Chapter 2 - The Standoff
The entire room froze as Linda cocked the hammer of the silver revolver.
She screamed that if Ryan was going to prison, I was not going to live to testify against him.
The military police immediately drew their sidearms, aiming directly at her head.
My father instinctively threw his body over mine, completely shielding my swollen belly with his own back.
He calmly ordered his men to hold their fire so the stray bullets would not hit me.
Ryan struggled against the soldier pinning him to the wall, begging his mother to put the gun down.
Linda refused to listen, her face twisting into a mask of pure, unhinged malice.
She demanded that the soldiers let her son go and step out into the hallway.
My father slowly turned his head to look at her over his shoulder.
He spoke with the icy authority of a man who had negotiated with terrorists in active war zones.
He warned her that pulling the trigger would be the absolute last thing she ever did.
Linda laughed hysterically, her finger tightening dangerously on the metal trigger.
The sudden sound of police sirens echoing from the street outside caused her to flinch for a fraction of a second.
One of the soldiers used that momentary distraction to lung forward and strike her wrist.
The gun fired wildly as it flew out of her hand, the deafening gunshot ringing in my ears.
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A sharp, burning pain instantly erupted across my lower abdomen.
I looked down and saw a terrifying patch of bright red blood soaking rapidly through the blue blanket.
