Chapter 5 - The Silent Suburb
I slowly lowered my weapon and let it drop to the concrete sidewalk.
Two heavily armed men in black tactical gear stepped out from the shadows to secure my arms.
They belonged to a private security firm exclusively hired by the homeowners association.
Diana walked across the street, her white tennis shoes glowing in the firelight from my burning truck.
She casually retrieved my fallen pistol and placed it into her designer handbag.
She told the guards to bind my wrists with heavy plastic zip-ties.
The plastic cut deeply into my skin, mirroring the pain Emma had felt earlier that day.
Diana explained that they were going to frame me for a violent mental breakdown.
She said the narrative would be that I burned my own truck and attacked the police captain.
She leaned in close, smelling of expensive perfume and pure malice.
She whispered that Emma had already been transferred from the hospital into state custody.
My heart shattered into a million pieces at the thought of Emma waking up alone.
I thrashed wildly against the guards, kicking one squarely in the knee.
The second guard struck me across the jaw with the heavy stock of his rifle.
I tasted warm copper as I fell hard onto the asphalt.
They dragged my semi-conscious body toward an unmarked black van parked nearby.
They threw me into the dark cargo area and slammed the heavy metal doors shut.
The van accelerated quickly, driving me far away from the neighborhood I used to protect.
I lay in absolute darkness, listening to the hum of the tires on the highway.
I used the sharp edge of a loose floor panel to desperately saw at my plastic restraints.
It took twenty agonizing minutes of painful friction to finally snap the thick plastic band.
I braced myself against the moving walls and prepared for a violent escape.
The van suddenly swerved aggressively and slammed to a complete, violent halt.
I heard muffled shouts outside, followed by the terrifying sound of rapid gunfire.
The rear doors of the van were suddenly ripped open.
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A bright flashlight blinded me temporarily.
The person holding the light lowered it, revealing the terrified face of my elderly neighbor, Mrs. Gable.
