Chapter 6 - THE CORNERED RAT
Three weeks before my due date, Linda Carter hit rock bottom.
With the court lien placed on her condo, her bank accounts frozen, and her reputation in ruins, she was forced to move into a tiny, rundown one-bedroom apartment on the outskirts of town with Daniel, who was now working as an entry-level laborer for another company just to pay rent.
Desperate and furious, Linda decided to take one final, reckless gamble.
It was a rainy Tuesday afternoon when I returned home from my prenatal checkup. As I pulled my SUV into the driveway of the estate, I noticed a rusty brown sedan parked near the garden gate.
As soon as I stepped out of my car holding a bag of groceries, Linda stepped out from behind the stone pillar.
She looked terrible. Her expensive designer clothes were gone, replaced by a faded raincoat and unstyled hair. Her eyes were sunken, dark, and filled with wild, unhinged rage.
“You malicious little bitch!” Linda screamed, marching toward me across the wet driveway.
I immediately stopped, holding my phone in my hand, my thumb resting over the emergency speed-dial button connected directly to the sheriff’s office.
“Linda, stay back,” I said firmly, taking a step back toward my car. “You are violating a court restraining order.”
“I don't care about your stupid order!” she shrieked, her voice cracking with hysteria. “You ruined my son! You took his business! You took my home! You ruined my life over a stupid cake!”
“You ruined your own life, Linda,” I said, keeping my voice steady despite my heart hammering against my ribs. “You thought you could abuse me forever without consequences. You were wrong.”
“You think you’re so smart!” Linda yelled, reaching into her coat pocket. “You think you can just keep my grandchild away from me?! That baby carries Carter blood! She belongs to us!”
She pulled out a heavy metal tire iron from her pocket and took a step toward me.
“I’m going to make sure you never ruin another family!” she raged, raising the iron.
Before she could take another step, the loud, deafening wail of a police siren echoed down the driveway.
Two sheriff’s cruisers rounded the bend at high speed, their tires skidding across the gravel as they boxed her sedan in. Two deputies leaped out with their weapons drawn.
“Drop the weapon! Drop it now!” Deputy Vance shouted, his voice booming over the rain.
Linda froze, staring at the drawn guns in utter shock. The tire iron slipped from her fingers, clattering loudly against the wet stones.
Within ten seconds, she was slammed against the hood of her car, her arms pulled roughly behind her back as heavy steel handcuffs snapped around her wrists.
“Emma Oakley!” Linda screamed as she was hauled toward the back of the police cruiser. “You’ll pay for this! Daniel will never forgive you!”
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I stood on my porch, holding my pregnant belly, watching her being forced into the back seat.
“Daniel already lost everything, Linda,” I whispered softly into the rain. “Including me.”
