Chapter 2 - SIX MINUTES
State troopers entered first.
Two paramedics followed with a stretcher and medical bags.
Behind them came a woman wearing a dark overcoat over a navy suit.
She held up a federal credential before anyone could stop her.
“Special Agent Rachel Monroe.”
“Where is Anna Hale?”
Sylvia pointed toward me as though I were an inconvenience she had been forced to explain.
“She fell.”
Agent Monroe looked at the broken phone beside David’s shoe.
Then she looked at the blood beneath me.
Her expression hardened.
“That does not look like a simple fall.”
The paramedics dropped to their knees.
One checked my pulse while the other placed an oxygen mask over my face.
“Seven months pregnant?”
“Yes.”
“Did you strike your abdomen?”
“My back hit the counter.”
I pointed toward Sylvia.
“She pushed me.”
Sylvia’s mouth opened.
“She is confused.”
“She was exhausted and dramatic.”
Agent Monroe turned toward the guests.
“Did anyone witness physical contact?”
Nobody answered.
David’s colleague Evan Pierce stared at the floor.
The sheriff, who had been seated beside David during dinner, suddenly became fascinated by the broken serving spoon near the sink.
The silence told Agent Monroe everything.
She looked toward the troopers.
“Separate everyone.”
David stepped between the officers and the doorway.
“You do not have the authority to detain my guests.”
A trooper met his stare.
“We have an injured woman, a damaged phone, an allegation of assault, and possible unlawful restraint.”
“We have enough authority to ask questions.”
David straightened his shoulders.
“I’m an attorney.”
Agent Monroe’s gaze did not change.
“Then you understand that obstructing emergency personnel would be a very poor decision.”
The paramedics lifted me onto the stretcher.
Pain tore through my stomach so violently that I cried out.
One of them pressed a monitor against my abdomen.
For several terrible seconds, all I heard was static.
Then a rapid heartbeat filled the kitchen.
Too rapid.
The paramedic looked at his partner.
“We need to move now.”
David reached for the stretcher.
“Anna, tell them this was a misunderstanding.”
Agent Monroe blocked him.
“You are not accompanying her.”
“She is my wife.”
“At this moment, you are also a person accused of preventing her from receiving medical care.”
David’s jaw tightened.
He lowered his voice.
“You have no idea who you’re dealing with.”
Agent Monroe glanced at the phone still connected to my father.
“I believe everyone in this room just learned exactly who they are dealing with.”
They carried me through the dining room.
The guests stood against the walls.
The candles were still burning.
The turkey I had spent all day cooking sat untouched beneath the chandelier.
My apron was stained.
My shoes were gone.
One hand hung over the side of the stretcher as they rolled me toward the front door.
Evan suddenly stepped away from the other guests.
“Wait.”
Everyone turned toward him.
He reached into his jacket.
David’s face tightened.
“Evan, don’t.”
Evan removed his phone.
May you like
His hand was shaking.
“I recorded part of it.”
