Chapter 6 - THE ARREST AND THE ACCOMPLICE
The front door of the house swung open with a loud bang, and two officers emerged into the harsh glare of the cruiser headlights, escorting a frantic Elena in handcuffs. Her hair was disheveled, her designer blouse torn at the shoulder where she had tried to resist the sweep of the living room. "I have rights! You can't touch me, you don't have a warrant!" she shrieked, thrashing against the heavy grip of the patrolmen. Scott stood up slowly from his kneeling position on the driveway, all pretense of innocence entirely evaporated. His eyes locked onto mine, burning with a dark, bottomless hatred that terrified me far more than the poison had. "You ruined everything," he whispered, his voice trembling not with remorse, but with pure, unadulterated malice. "We could have had it all—the insurance, the estate, a clean slate. But you just couldn't mind your own damn business." The lead officer didn't waste another word. He stepped forward, grabbing Scott’s shoulders and spinning him around against the side of the cruiser, slamming the heavy steel cuffs onto his wrists with a definitive, metallic click. "Scott Miller, you are under arrest for attempted premeditated murder, conspiracy, and child endangerment," the officer recited coldly, reading him his rights as the cold night wind whipped around them. I watched them shove both Scott and Elena into the back of separate patrol cars, their reflections distorted in the tinted glass. Only then did my knees finally give out. I slid down against the brick wall of the house, letting out a long, shuddering breath that felt like it had been trapped in my chest for a lifetime. From the shadows of the side yard, a small figure emerged. Tyler. He ran straight into my arms, burying his face in my neck as we held onto each other on the cold concrete, finally safe.
