Sheriff Hudson heads to the jail to confront Ryan Stevens regarding the newly surfaced DNA link tying Ryan to the Kelly Summers homicide. Determined to assess Ryan’s honesty in person and uncover any additional misconduct from the original investigation, Hudson requests immediate access to Ryan’s private holding area.

Officer Clark, on desk duty, reports that Ryan was asleep twenty minutes earlier and is unaware of the media leak. Hudson takes the keys and proceeds alone to the rarely used private cells, chosen for Ryan’s safety because inmates often target law enforcement.

Upon opening the secured area, Hudson discovers Ryan unresponsive, slumped with a belt tied around his neck and affixed to the top bunk. Hudson shouts for a medic, radios for paramedics, fumbles with keys, and finally gains entry to the cell.

Hudson loosens the belt, cuts Ryan down, and begins CPR, finding no pulse and no breath. He continues chest compressions and rescue breaths despite cracking ribs, urging Ryan to hold on.

Officer Clark arrives, shocked. Hudson berates him for reporting Ryan asleep and for the failure to remove Ryan’s belt. Paramedics rush in, apply oxygen, and take over compressions while Hudson, shaken, withdraws to the bars of the cell.

As paramedics work, Hudson fixes blame on Clark, warning him to hope Ryan survives. The chapter ends with Ryan’s condition uncertain and the jail’s procedural lapse starkly exposed.