New THE DOCTOR LOOKED AT THE ULTRASOUND, TURNED PALE, AND ASKED ME SOMETHING THAT MADE MY BLOOD RUN COLD: “MA’AM… IS YOUR HUSBAND HERE?”

Before Carlos could pull the trigger, Detective Vance stepped out from an alcove and fired three rapid shots. The tactical gear on Carlos's men absorbed the impact, but it bought us the seconds we needed.

"Go! Get to the elevator!" Vance roared, returning fire as he retreated.

Dr. Evans and I pushed the gurney down the service hallway at a dead run. Daniel whimpered, clutching his stitched abdomen as the rough movement jostled his wounds. "Hold on, sweetie, just hold on!" I cried.

We reached the service elevator. I slammed my hand against the button. The doors opened with agonizing slowness. We shoved the gurney inside just as one of Carlos’s mercenaries rounded the corner, his rifle raised.

Dr. Evans threw his body in front of the control panel, shielding us as he pressed the basement button. A bullet shattered the glass indicator panel above us, showering us in sparks.

The elevator doors slid shut. The descent began.

"Are you hit?" I asked Dr. Evans, my voice frantic.

He leaned against the wall, clutching his shoulder. Blood was seeping through his blue scrubs, but he gave a weak, determined nod. "I'm... I'm fine. Just a graze. We have to get Daniel out of here."

When the doors opened to the dimly lit basement garage, the air was cold and damp. The wind from the storm outside howled through the open concrete ramps. Vance's transport van was parked near the exit, its engine idling.

But as we wheeled the gurney toward it, a dark SUV roared down the ramp, blocking our path. The doors flew open, and Carlos stepped out, his face twisted in a mask of pure, unadulterated rage.

"You think you can steal from me?" Carlos snarled, leveling his gun at us. "The drive, Elena. Now. Or I swear to God, I will put a bullet in the boy's head myself and take it from his corpse."

At that moment, I realized the man I had married, the man I had feared for a decade, was gone. He was never there. He was a monster who wore a human face. And a mother's love is a far more powerful force than a coward’s fear.

I reached into my pocket. I didn't have a weapon, but I had the glass jar containing the corroded tracking device.