Getting her into the prison was a logistical nightmare that required me to lie to the night sergeant. I told him she was a legal consultant coming for a late-night deposition. My hands shook as I swiped my badge, praying the alarm wouldn’t trigger a lockdown.
The smell of bleach and despair filled the hallway as we approached the maximum-security wing. The elderly woman stumbled, her breath coming in short, ragged gasps that made me fear for her heart. We were only twenty feet away from the cell when a flashlight beam hit us.
“Officer Rossi, what is going on here?” Sergeant Miller’s voice boomed from the end of the hall. I froze, my body shielding the tiny woman behind me as the heavy boots of the guards drew closer. I had to make a split-second decision that could land me in a cell of my own