Chapter 4 - The Breach
The explosion of breaking glass sent me curling tighter over Mia. I squeezed my eyes shut, praying that the shards wouldn’t reach us.
A heavy iron crowbar swung through the broken window frame, clearing away the remaining jagged pieces of glass. A hand reached through, fumbling for the lock on the window sash.
“Stop right there!” Ranger Sarah shouted, drawing her taser and aiming it at the window.
Through the opening, the wet, angry face of Victor Hale appeared. His eyes were wild, bloodshot, and completely devoid of sanity. He didn’t look like a man trying to escape; he looked like a predator cornered, willing to tear down anything in his path.
“Give me the girl, Helen needs the girl!” he screamed, his voice cracking with a terrifying intensity.
Before Sarah could fire, a heavy rock flew through the shattered window, striking her squarely in the temple. She groaned, stumbling backward, the taser slipping from her grip as she collapsed to the floor, semi-conscious.
“Sarah!” I shrieked.
Victor began scrambling through the window frame, his bulky jacket catching on the wood, but his sheer momentum forcing him through. From the front door, the sound of heavy kicks began to splinter the wood. My father and mother were trying to break the lock from the outside.
I was trapped. The only exit was the back door, but the keys to the deadbolt were on Sarah’s belt, and she was lying across the room, groaning in pain.
Victor tumbled onto the floor, shaking himself like a wet dog. He looked up, his eyes locking onto the desk where Mia and I were huddled. A sickening grin spread across his face.
“There you are,” he whispered, pushing himself up. “Uncle Victor just wants to play, Mia. Your mommy is being very naughty.”
Adrenaline, pure and primitive, flooded my system. The fear that had paralyzed me for the last hour evaporated, replaced by an overwhelming, protective rage. This man was not going to touch my daughter. Not while I still had breath in my body.
My hand swept across the floor, searching for anything to use as a weapon. My fingers brushed against the heavy flashlight Sarah had dropped. I gripped the cold metal casing, my knuckles turning white.
As Victor lunged toward the desk, reaching out a claw-like hand to grab Mia’s ankle, I surged forward from beneath the desk.
With a primal scream, I swung the heavy flashlight with all my strength.
The metal connected with the side of Victor’s jaw with a sickening crack. He howled in pain, stumbling backward, his hands flying to his face as blood began to gush from his mouth.
“You bitch!” he roared, lunging at me again.
But I didn’t stop. I swung again, this time catching him across the collarbone. He went down on one knee, gasping for air. I didn’t wait to see if he would get up. I grabbed Sarah’s taser from the floor, aimed it directly at his chest, and pulled the trigger.
The two probes hit him dead center. The high-voltage current surged through his body, locking his muscles instantly. He stiffened, convulsing violently, before collapsing face-first onto the wooden floor, completely incapacitated.
At that exact moment, the front door was kicked open with a loud splintering crash. But it wasn’t my parents who walked through.
The room was suddenly flooded with the blue and red flashing lights of police cruisers.
“Police! Nobody move!” a voice commanded.
May you like
Two deputies rushed into the room, their weapons drawn. Behind them, through the rain, I could see my mother and father being pushed against the hood of their SUV, their hands being pulled behind their backs in handcuffs. Chloe was already in the back of a cruiser, her face buried in her hands, weeping.
I dropped the taser, sank to my knees, and pulled Mia into my arms. We were safe.
