Chapter 1 - The First to Arrive
The red and blue lights strobed through the shattered front window, casting jagged shadows across Mark’s pale face. The wail of the sirens died abruptly as two cruisers parked diagonally across the manicured lawn. Heavy boots hit the pavement.
"In here!" I shouted, never taking my eyes off Mark.
Officers Miller and Davis, two uniforms I’d worked with for years, burst through the front door with their hands on their holsters. They took one look at the overturned furniture, the shattered glass, and then at me, kneeling beside my battered sister.
"Detective Vance?" Miller asked, his eyes widening. "We got a call for a domestic..."
"You're looking at the perp," I said, my voice dead and cold. "Arrest him."
Mark immediately raised his hands, shifting into his polished, corporate persona. "Officers, please. My wife had a psychotic break. She was throwing things, trying to hurt herself. I had to restrain her. Elena is just being emotional because they're twins."
Miller looked at Mark, then looked at the deep, dark bruises already blooming on Sarah’s neck. Those weren't restraint marks. Those were the marks of a man trying to crush a woman's windpipe.
"Turn around and place your hands behind your back," Davis ordered, pulling his cuffs.
"This is ridiculous!" Mark spat, his polite facade cracking. "I know the Chief of Police! You are making a massive mistake!"
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"The only mistake," I whispered, helping the paramedics load Sarah onto a stretcher, "was thinking I wouldn't hear her over the phone. Get him out of my sight."
The satisfying click of steel handcuffs echoed in the hallway. Mark was dragged out, screaming threats about lawsuits and ruined careers. I didn't care. The war had just begun.
