Chapter 4 - The Discovery in the Barn
The search in the south pasture had ended in the pitch-black shadows of the old tobacco barn.
When Officer Vance kicked open the rotting wooden doors of the barn’s lower livestock stalls, his flashlight beam had cut through the dust-choked air to reveal a horrifying sight. Curled beneath a pile of old horse blankets in the corner, shivering violently and barely conscious, was Mia Bennett.
She was drenched in sweat and blood, her lips blue from hypothermia, her breathing shallow and ragged.
Now, as the paramedics wheeled her past the kitchen doorway on the stretcher, Laura rushed forward, dropping to her knees beside her sister.
“Mia!” Laura cried out, her fingers gently brushing against Mia’s ice-cold hand. “Mia, can you hear me? I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”
Mia’s eyelids fluttered open, glassy and unfocused. She stared up at the ceiling, then slowly turned her head toward Laura. A weak, ghost-like smile touched her pale lips.
“L-Laura...” Mia whispered, her voice like dry paper. “The... the baby... did she...?”
“She’s safe,” Laura sobbed, squeezing her sister's hand with desperate strength. “Noah brought her to the police station. She’s at the hospital right now, breathing on her own. You’re safe too, Mia. Daniel is gone. He can’t hurt you anymore.”
A single tear escaped Mia’s eye before her head slumped back against the stretcher pad.
“Vitals are dropping!” one of the paramedics shouted, checking the pulse oximeter strapped to her finger. “Her blood pressure is bottoming out. We’ve got severe postpartum hemorrhage and hypovolemic shock. We need to move, now!”
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Elena grabbed the side of the stretcher, helping guide it out to the waiting ambulance while barking orders over her radio. “Get an escort! Clear the highway to Westbridge Medical Center! If we lose her tonight, Daniel Miller is going to face murder charges.”
As the ambulance’s sirens wailed into the dark morning, tearing down the winding country road, Laura stood on the porch of her home, watching the red lights fade into the distance. The illusion of her marriage was gone, replaced by an unyielding desire for justice.
