by Scott Bonn
“Of course, I trust you,” Stacey says in a soft tone.
Holding Stacey’s right hand, Lundquist guides her quickly down the corridor, past the unconscious body of Lilly Perez, and through the main cellblock door. As they go by the prison guard lying motionless on the floor, Stacey stares down at her but says nothing. She is obediently following her chaplain wherever he is taking her.
Lundquist knows that every second counts. While they hurry down the hallway together, he tells Stacey that they must pick up their pace.
“Quickly, Stacey, we are almost there,” Lundquist says breathlessly.
As Lundquist is saying these words to Stacey, prison superintendent Kaplan, Pritchard and the others are arriving at Lundquist’s office. Cassidy has the arrest warrant for Lundquist in her left hand and her Glock 19M pistol cocked and ready to fire in her right hand. Pritchard and the rest of the team have their guns out and ready to shoot as well. They look into Lundquist’s office and are shocked to find that the chaplain is nowhere in sight.
Suddenly, before any of them can even utter a word, an alarm that Superintendent Kaplan instantly recognizes begins to blare throughout the prison.
Kaplan says, “That is a code red. There has been a security breach.”
The superintendent’s cell phone rings. It is the captain of the prison guards, Susan Pryor, on the line. Kaplan listens intently to what Captain Pryor tells her and then replies curtly.
She says, “Do not engage. I am on my way,” and ends the call.
Kaplan turns to Pritchard and the others, and says, “One of our guards, Lilly Perez, was just attacked and knocked unconscious by Charles Lundquist. Perez says that Lundquist released one of our inmates, Stacey Sommers, from her cell and took her with him. My guards have spotted Lundquist and Sommers in the corridor that leads to the commissary and chapel. We need to go there now and join my captain and her team. Follow me.”
The group begins to run down the hallway to their right, as indicated by Kaplan.
Cassidy says loudly to the others, “It looks like Lundquist has taken a hostage. He may be armed and is probably desperate at this point.”
Kaplan guides the group in a full sprint through the labyrinth of hallways that lead to the area where they have spotted Lundquist. It takes them several minutes to reach the captain of the guards and her team. When they arrive, they see that Captain Pryor has positioned her armed guards at the entrance of the corridor where Lundquist is located.
Kaplan, Pritchard and the others are all sweating and breathing heavily from their run. The superintendent takes a deep breath and speaks to her captain.
She asks, “What is the status, Susan?”
Captain Pryor replies, “Lundquist has taken Stacey Sommers into the chapel and closed the door behind him. That is a dead end for him. There is no way out of there.”
The superintendent thanks Pryor for her status report. Then she hurriedly introduces the captain of the guards to Pritchard, Cassidy and the others.
Cassidy looks at Pryor and says, “Captain, I have a federal arrest warrant for Charles Lundquist, so I am going to take over this operation from here.”
Without waiting for a reply from Pryor, she asks, “Do you know if Lundquist is armed?”
Pryor replies, “I cannot say for sure, but it did look like he was carrying something in his right hand. He was pulling Stacey Sommers along with his left hand.”
Cassidy says, “Okay, we have him trapped, but he has a hostage and may be armed. I want to talk him out of there. I want to do this peacefully. We only shoot if he is armed and makes an aggressive move toward either the hostage or us.”
Pritchard looks at Cassidy and asks, “How do you want to do this, Julia?”
Cassidy says, “Baldwin, Redding and I will approach the chapel. I will speak to Lundquist and order him to surrender. I want you and your men to be right behind us in case he is armed and decides to make a stand and fight.”
Pritchard says. “All right, Julia, let’s do it.”
Cassidy takes the lead and begins to walk down the corridor toward the chapel that is located on the right, fifty yards away. Directly behind Cassidy is Baldwin, followed by Redding, Pritchard and the others. They have their weapons drawn and are ready to fire, if necessary.
When she reaches the chapel, Cassidy peers carefully through the small window in the closed wooden door. Looking inside, she witnesses an incredible sight through the tinted glass. Approximately thirty-five feet away, Charles Lundquist is standing still and facing the altar with his back toward her. He is cradling Stacey Sommers in his arms. Stacey has her head tilted back and she is not moving. Due to her angle of vision and the distance, Cassidy cannot tell if Stacey is injured or possibly worse.
Without speaking, Cassidy turns to her right and nods her head twice to Baldwin who is just behind her. Suddenly, Cassidy swings the chapel door open and points her Glock directly at Lundquist, while propping the door open with her right foot. Baldwin moves into the doorway next to Cassidy and points his weapon at Lundquist, too.
Cassidy yells, “FBI! Charles Lundquist, you are under arrest. Put the girl down on the floor now. Turn around slowly and place your hands on your head.”
Several seconds go by and Lundquist does not move or speak.
In a loud and stern voice, Cassidy demands, “Charles, put the girl down, and turn around now. I am not going to tell you again.”
A few seconds later, Lundquist turns slowly to his right. He is still cradling Stacey in his outstretched arms. As he turns to face Cassidy, she can see something metallic in his right hand that she thinks is a gun.
Cassidy yells, “Drop the weapon!”
Facing forward now, and looking directly at Cassidy, Lundquist raises Stacey in his arms and calmly says, “It is God’s will.”
Before Lundquist can say another word, Cassidy fires a single round from her Glock that strikes Lundquist in the forehead. He is dead before his body hits the floor. Stacey falls on top of him in a heap.
Cassidy, Baldwin and Pritchard rush up the center aisle of the small chapel toward the altar. When they reach Stacey, she is on her knees, sobbing, next to the dead body of Lundquist. Lying on the floor next to Lundquist’s right hand is a metal cross.
Pritchard leans down and places his hand on Stacey’s back to comfort her as she kneels beside the bloody corpse of Lundquist.
He asks her, “Did he hurt you? Are you injured?”
Choking back tears, Stacey looks up at Pritchard and says, “He was baptizing me.”
THE END
Epilogue
It is Tuesday, November 2nd at 2:00pm, and Pritchard is standing next to Cassidy on the tarmac at LaGuardia Airport. Cassidy is about to board the Gulfstream jet that will take her back to Washington, D.C. Her FBI colleagues are already on board.
Much has happened in the twenty-four hours since Cassidy shot and killed Charles Lundquist. Commissioner Bratton has held a press conference to announce that the guardian is dead. The city of Manhattan is celebrating his demise. Bratton has privately told Pritchard that he is considering a promotion for him to Chief of Detectives for Manhattan as a reward for stopping the guardian.
However, not all of the news is positive. The FBI has called Cassidy back to its headquarters in Quantico to face an inquiry. Internal Affairs of the FBI will investigate her for shooting and killing an unarmed man. Fortunately, Cassidy has the complete support of her immediate superiors. They are confident that she will not face any disciplinary action following the investigation. They believe that she acted on a reasonable belief that the guardian was armed and posed an immediate and deadly threat to herself and others. Therefore, she acted in self-defense. Moreover, Lundquist failed twice to heed her command to surrender.
Cassidy is standing close to Pritchard. He can see that she is about to turn away from him and climb up the stairs of the small jet. He puts his arms around her and hugs her tightly.
He smiles and says, “Thank you, Julia. I
could not have stopped the guardian without you.”
He stammers a bit and continues, “I am not good at this, this—saying goodbye.”
Cassidy winks and says, “I think the least that the NYPD owes you is a little vacation, James. Washington, D.C. is a lovely place to visit in the fall, and I can be a delightful host.”
Pritchard chuckles and says, “Yes, I know just how talented you are. I think that a trip to the Washington, D.C. area sounds like a very good idea.”
Cassidy says, “Excellent. I will expect to hear from you soon.”
She smiles at Pritchard one last time. Then she turns, climbs the stairs, and disappears into the jet.
Pritchard watches the Gulfstream jet taxi down the runway as it prepares for takeoff. He thinks to himself that he has not had an alcoholic drink for fifteen days and cannot remember the last time he felt so good without one.
About the Author
Scott Bonn, Ph.D., is a criminologist, professor, TV news commentator, public speaker and author of the best-selling book Why We Love Serial Killers: The Curious Appeal of the World’s Most Savage Murderers. Dr. Bonn also authored the critically acclaimed book Mass Deception: Moral Panic and the U.S. War on Iraq.
Dr. Bonn is an expert on criminal motivations and behavior and is highly regarded for answering the puzzling question of “why the perpetrator did it” in complex criminal cases. He examines many types of crime, including white-collar, state crime, terrorism, mass murder, sexual assault and serial homicide in his Psychology Today crime blog titled Wicked Deeds that has been read more than six million times around the world. He frequently provides expert commentary and analysis for the major news media and he has appeared in a number of high-profile crime TV shows and documentaries on A&E, Discovery Network, Oxygen and Investigation Discovery. Follow him @DocBonn on Twitter and visit his website www.DocBonn.com.
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