Chapter 1 - The Voice on the Line
Nathan Pierce didn't hang up.
Standing high above the city in his glass-walled penthouse office, he signaled frantically to his senior vice president, Marcus, who was mid-sentence in a pitch about acquiring a freight line. Nathan placed his thumb over the microphone and mouthed, Call emergency dispatch. Trace this line immediately.
"Sweetheart," Nathan said into the receiver, keeping his voice as soft, steady, and warm as he could manage. "My name is Nathan. Can you tell me your name?"
"Kira," the tiny voice snuffled. "Me and Caden."
"Hi, Kira. Hi, Caden," Nathan said, taking slow, deliberate breaths so his own racing heart wouldn't leak into his tone. "Kira, you are doing such a brave job. Can you tell me where Mommy is?"
"On the floor," Kira whispered. "By the list. She won't wake up when I push her."
"Is Mommy breathing?" Nathan asked, his fingers tightening on the edge of his mahogany desk. "Does her chest go up and down?"
There was a pause on the line. Nathan held his breath, the silence stretching like a wire pulled near its breaking point.
"A little bit," Kira reported. "Like a sleepy bird."
Behind Nathan, Marcus was already on his cell phone with Columbus 911 dispatch. "We have an open line with a child reporting an unconscious adult. Tracing the incoming call through our private exchange server right now... Got it. 1422 West Elm Street, Apartment 3B."
"Kira, listen to me," Nathan said softly. "Help is coming. Some very nice people with red trucks are coming to help Mommy wake up. Can you stay on the phone with me until they knock on the door?"
"Caden is crying," Kira said, her little voice trembling. "He wants peanut butter."
"Tell Caden I'm going to bring him the biggest jar of peanut butter in the world," Nathan promised, feeling an unfamiliar knot tighten in his throat. "Just stay right where you are, Kira. Don't hang up."
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For eleven agonizing minutes, Nathan stayed on the phone. He talked about dinosaurs with Caden. He learned that Kira liked pink shoes. He kept those two toddlers grounded in the dark while an ambulance tore through the city streets.
When he heard the heavy thud of paramedics breaking through the apartment door over the receiver, followed by a paramedic shouting, "We've got a pulse! Severe hypoglycemia and exhaustion!", Nathan finally let out a breath he felt like he'd been holding for a lifetime.
