Chapter 9 - The Glass Hallway
The ballroom erupted into absolute hysteria as people dove under tables for cover.
I didn't care about the gun, the crowd, or the glass embedded in my knees.
My maternal instinct completely overrode any logical sense of fear.
I stood up and followed my husband through the swinging service doors into a long, glass-walled hallway.
The hallway connected the hotel to a deserted parking garage.
Brett was dragging the stroller backward, his gun shaking wildly in his hand.
He ranted frantically that we could still fix this, that we could take the charity money and flee the country together as a family.
I told him he was out of his mind and begged him to just let June go.
I took a slow, calculated step toward him, raising my hands to show I was unarmed.
Eleanor burst through the doors behind me, breathless and panicked.
She ignored the gun and ran toward Brett, screaming that he needed to leave the baby and just run to save himself.
Brett yelled at his mother to shut up, his eyes darting frantically between us.
In that moment of distraction, Tessa burst through the doors directly behind Eleanor.
Tessa didn't hesitate; she sprinted forward and viciously tackled Eleanor to the hard marble floor.
The sudden movement caused Brett to flinch violently.
I used his distraction to lunge forward, grabbing the barrel of the gun with both of my bleeding hands.
We violently wrestled for the weapon, slamming into the floor-to-ceiling glass windows of the corridor.
Brett cursed at me, his immense strength overpowering my exhausted body.
He managed to rip the gun from my grip and pointed it directly at my chest.
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He looked me in the eyes and said he should have just killed me himself.
A deafening gunshot echoed through the narrow glass hallway.
