Chapter 7 - Red and Blue LightsStrobe lights in intense shades of red and blue flashed through the frosted glass of the high bathroom window.
"DEPUTIES! OPEN THE FRONT DOOR NOW!" a amplified voice thundered through a megaphone from the front yard.
Mark stopped dead in his tracks. The terrifying rage on his face dissolved into instant, naked panic. He looked back over his shoulder toward Evelyn, who looked like she had just been slapped across the face.
"Mark..." Evelyn whispered, her voice cracking for the first time. "The police..."
"Shut up!" Mark hissed, snatching his hand back through the ruined door.
I heard heavy boots kicking through the front entrance downstairs.
"COUNTY SHERIFF! HANDS IN THE AIR!"
Footsteps pounded up the carpeted stairs—three, maybe four officers moving fast. Within seconds, the hallway outside exploded into chaos.
"GET ON THE GROUND! DROP THE TOOL! GET ON THE GROUND NOW!"
"Officer, please! This is a misunderstanding!" Evelyn shrieked, her voice shifting back into a fragile, panicked sob. "My daughter-in-law is having a mental breakdown—"
"FACE DOWN! HANDS BEHIND YOUR BACK!" a deputy barked.
I heard the dull thud of Mark being slammed against the hallway wall, followed by the metallic click of handcuffs snapping around his wrists.
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A female deputy kicked the ruined bathroom door aside, her service weapon held low, her eyes sweeping the small room. When her gaze landed on me—sitting in the tub, blood dripping from my nose onto my newborn, clutching a phone with an empty SIM tray—her expression hardened into stone.
"Paramedics! Up here now!" she yelled over her shoulder, kneeling beside me. "Ma'am, you're safe. Don't move. We've got you."
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