Chapter 8 - The Escape
The concussive force of the blast threw me and Holly completely off the porch and into the soft, deep snow of the front yard.
I rolled over frantically, using my own body to shield my daughter from the shower of shattered glass raining down from the windows.
Thick black smoke billowed furiously from the basement vents, quickly turning the pristine white snow into a dirty gray sludge.
I sat up, coughing wildly and patting Holly’s arms and legs to ensure she was not seriously injured.
Holly was crying softly, but she nodded bravely to let me know she was safe.
I looked back at the house, completely paralyzed by the horrifying sight of flames licking at the broken front doors.
I screamed Brandon’s name at the top of my lungs, my voice cracking with absolute, devastating terror.
There was no answer from the burning house, only the terrifying roar of the rapidly spreading fire.
The terrified family members were huddled near the street, watching their beloved childhood home burn to the ground.
I handed the heavy pistol to one of the uncles and told him to watch Holly while I went back inside.
I refused to let my husband die in the basement with a monster who had tried to destroy us all.
I wrapped my thick winter coat tightly around my face to block the toxic smoke and charged back toward the burning porch.
Just as my foot touched the first wooden step, a figure emerged from the thick wall of black smoke.
Brandon stumbled out of the front doors, coughing violently and clutching his side in obvious pain.
But he was not alone.
He was aggressively dragging Gene by the collar of her expensive dress, completely pulling her unconscious body out of the inferno.
He collapsed onto the snow, gasping for clean air as I threw my arms around his neck and wept in absolute relief.
I asked him why he had risked his own life to save a woman who had just tried to kill him.
Brandon looked at me with exhausted, soot-covered eyes and smiled weakly.
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He said he needed her alive so she could spend the rest of her miserable life rotting in a tiny federal prison cell.
Suddenly, the blaring, deafening sound of multiple police sirens cut entirely through the quiet winter morning.
