Chapter 4: The Sound of Shattered Glass
SMASH!
The impact was deafening. The heavy glass of the champagne bottle collided with the tempered window of the black SUV. For a millisecond, the vehicle's glass resisted, but the sheer force of Leo's desperate swing overpowered it. The window instantly shattered into a massive, cracked spiderweb pattern.
Leo didn't stop. He pulled the bottle back and struck the glass a second time, punching a massive hole through the window. He dropped the bottle, ignoring the sharp shards of glass that sliced into his forearms and the sleeves of his white dress shirt.
He reached through the broken window, feeling a blast of heat so intense it felt like opening the door of an active oven. He unlocked the door from the inside and ripped it open.
The little girl was lying on the leather seats, completely motionless. Her skin was boiling hot to the touch, and her breathing was dangerously shallow.
"Someone call 911!" Leo roared, unbuckling the child from her car seat and pulling her limp body out of the sweltering vehicle.
The country club erupted into absolute chaos. The façade of elite composure shattered just like the glass. Several guests screamed. A few men ran over, their tailored suits forgotten as the reality of the situation set in.
"Get ice! Get water! Now!" Leo barked, carrying the unconscious girl into the shade of the nearest cabana. He laid her gently on a linen-covered table.
Brenda stood frozen in the parking lot, her clipboard trembling in her hands, completely speechless as the horrific truth of her negligence washed over her.
A female guest, identifying herself as a pediatric nurse, pushed through the crowd. "Give her to me! We need to cool her down rapidly!" The nurse and Leo worked furiously, pressing cold, wet napkins against the child's neck, armpits, and forehead.
Ten excruciatingly long minutes passed before the wail of sirens pierced the quiet suburban air. Austin paramedics rushed onto the terrace, taking over the scene. They administered oxygen and loaded the little girl onto a stretcher, rushing her toward the ambulance.
Just as the ambulance doors were closing, a frantic, highly intoxicated woman in a designer dress burst out of the country club bar.
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"Mia! Where is my daughter?!" she screamed, stumbling toward the parking lot. It was the mother. She had left her child in the car so she wouldn't be "bothered" while networking and drinking inside the air-conditioned clubhouse.
The police officers on the scene didn't offer her sympathy. They immediately stepped forward, placing the mother in handcuffs under the blistering Texas sun.
