Rescued by the Captain (Winter Rescue)

12. Bria

12

brIA

The attackers are relentless. They’ve reached our doorstep, and I dread that we’ll need to confront them with violence.

Mr. Winchester is already on guard with the dog. “Worst comes to worst, we’ll put up a fight for our life,” he says.

I swallow thickly. I think the front door latch has been shot to the floor, when sirens start blaring from afar.

“Fuck! Retreat! Retreat! Scatter!” One of the attackers yells. They can be heard shuffling, clearly not having expected to be met with more reinforcements.

Luckily for us, the officers show up in the nick of time. The town sheriff jumps out from the vehicle, and orders for the attackers to put their hands up. Gunfire is exchanged with bullets striking metals and pinging through the air. Overcome with a mixture of curiosity and dread, I crawl to the entrance windows to glance outside. The battle goes silent. I watch with sheer joy when the officers haul the masked attackers into their cruisers, their wrists clasped in heavy metal restraints.

I dash outside. The sheriff is waiting on the porch for me.

Handing him the drive, I say, “I know you’re Sheriff Colt. Donte trusts you, and so, I believe I can place my faith in you too. This little USB holds the evidence that’ll prove my boss has been misusing funds and embezzling from investors in a Ponzi scheme to enrich himself.”

Colt nods. “Got it. You’re Bria, correct? We’ll get you into an ambulance to check that you haven’t been seriously injured. You’ve gone through a lot.”

Out of instinct, I chuckle because I have gone through a lot. The concussion, the falls, the exertion. I’ll need stitches, and a whole lot of therapy to recover from this. but more than anything, I’m grateful to have survived.

And I hope he did, too.