The door burst open, and a swarm of police officers rushed in, flooding the room. Guns pointed, the whole room surrounded. Red laser dots danced across faces and chests.
Everything just... stopped. The yelling, the arguing, the frantic movements—all of it froze like the air sucked out of the room.
The cops fanned out as they took in the scene: the crumpled bodies on the floor, the vomit, and Alejandro heaving and coughing up whatever was left in his stomach.
The officers' eyes then landed on Ernesto, who still had his gun pressed to Alejandro's head, and on Madison, who was standing there like a ghost, her hand shaking so hard the pistol looked like it might fly out of her grip. The chaos wasn't gone; it had just changed uniforms.
***
The outside air was a shock to Antonio's face: col
