“Drop the weapon! Step away from the window! Now!”

The megaphone cut clean through the thunder.

From the floor I watched three sheriff’s deputies come out of the halos, weapons drawn, advancing fast through the mud. They’d rolled the cruisers in dark and put them in the brush.

Megan screamed and dropped her clipboard and flattened herself against the siding.

“What is this?” Arthur’s voice cracked. He spun, trying to see past the lights. “Officers, you don’t understand! I’m her legal conservator! We have a court order!

She’s having a psychiatric emergency!”