Chapter 3 - Shattered Glass and Blue Lights
The sound of shattering glass tore through the night air like a gunshot.
Shards of reinforced glass cascaded across the entryway floor as the iron bar smashed through the side window, followed by a heavy hand reaching inside to flip the deadbolt.
“Get back!” Tessa screamed, grabbing a heavy brass umbrella stand from the corner of the foyer just as the front door swung wide open.
Travis Reynolds stepped across the threshold, his face mottled with rage, smelling heavily of stale beer and cheap bourbon. Behind him, his accomplice ducked through the broken window frame, knife gleaming dully in the porch light.
“Stupid bitch,” Travis growled, lunging forward to grab Tessa by the collar of her shirt.
Tessa didn't hesitate. She swung the heavy brass umbrella stand with every ounce of strength she possessed, catching Travis squarely across the shoulder blade. He let out a sharp curse, stumbling backward against the wall.
“Travis, stop!” Marlene shrieked, running out from the kitchen hallway. “Leave her alone! Take me, just leave them alone!”
“Shut up, you useless cow!” Travis roared, raising his fist to strike Marlene.
Before his fist could connect, the night outside exploded into a brilliant lattice of flashing red and blue light. The wail of multiple police sirens echoed down the residential street, growing deafeningly loud in seconds.
The man in the hoodie froze, his knife dropping from his hand with a sharp clatter. “Travis, cop cars! We gotta go!”
“Get him!” Travis yelled, lunging for Tessa again, his fingers closing around her wrist with bone-crushing force.
Tessa twisted violently, driving her heel down onto the top of his shoe as hard as she could. Travis howled in pain, loosening his grip just enough for her to break free.
At that exact moment, the front door burst open wider as Detective Miller and three armed patrol officers flooded into the hallway, weapons drawn and tactical flashlights blindingly bright.
“Police! Down on the ground! Do it now!” Miller barked, his voice cutting through the chaos with absolute authority.
Travis’s accomplice threw his hands up in the air and dropped to his knees immediately. Travis hesitated, his eyes darting toward the back exit, but before he could move, two officers hit him from the side, tackling him hard against the living room wall. A heavy plastic zip-tie snapped shut around his wrists with a sharp zip.
“Travis Reynolds, you’re under arrest for breaking and entering, domestic assault, and violation of a protective order,” an officer recited coldly as they hauled him upright.
Travis glared over his shoulder at Tessa, his face twisted into a mask of pure, unadulterated venom.
May you like
“This isn't over, Tessa!” he screamed as they dragged him out through the shattered doorway. “You hear me? You can’t lock up everyone who works for the syndicate! Someone’s coming for you!”
Then he was gone, shoved into the back of a black-and-white cruiser whose red lights cast rhythmic pulses across the ceiling of the ransocked hallway.
