Chapter 2
The paramedics arrived in less than four minutes.
It felt like four years.
I stayed beside Khloe while they worked.
Her eyes kept rolling closed.
I kept calling her name.
“Khloe. Look at me.”
“I’m tired,” she whispered.
“No. You are angry. Be angry.”
A weak tear slid down her cheek.
“The baby…”
“The baby is fighting too.”
I did not know if that was true.
I said it because she needed to hear it.
A paramedic looked at me.
“We need to move.”
I stood and followed the stretcher.
Richard started down the stairs.
“I’m her husband. I’m riding with her.”
I stepped into his path.
“You stood still.”
His face flushed.
“I was in shock.”
“You will stay shocked here.”
“Harrison, don’t do this.”
I leaned close enough for only him to hear.
“You have ten seconds to decide whether you are a witness or a suspect.”
His face drained.
Vanessa began crying behind him.
Pretty crying.
Useful crying.
“She attacked me,” she said. “Khloe came at me. I only pushed her away.”
I turned toward the nearest deputy.
“Separate them. Preserve the courthouse footage. Nobody touches that staircase.”
The deputy hesitated.
He knew Richard.
Everyone in Montgomery County knew Richard Harrington.
Real estate money.
Political donors.
Charity boards.
Country clubs.
I pulled out my phone and called Judge Avery Cole.
My aunt.
Retired federal judge.
Still feared.
“Harrison?” she answered.
“Khloe was assaulted at the courthouse. She’s pregnant. I need evidence preserved before local influence starts cleaning.”
Her voice changed.
“Who?”
“Vanessa Kensington. Richard watched.”
A pause.
Then steel.
“I’m calling the district attorney and state police.”
I hung up and looked at the deputy.
“Now.”
He moved.
Richard whispered, “You’re making a mistake.”
I looked at him.
“No. I made my mistake when I trusted you with my sister.”
Then I climbed into the ambulance.
Khloe was breathing through an oxygen mask.
I took her hand.
The doors slammed.
As we pulled away, I saw Vanessa on the courthouse steps, still crying.
But she was not looking at Khloe.
May you like
She was looking at Richard.
And Richard was looking at his phone.
