Free Let Me In-Dragan's Tale: The Mikhailov Brothers by Amanda Hough

darkness. Police, fire and an EMT truck were parked directly in front of the house she shared with her mother.
    “Oh God, my mom!” Her voice came out in a panicked rush. She reached for the door handle but my hand stopped her.
    “Let me stop the car, Toni,” I called out. Straining to hold her in place and shift into a lower gear, I whipped into a gap between two emergency vehicles. Before I could engage the brake, Toni was out of the car and running for the small bungalow that seemed to be the center of all the attention.
    Without hesitating, I followed Toni toward the porch and watched as she disappeared through the front door.
    The living room was a hive of activity. Furniture had been pushed against walls, area rugs laid in corners, kicked out of the way.
    “It’s my mother, I live here. What is going on?” I heard her telling the cop when I walked through the door.
    “Ma’am you need to calm down and let the paramedics work on her. Do you have some ID I could see.”
    Toni’s voice went up an octave. “Work on her? ID? What the fuck happened? Why do you need my ID? Let me see your ID!” she yelled.
    “Can you tell me your name, miss?” the officer asked. He was getting irritated.
    Toni ignored him and tried again, without success to push her way past his frame. With Toni at roughly 110 pounds, the officer remained stationary.
    I walked behind Antonina and took her arm. My voice low, calm. To her I said, “Antonina, let me help, alright.” I gave her elbow a gentle squeeze and brought her closer to me. Amazingly she didn’t fight it. I directed my question to the officer. “What do we know?”
    The man in uniform eyed me then. Up and down and back again. At six feet, five inches tall, I had a foot on the guy. He was slight and young. I was built to fight. Built to beat down little fucks like this. But, I was turning a new leaf. Leaving my violent past behind me. So, I smiled. “We just need to know if Miss Hume’s mother is alright. Can you give us any details?”
    He continued to stare at me and then said, “Could I see some ID from you, Mister…” He let his voice trail and he continued to look at me with thinly veiled mistrust. I was about to lay a little science when Toni jumped into the conversation.
    “Don’t look at him like that. This is my home. I won’t allow you to stand there and judge my friends.” She took a step forward and I brought her back to my side. I gave her a squeeze and she looked up at me. I winked. The haze that covered her eyes started lifting. It seemed my demeanor soothed her. Somehow, the tempest that was ever present in her gaze melded with my quiet presence, I could feel her anchor to me in the chaos. A tiny spark flowered in my chest. I was in serious fucking trouble.
    She turned back to the cop and started slinging questions again. “Do the EMT s know her history? She has a Foley catheter; they need to be careful with her. I am her guardian. What the hell is happening?” Her voice shook but her purpose was steady.
    “Miss,” the cop started. “There is no need for profanity and please step back.” He started to reach for her shoulder but I was there and guided Toni further from the policeman. He was not going to touch her. Not for any reason.
    The woman started to resist me but stopped, opting to deal with one over-bearing man at a time.
    She squared her shoulders but allowed my hand to remain at her waist.
    “Could you please tell me what is happening then,” she answered through a, not so cleansing breath.
    A smile spread across the officer’s face. The little prick thought he’d won. I knew she wasn’t even on the battlefield yet. “A 911 call was made from this location. It was reported that there was an intruder in the house because a…” He consulted his little notebook for affect. “…Patsy Hume heard glass breaking after she had gone to bed.
    “She was discovered in the bedroom by paramedics, upon which it was revealed that the lamp had