Page 15 of Take Me to the Valley

Calvin, on the other hand, tries to make a run for it out the back door. One of the guys gets Kaylee in handcuffs and out the front door while we go after Calvin. A few of the other men clear the rest of the house.

Calvin didn't plan well. The back door leads out to a covered porch and a fenced-in backyard, where we have men stationedand ready for him. He tries to dodge them, but when he makes a hard turn to the right, he runs right into Rick and me. As we tackle him to the ground, he fights hard. It's clear he’s on something because he's strong for a skinny guy who plays video games all day. He slips from Rick's grasp, and his arms flail. When he flips over, I use my body to hold him down while Rick and another guy get him in the handcuffs.

The next thing I know, a gunshot goes off, and people are screaming, but it sounds far away. Then pain erupts all over my body, and my vision closes in. I can't move my hands or feet, and then everything goes black.

Chapter 8

Calista

I'm on my way to Kaylee's house. She texted me saying she was going home leaving work because she was not feeling well. She asked me to pick up some stuff at the store for her, and I also grabbed everything I need to make her favorite chicken noodle soup. We can hang out on the couch and watch movies while she rests.

Only when I turn down her street, it's pure chaos. Cop cars line the street, and people are yelling. I pull onto the road just past her driveway and get out of the car to see what is going on. What I see causes me to panic and run toward the house.

“Calista, you can't go in there,” Chief Barton says.

The man should be retired by now. He and my dad went to school together, and he's known me my whole life.

“What is going on?” I ask.

“It's a drug raid,” he says.

“Kaylee and drugs?” I say in shock.

“Kaylee!” I shout.

“Calista, I'm fine!” Kaylee yells from the other side of the street, wrapped in a blanket.

“Then what the hell is going on?” I ask, running over to her.

“I got home, and Calvin was in my house. We got into a fight, and the next thing I knew, the cops were busting in. They say he's been selling drugs from my house while I've been at work.”

“Seriously?” I ask.

“Yeah, they brought me out here, but Calvin tried to run out the back. They were chasing him, but I don't know if they got him or not.”

“What the fuck,” I say shocked.

“Yeah, I guess it's been going on for a while. I didn't see anything when I got home, so I didn't even think anything of it. I was getting dizzy from all the yelling, and I wanted him gone, but he wasn't leaving. At this point I’m thankful they haven’t kept me in handcuffs,” she says, resting her head on my shoulder.

We watch the cops all moving in and out of her house and in her front yard until a gunshot goes off. It’s as if time stops and everyone freezes. There’s silence and then we can hear everyone's radio go off.

“Officer Down! I repeat, Officer down!” A voice yells through the radio, and people run into the house.

“I have to help,” I say, moving toward the house.

“Go!” Kaylee yells.

I look at Chief Barton. “I’m an ER nurse. Get me in there and let me help until the ambulance arrives.”

“I can't… the suspect hasn't been…” he doesn't finish the words before his radio goes off again.

“Suspect in custody,” the voice says.

Then Chief looks at me and nods.

“Backyard,” he says, and I take off running, going over bullet protocol in my head as I get into the backyard.

“Move. She's an ER nurse,” Chief says behind me.

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