I was seven when I pushed my newborn brother and sister to a hospital in an old wheelbarrow because Mom hadn’t moved in three days. I thought getting the babies there would end the nightmare—until police found a letter beside my mother warning that a man was coming for us.

We spun around.

Standing in the doorway of my bedroom was the man from the photograph.

Julian Sterling wore an expensive dark wool coat over a charcoal suit. Behind him stood two massive men in tactical gear, holding silenced handguns.

"Drop your weapons, officers," Sterling said calmly, checking a gold watch on his wrist. "You're heavily outnumbered, and my team outside has already jammed your radio frequencies. Nobody is coming to help you."

Agent Vance kept her weapon pointed directly at Sterling’s chest, shielding me with her body. "It's over, Sterling. We have the hospital on lockdown. You'll never reach the twins."

Sterling let out a soft, mocking chuckle that sent a shiver straight down my spine.

"The twins?" Sterling smiled, stepping into the room, his eyes flicking down to me for the first time. "I don't care about the babies, Agent Vance. They were just leverage to keep Clara quiet. What I care about is what's inside that box."

He looked at me, his cold gray eyes examining my face with detached curiosity.

"You look just like her, Maya," he murmured. "Persistent. Stubborn. Walking miles through the dark with a wheelbarrow just to play the hero."

"Don't talk to her," Miller growled, moving slightly to cover my right side.

"Give me the box, Vance," Sterling said, his voice dropping all pretense of politeness. "Give me the drives, and I'll let you walk out of here with the girl. Refuse, and none of you leave this room alive."

My hand was still resting near the open floorboard.

Without anyone noticing, my small fingers slid beneath the edge of the steel box. Attached to the bottom of the box by a thin red ribbon was a small, heavy silver USB flash drive that had slipped out during the prying.

I quietly palmed the tiny metal drive, slipping it deep inside the pocket of my oversized hospital jacket.

"You're not getting anything, Sterling," Vance said.

In that fraction of a second, Vance executed a tactical flash-bang deploy from her belt, slamming it down onto the hardwood floor.