The air around the abandoned car was thick with tension. Vanessa paced near the vehicle, her heels clicking against the asphalt with each step. She clutched one of her children’s backpacks tightly against her chest, her heart hammering harder with each second that passed. The world around her seemed muted, Diego’s low voice as he spoke into his phone, the faint hum of distant traffic, none of it fully registered.

She was just thinking about the worst scenario her kids and Emily might be in. She should have done better! Sh shouldn't have let her enemies get to them First.

Tears threatened to fall from her eyes but she held...