought in. One other gal was escorted in before the clock hit 3.

Kate swore that the seconds hand on the wall clock was just cruising past the 11 when a husky woman stepped through the door. She was wearing a uniform similar to what the guards wore, only it had some extra trappings on it. She had what appeared to be something like a military lieutenant's bars on her shoulders and a couple of ribbons on her shirt pocket.

She appeared to be in her late fifties, with iron grey hair in tight curls. Her eyes were pale blue, what you'd call ice blue, and she looked like someone who never smiled.

"Ladies, and I use that term loosely, this is you initial orientation lecture. I am Lt. Hellicson. Here you will be told exactly how things work here. You will need to know these things if you have any hope of surviving in a reasonable manner while you are here."

She pointed to the gal closest to her. "You, pass out those pad and pencils to everyone, because believe me, you'll want to jot this information down."

She had indicated a pile of small pads of paper and small lead pencils which sat on a small table next to where she was standing. The small pads and pencil stubs were quickly disseminated.

"For many of you this will be your first experience with communal living." Her voice took on the expressionless tone of someone who had given this lecture many times.

"I'm not talking about living with your neighbors in an apartment building, or even a hotel. This is true communal living." She panned her eyes across her small audience. "Your movements, your ability to complete your everyday tasks will depend on everyone else in this facility."

The lieutenant smirked at her charges. "The first thing you will need to pound into those dysfunctional brains of yours is who you are." She pointed at Kate. "You, who are you?"

Kate didn't take her eyes off the woman. "Katya Koslikov"

The woman shook her head. "That's a pretty name." She turned and wrote some letters and numbers on the black board. "But as far as this facility is concerned you are simply prisoner C26B." She stared at Kate, then turned to the rest. "There are four cell blocks in this facility. They are designated A, B, C, or D. Each cell block has fifty individual cells in it. Each cell is designated by a number from 01 to 50. And finally, each cell has two occupants, A or B."

She pauses to let that sink in. "It is very important that you never forget who you are to this facility. We have a lot of bodies in a limited space here. So in order to be able to function in an efficient and orderly manner we have to have schedules."

She paced back and forth. "We have schedules for when you shower, for when you eat. We have schedules for when you are required to participate in some work detail, such as changing out the gym into the dining room and back again. Or doing a shift in the laundry room, or helping in the kitchen. Everything is tightly scheduled. Even your free time is scheduled."

She pulled a large sheet of paper out of her oversized valise. It was backed by a stiff cardboard so it would stand up when she leaned it up against the black board.

"Ladies, this is your life now. These schedules will be posted around the prison in the evening on Sunday before lights out. They will contain the rotations for the following week. God help you if you forget who you are." She slapped the C26B she'd written on the board earlier. "This is who you are and you best get used to it. That is what is going to be on the posted schedules. You will be expected to be at whatever, wherever, and whenever that number says you are supposed to be on that week's schedule. You're cell mate, or a guard might call you by your name, but to the schedule you are C26B. And the schedule is god.

She walked back and forth in front of them. "Now don't be confused if you don't see you're complete designation on the schedule. If, for example under showers, you just see the letter A written in. That means that cell block A has access to the showers for that period. If you see a cell block letter and a number without another letter that just means that both occupants of that particular cell will be expected. It's a simple system, but you are responsible for checking every day. It there is a time period that doesn't show up on the schedule that means it's a free period and you are free to use any of the communal areas. Those areas are the gym, when it's not being used as the dining room, the library, the outdoor recreational area, and the store. The inmates' post office is located in the store, as is the barber."

"By tomorrow, all you newbies will receive your credit card, which you will use to pay for any purchases from the store, or postal costs, or the barber. The card will draw against whatever you have in your account that was set up when you were processed. There is also a machine in the store that can tell you the amount that is currently in your account."

"Also, any payment you might receive from Belmont for voluntary work details, such as landscaping, or shifts in either the laundry, or the kitchen will all go into your account. The rate for voluntary work details is currently fifty cents an hour."

She stared at them for several moments before speaking again. "Do you all understand?"

There were a couple of yeses and nods. Kate just stared back at the woman. Kate hadn't been impressed by the tough guy talk, but she understood why they felt they had to do it that way.

Many of the women who wound up in places like this were poorly educated and used to being dominated by some other stronger personality. They did little thinking for themselves.

Kate wondered if C26B was actually her designation in Belmont Prison, or if the lieutenant had just plucked a number out of thin air.

Oh well, she'd find out soon enough.

Kate was jolted out of her musings when one of the other women raised a question.

"Since it's the middle of the week, how do we know what we are scheduled for this week?"

The Lieutenant smiled. "How refreshing. A reasonably intelligent question." She stepped back and pointed to the number she used as Kate's number in her example. "If the schedule shows just your cell block, as in this case Cell Block C, then you should make sure you are there with the rest of your Cell Block. If the schedule also indicates your individual cell number, as in this case it would be C26, you should show up as will your assigned cell mate will."

She pointed to the last letter, the B in her example. "Since you haven't been able to be placed on any individual work duty list since you don't actually exist as an individual yet. You are exempt from anything that is assigned individually until the next week's schedule is made."

She smirked at the reaction that got. Like they were happy to get out of some type of duty.

"Don't think too much of that. There's not a lot of work duty that is individually assigned. Mostly just laundry, and kitchen duty."

Kate raised her hand. The Lt. pointed at her. "Katya, you have a question?"

"When are we assigned our I.D. number?"

Lt. Hellicson smiled at her. "You will be given your name and I.D. badge before you leave this room. In fact I'll do it now." She reached into a small box that she had brought in with her. She pulled out a plastic card that had the name K. Koslikov and under that the I.D. number C26B embossed into it. All could see a clip at the top of the card that could be used to clip it onto a pocket. The woman flipped it toward Kate.

Kate was able to catch the card and promptly clipped it to the breast pocket on her shirt.

The other three women were given their I.D.s the same way. No one dropped theirs.

"Since it's late in the afternoon, and we still have some topics to cover yet. Your dinners will be brought in here for you in a short while. One thing you will have to get used to is… to not be too fussy when it comes to meals." Lt. Hellicson smiled the kind of smile you'd expect to see on a hungry shark. She was enjoying herself way too much.

"In most cases your lunch will be something simple like soup and a sandwich, or pot pies and salad or fruit. Dinner will be a meat entrée, potatoes, and vegetables. On random days you might see a dessert added or a piece of fruit. There will be no choices, or substitutions. If you don't like what is served you go hungry. You'd be surprised how many finicky eaters change their habits." She laughed.

"As for breakfast, that is part of the morning routine. Lights come on at 5:45 a.m. the showers access is by cell blocks and is scheduled. Whichever cell block is slated for the 6:00 a.m. slot should get down there and get ready. Each cell block gets 15 minutes in the shower. It is recommended that whichever cell block is next on the schedule would be well served to be in line ready to go as soon as the previous scheduled block's time is up. Once the four time slots for the showers have been utilized the showers will be shut down for the rest of the day unless an officially sanctioned need for them is declared."

"The time between 5:45 and 7:00 when you aren't engaged in waiting for or using the showers, the inmate should be back in her cell. Breakfast will be served and eaten in your individual cells. Breakfasts are simple. They are generally a single waffle with butter and/or syrup, or a couple pieces of buttered toast. Either coffee or a six ounce can of juice is available for liquid. That time should be used to keep your cell in a neat and orderly manner."

"From 7:00 a.m. until 10:00 a.m. is free time. The gym, the library, the outside exercise area, and the shops are available to the inmates. At 10:00 a.m. the gym will be converted into the dining room for Lunch One. During that time all non-working inmates are to go back to their cells. Two cell blocks will eat during the 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon Lunch One. The remaining two cell blocks will then eat during the 12:00 noon to 1:00 p.m. Lunch Two. Those responsible for the tear down of the dining room is also on the schedule."

She gazes across her four somewhat confused charges.

The same situation will apply for Dinner One, and Dinner Two. If you are at all confused as to the times and who is responsible for set up and tear down for lunch, and the set up and tear down for dinner, it's all on the schedule. If you miss a scheduled work assignment three times in a six month period you will be fined. The fine will be deducted from your personal account. If you don't have the requisite funds in your account, you will be subject to extra mandatory work duty until the fine is paid."

"After the gym is restored to the gym after lunch, you are all on free time until 4:00 p.m. at which time the gym shall be converted back to the dining room for Dinner One, and Dinner Two. Once the gym is restored after the dinners, you will be on free time until 9:15. After which you have until 9:30 p.m. to get back to your cells. The doors lock at 9:45 and lights out at 10:00 p.m." At all times guards will be circulating randomly about the premises.

Hellicson smiled a cold smile. "Everything is pretty simple so far. I just want to touch on a couple of more things for you. Except for the conversion of the gym into the dining area and back again twice a day. Nearly all other necessary work details like working in the laundry, and as a kitchen helper, are covered by volunteer inmates and are paid the typical inmate wage. We have a paid staff Kitchen Manager and two fulltime staff cooks and two part time staff cooks. If we don't have enough volunteer inmates to cover a task, any inmate can be selected at random to fill the spot. She will be paid the inmate wage." Hellicson swept her gaze across her small audience. "If any of you wish to be on a paid volunteer work duty, and wish to know what each of them would entail, any guard can direct you to the information sheets posted on the library wall."

She paced across the room and back. "If you have any questions about what you are supposed to be doing at what time, just check the schedule. Everything is on the schedule. If you need help a guard can explain anything you don't understand."

At that moment a guard wheeled in a cart with four plates that represented their missed lunch/dinner. Each newbie inmate had a plate that contained what appeared to be a slice of meatloaf, a scoop of coleslaw, and some green beans. There was also a couple of slices of an apple. It looked like they got all the slices for the four inmates from one apple.

They were offered coffee, or water to drink. Kate expectantly chose the coffee but passed on the crème and sugar substitute. She sadly realized that for the duration of her undercover work in the prison, she would be missing her Castle made coffee. That just might be the greatest hardship she'd have to endure.

They all finished up their meal quickly. Kate wondered if there might have been one or two of these gals who haven't had a hearty meal in some time. For the first time she looked over at the other three newbie inmates who were going through their introduction to the wonderful world of Belmont Women's Prison with her.

Two were young women of color. One was African American, and the other was Hispanic. Neither were out of their twenties. The way they carried themselves had Kate thinking they were street walkers. Low end prostitutes whose business office was on the sidewalks outside the less reputable bars and clubs. She could just imagine their story. Growing up in the projects, the family barely getting by. The schools failed to provide enough to inspire them to reach for a better life so they fall back to what's easy. Kate had seen way too much of it.

The other woman was a bit of an enigma. She was older, looked like she stepped out of a cereal commercial. A fair complexion under a bleached, permed, cap of curls. At a quick glance one might think she looked out of place. But all you had to do was look in her eyes. Then it all changed. Her eyes were hard, and mean. You'd be hard pressed to search out an ounce of sympathy or concern for someone beside herself in those hard green eyes. Kate decided that she would be a good one to avoid.

Having seen that they were all finished with their meal Lt. Hellicson shuffled her papers on the table to regain attention.

"Okay, now that everyone is finished with their dinner, are there any last questions you have? "

Blondie spoke up. "I noticed that in our clothing pack. We got a basic slip on shoe, but no socks. Are we getting socks at any time?"

"No." Hellicson smirked at the looks of outrage the three women gave her. The Lieutenant looked over at Kate. "You look like someone who's been around, and knows a few things." Kate rolled her eyes. "Can you tell them why we don't provide socks to the inmates?"

Kate thought about giving a belligerent or sarcastic answer, but felt this wasn't the time.

"Because socks can be purposed into something that the guards would rather they weren't."

The other three looked confused, but Hellicson just smiled. "Could you elaborate, Katya?"

Great, Kate thought, now she's teacher's pet. "Well, for instance, several can be tied together to form a substitute for a rope if you should need one." Hellicson kept looking at her. Kate just sighed. "And of course, one could always find some small heavy things to shove inside a sock to make a handy homemade sap, or black jack."

The other three inmates just looked at her. Hellicson just smiled.

"Thank you, Katya." She went back to shuffling her stuff together. "If there are no more questions, this little orientation is complete. If you have any questions during your time here, you can always ask the nearest guard and if they don't know, they will be able to find the answer for you." She grabbed up her stuff. "You will be escorted to you cells shortly. Make the best out of your time here, and stay safe." With no other glance back, Lt. Hellicson left the room.

Each guard who had brought them in there, stood up. Chloe was the one to speak.

"If you have finished with your food, please dispose of your trash in the can up front. Then each of you will gather your things and follow your guard escort to your new home."

Kate tossed her Styrofoam tray and plastic utensils and paper plate in the designated trash can and gathered up her bag of shirts, pants, and underwear and tucked it under her arm.

Suddenly her stomach did a little lurch as it really hit her. She was about to go to prison. She may be undercover, but until she finds out what she needs, and then gets to see the warden for her get out of jail free card, she was here. She would be living the life of a convict.

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Rick Castle didn't feel like eating anything for dinner. He was all gung ho, and the epitome of confidence when Kate left in the morning, but now that he'd been sitting alone with nothing to do except worry.

He'd been fine for that hour that he'd been with Espo and Ryan, but he was putting on his best face for her partners. She wouldn't want them worrying about her. Especially since they weren't there to help her.

He fell back on one of his tried and true methods of dealing with anxiety. He trolled the internet. For some reason, this time around he decided to see what he could learn about Belmont Women's Prison. Surprisingly, there was a lot.

He read about the history of the place. How it had come about because a farmer's wife was tired of the constant thievery they had to endure when the prostitutes and bar maids from the nearby town would sneak into their farm and steal their corn right off the stocks. So she gave the county a parcel of their land to build a prison for the thieves. Her name was Mildred Belmont.

At first it was a divided structure that housed both men and women. Over time, the men were moved out and the prison had been refurbished for just women. It has been exclusively for women for the past 35 years. The current warden, Margret Winslow, a widow with children who lost her husband fairly early, has been in charge for the past 16 years.

Castle skipped through the history of the place and concentrated on how the facility was run. The only male guards were posted on the outer walls and the grounds beyond the physical structure. All the interior was policed by female guards. Rick thought that was kind of sexist, but he could see where there could be trouble from male guards using their positions to compromise some of the inmates. And in all fairness. It could work the other way around also.

He came across the fact that the prison had a sort of convenience store, a hair salon, and a tiny post office on the presence. He was able to discover that there were work details that inmates could volunteer for and be paid for their labor. The wages they made were put into the account that every inmate had established upon their initial incarceration.

Rick didn't know how much cash Kate had on her when she left this morning that would be used to start her account, but he didn't think it would be a lot. He read that relatives or sometimes humane groups would donate to accounts of inmates who had no one to help them.

Rick made a couple of calls and arranged to have a thousand dollars put into Katya Koslikov's account. He made sure that the donation came from an ambiguous source in Little Odessa. He didn't want her to have problems because she couldn't afford to purchase something critical to her success.

He wondered if he could arrange a visit as some relative. He shook his head. Probably wouldn't be a good idea. Through contacts he had Castle knew that there was a lawyer that was aligned with the Gangs Task Force who was acting as her lawyer. If he wanted to get a message to her he would go through him.

Castle was frustrated. He wanted so bad to do something, but Kate was in this all alone and he hadn't felt so helpless since Kate had been shot. He shook that thought out of his head. It wasn't the kind of comparison he wanted to envision.

Finally the frustration got to him, so he grabbed his coat and decided to go wander about town. By the time he hit the sidewalk out front and had flagged down a cab, he'd changed his mind. He decided to go to the Old Haunt and help out if needed, or go sulk in his office if he wasn't.

Either way, he would be out of the house.

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Kate followed guard Chloe as she was led through the hallways that separated the various administration offices. Even though there were a lot of different offices, it was only a short time until they hit the barred, and guarded door out into the prison proper.

Kate was astounded by the size of the huge auditorium like structure she was confronted with. The central area was obviously the gym, and she assumed that behind the far wall through a large double door, was the library. Off to the right was an open hallway that seemed to lead to some smaller partitioned rooms which she guessed were the shops, barber shop and postal office. All were small. What was most eye catching was the massive structures that were the individual cells themselves. The blocks of cells were on levels two and three within the structure. A and B blocks was to her left, and C and D blocks were to her right. A metal walkway for each level wrapped around the entire internal structure.

Apparently the door she just entered through was the only door to the outside world, and the walkways and the stairs on each corner were the only way up and down, either to the 3rd level or down to the ground level.

Chloe, without any actual instruction or an informational lecture of any kind, just walked to the right and expected her to follow… which she did.

After turning the corner and walking a short way along the walkway thy found their way to a cell labeled C26. Home sweet home. Since it was the still in the after dinner free period, all the cell doors were open, and most were empty. Including C26.

Chloe led the way into the cell. Against one wall was the twin sized bunk bed. Just beyond the foot of the bunk was two small lidded boxes. Chloe pointed to them and then bent over and opened the first one. It was full of clothes not unlike the ones under Kate's arm. She flipped the lid on the other one. It was empty.

"That one's yours."

Kate walked over and dumped her bag of clothes into the box. "I'll organize later."

On the opposite wall was a narrow table fastened to the wall, with two chairs set against it. Above the plank table was a narrow shelf which at present held noting. Kate turned to Chloe with a questioning look on her face.

"Some inmates receive books or magazines from friends and relatives. They can keep them on the shelf. Often they are traded around within the prison. The store carries a small selection of paperbacks, and such that can be purchased." It was like Chloe was a computer at an airport programed to answer commuters' questions.

Kate had to bite her lip not to ask if they had any Richard Castle books in stock.

Chloe then directed Kate to the back of the cell. There without any form of curtain or partition was a small round sink, and a standard flush toilet. Above the sink was a shelf that held toilet paper and some cleaning supplies with a packet of paper towels. A single towel bar was next to the sink, and draped over it was a single hand towel. Now Kate knew why she had also received a hand towel and a toothbrush in her care package of clothing. She assumed there was toothpaste somewhere.

Chloe led her to the outside of the cell. Up against the bars was a box. She pointed at it.

"Every Monday morning before you head down to the shower, put your week's worth of dirty clothes into the box. When you come back from your shower your clean clothes for the coming week will be in there."

Chloe checked her watch. "There's a little over an hour left of free time before you have to be back in your cells for evening lockdown if you wish you can wander about a bit. Otherwise you can just hang here, until lockdown and then lights out."

Chloe stared at the bed. "I'm pretty sure your cell mate sleeps on the bottom bunk, so that would leave you the top."

Kate nodded her head. "Not a problem." She had noted the couple metal rungs on the end post to use to get up on the top bunk.

Chloe made ready to leave, then stopped and turned back to Kate. "There is a schedule posted down at each end of the walkways and intermittently along the way, if you wish to check it out. Or you can wait until tomorrow morning. Just know that both of you will be showering at the same time. So just follow her in the morning."

Chloe turned and walked away. "Thanks." Kate responded to the guard's back.

A/N: And so begins Kate's new life. Most of what I've described as prison life is just made up. I did a brief Google search but didn't come across much detail. I did come across the prisoner account set up, and the fact that inmates could get paid for voluntary work details. It was emphasized that the convicts were paid extremely low wages and were charged extremely high prices for anything they purchased.

All Readers are Appreciated, Review if you wish.