Chapter 2 - The Blue Residue
The kitchen door burst open before I could even process the words on the screen.
Two paramedics rushed in with a stretcher, shouting orders and pushing the party guests out of the way.
I shoved Sabrina’s phone deep into my own pocket, my hands trembling uncontrollably.
I could not look at my husband.
The man I had trusted with my life, the man kneeling over our dying daughter, was suddenly a stranger.
"She has no pulse!" one of the paramedics yelled, pressing a bag valve mask over Harper’s tiny face.
"Starting compressions now," the other one said, his hands locking over her chest.
The sound of his hands pressing into her ribs was the worst thing I had ever heard.
I dropped to my knees beside the stretcher, begging them to save her.
Nolan tried to put his arm around my shoulder, but I violently violently shoved him away.
He looked hurt, completely oblivious to the fact that I had just seen the damning text message.
"We need to go, right now," the lead paramedic shouted, lifting the stretcher.
We ran out of the house, leaving the balloons and half-eaten cupcakes behind like a graveyard of a happy life.
I jumped into the back of the ambulance, refusing to let Nolan ride with us.
"Follow in the cruiser," I told him, locking eyes with him for one freezing second.
He nodded slowly and ran toward his police vehicle.
The ambulance sped down the street, sirens screaming into the afternoon air.
The paramedic suddenly stopped chest compressions and leaned in closely to inspect Harper’s mouth.
He shined a penlight over her lips and inside her cheek.
"Ma'am, does your daughter take any heavy cardiac medications?" he asked frantically.
"No, she is seven years old, she only takes gummy vitamins," I cried.
The paramedic wiped a thick, chalky blue residue from the roof of Harper's mouth with a piece of gauze.
He held it up to the harsh light of the ambulance.
"This is not a normal poison," the paramedic said, his face turning pale.
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"This residue matches a highly restricted beta-blocker."
"It is a tactical grade pill, only issued to the SWAT and first responder units in this county."
