“She d!ed.”

“Do you remember her?”

“A little.”

He rubbed his thumb along a crack in the seat.

“Victor was her boyfriend. After she died, he told us nobody else wanted us. He said foster care would separate me and Lily.”

I finally understood how the situation had developed. Not overnight, and not through fear alone. Victor had built a world small enough that two children could believe he was the only person keeping them together and protecting them from something worse.

A sudden burst of radio traffic sounded through Daniel’s dashboard speaker.

“Movement, north side, Building Two.”

Ethan straightened immediately.

Another voice followed.

“Male subject spotted near Unit 214. Possible weapon.”

I reached for Ethan’s hand.

He allowed me to hold it.

Outside, officers moved carefully behind parked vehicles and concrete columns. Daniel disappeared around the corner of the second building.

Then a sharp sound broke through the rain.

Ethan cried out.

I quickly pulled him below the window.

A second sharp sound followed.

Then everything went quiet.

My heart was beating so hard I could hear it.