It all played out like a damn movie in my head.
I heard the shot fire from my gun. I saw the bullet hit its intended target. I saw the man’s head whip forward as the blood sprayed from the hole in the back of his head.
Then I saw her. Sweet, terrified Ingram. She ripped her arm away from the man’s loosening hold and her foot slipped on the stair. Her arms flailing as she tried to reach out for anything. But she wasn’t able to catch herself. And as her body twisted to face me, I saw the pure fear in her eyes right before she went tumbling down.
My heart beat hard like it was trying to rip out of my chest. It beat like that back then and it was beating like that now.
“No,” I breathed out, terror gripping my throat so tightly.
She spun to face me again, her hair whipping around and hiding her face from me for a split second too long.
Confusion overtook her features as I reached out and pulled her into my body.
A long, relieved breath forced itself out of my lungs as I wrapped my arms around her and crushed her to my chest.
It didn’t matter that she wasn’t in danger at that moment or that she hadn’t even begun to fall. I just had to keep her safe.
