Chapter 1 - The Poison in the Blood
The courtroom erupted into total chaos as Judge Hanley screamed for the bailiff to open the doors.
My husband Daniel simply rolled his eyes and adjusted his expensive silk tie.
His mother Patricia let out a loud sigh, muttering that I was putting on a pathetic show.
I was lying on the cold hardwood floor, staring up at the buzzing fluorescent lights as my vision blurred.
Colonel Aaron Carter ignored all of them, pressing his strong fingers firmly against my throat.
He shouted at the bailiff that my heart rate was dangerously erratic and plummeting fast.
I tried to whisper my daughter's name, but my vocal cords were completely paralyzed.
Carter leaned down, his face hovering inches from mine.
He told me to blink twice if my fingertips felt like they were burning.
I forced my heavy eyelids to close and open twice.
A look of pure, terrifying realization washed over the military doctor's face.
He spun around and glared directly at Daniel and Patricia.
He announced to the entire courtroom that I was not having a panic attack.
He stated clearly that I was exhibiting the exact symptoms of a synthetic neuro-paralytic.
Daniel's smug smile instantly vanished, replaced by a flash of genuine panic.
Patricia dropped her purse, sending her unused tissues scattering across the aisle.
The heavy wooden doors burst open as two paramedics rushed in with a stretcher.
Carter barked medical orders at them using terminology I could barely understand.
They lifted me onto the stretcher, strapping my arms down as my breathing grew dangerously shallow.
Daniel stepped into the aisle, trying to physically block the paramedics from leaving.
He told them I was his wife and he was denying medical transport because I was faking it.
Carter stepped forward and shoved Daniel against the wooden pews with surprising force.
He warned my husband that if he interfered with a critical medical evacuation, he would break his jaw.
Daniel backed away, his fists clenched in silent rage as the paramedics wheeled me out.
I was loaded into the back of an ambulance, the siren wailing as we sped through the city streets.
Carter rode in the back with me, administering a clear liquid through an IV line in my arm.
The burning sensation in my chest slowly began to fade, and I could finally take a deep breath.
I looked at the stranger in the green uniform and rasped a quiet thank you.
He did not smile back at me.
He leaned in close, his expression grim and deadly serious.
He asked me exactly what Daniel had given me to drink that morning.
I whispered that Daniel had handed me a cup of coffee right before we entered the courthouse.
Carter pulled a small, sealed vial of my drawn blood from his medical kit.
He told me the paralytic in my system was a highly classified chemical agent used exclusively by military intelligence.
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Then he asked the question that made my blood run cold.
He asked how my civilian husband had gained access to a weaponized toxin that only elite government operatives possessed.
