Chapter 9 - The Second Barrel
My heart leaped into my throat. Before I could throw myself across the room, the lead officer fired a non-lethal disarming round. The loud crack of the service weapon shattered the windowpane next to Bernice.
The silver revolver slipped from her fingers, clattering against the hardwood floor.
Within seconds, two officers tackled my mother to the ground, heavy steel cuffs snapping shut around her wrists. As they dragged her upright, her hair disheveled and her face twisted in pure venom, she locked eyes with me one last time.
“You think you’ve won?” she shrieked, her voice echoing through the empty lake house as they pushed her toward the door. “Look at your phone, Christopher! Read the email! You’re destroying the only person who actually knows the truth!”
The heavy oak front door slammed shut behind them, leaving a suffocating silence in the room.
Savannah exhaled a long, shaky breath, her arms wrapping protectively around her swollen belly. I rushed to her side, pulling her into a tight embrace.
“Are you okay? Why did you follow me here? It was too dangerous—”
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“I couldn't let you face her alone,” she whispered against my chest. “And I saw the email notification pop up on your locked screen before you left the hotel. I decrypted it using the backup keys your father left in the sewing box.”
I pulled back, staring at her in shock. “You decrypted it? What was inside?”
