Free A Home for Christmas by Ann Vaughn Page A

talking to…see!?  There he is!”
    She sank down on the couch beside her son, eyes
glued to the TV.  Riley was indeed there, in full SWAT gear, all black,
Kevlar body armor, though he’d yet to put his helmet on…and he was fully
armed!  It was sobering, seeing him like that.  He’d told her he was
a part-time SWAT team member for his uncle’s police force but she really hadn’t
grasped what that meant until that moment. 
    The reporter who was speaking said that he had
just been told by the police to move back a few hundred yards.  He
reported that there was one gunman and four hostages, one of whom was the
cashier and the reported gunman’s ex-girlfriend.
    “This is so cool,” Cam said, his face clearly
showing his interest and excitement. 
    Jenna didn’t speak.  In truth, she
couldn’t.  Her heart was beating so hard and fast it took all her
concentration just to breathe.  She sat glued to the report, straining for
glimpses of him, hoping that the situation would resolve itself without any
action needed on his part.
    “Riley’s walking toward the store!”
    “I can see that, Cam,” she said, her voice a bit
shaky.
    Cam captured her hand and squeezed.  “He’ll
be OK, Mom,” he said and she wondered if he were saying that not only to
comfort her but to convince himself as well. “Riley knows what he’s doing.”
    The camera zoomed in as far as it could, but she
could still see Riley approach the front doors of the store, hands help up
palms out to show the gunman he wasn’t armed.  The gunman stood on the
other side of the door, holding a woman (whom she supposed was his ex) in front
of him, the barrel of the gun pushed against her temple.  Riley stood there
for a few minutes talking to the suspect, who was becoming increasingly
agitated.
    “Walk away, Riley,” she murmured, “just…”
    She screamed and Cam yelled when the gunman
shifted to aim the gun directly at Riley and fired four shots through the
glass, level with Riley’s head.  Miraculously, Riley didn’t even
flinch.  Spider webs appeared in the glass but the bullets didn’t go
through.
    “It’s bullet-proof!” Cam exclaimed.  “See,
Mom?  Riley’s fine!”
    Tears were streaming down Jenna’s cheeks. 
She thought she’d just seen Riley killed on live TV!  As she watched,
Riley drew his gun, backing up as the gunman forced his hostage to open the
door.  The camera pulled back a bit to show other members of the SWAT team
moving in behind him.  For a few tense moments, they were in another
stand-off, then suddenly, the gunman released his hostage, held his hands up
and just like that, it was all over. 
    “Riley.  Is.  Awesome!!!!” Cam raved.
“That was so cool!!”
    “He could have died.  Right there in front
of us on live TV,” she gasped.
    “But he didn’t.  Did you see how he didn’t
even flinch?  He must have known the glass was bulletproof,” Cam said,
trying to console her. 
    Jenna covered her face with her hands, unable to
control her sobs.  Cam put his arm around her shoulders while she cried.
    “Don’t cry, Mom,” he soothed.
    “I’m OK,” she whispered, wiping her tears. 
“Go finish getting ready, OK?”
    She called the mom of Cam’s friend and explained
to her what had happened and had her come pick Cam up.  Picking up her
phone, she opened a new text and sent one to Riley.
    Please come over as soon as you are able. 
Don’t worry about the time, just please, come over.  I need to see you.
    To her surprise, he immediately texted back.
    I was just about to call you.  I’m going to
be tied up here for a few hours yet.  I’ll be out as soon as I can. 
Are you all right?
    She stared at the screen a moment.  Was she
fine?  She didn’t really think so.  She needed to see him. 
Now.  She needed to see for herself that he was all right.
    I’m fine.  Come to me when you can, she typed out.  Was she fine?  Not
really.  But she wasn’t going to convey that via a