She Pushed a Pregnant Woman in a Wheelchair Into the Pool—Then Her Husband Discovered the Horrifying Truth!

“Victor, don't!” Sloane cried.

Rusk's eyes never left the boy. “Hand over the card, Maya.”

She let the plastic case fall at her feet. “Take it. Please. Just let him walk.”

Felix bent to pick it up. As he moved, Nico twisted out of his grip and ran. Rusk fired. The shot struck the concrete above Nico's head, spraying dust.

“Down!” Maya screamed.

Nico ducked through a broken doorway. Maya sprinted after him, her shoes slapping puddles. Behind her, officers shouted commands. Someone fired again. Then a window shattered and the building filled with echoes.

Maya found Nico in a flooded lower corridor. Water from a leaking storm culvert rushed across the floor, ankle-deep and rising. He was crouched behind a fallen metal door, shaking.

“Mom?”

“I'm here.” She dropped to her knees. “Listen. We're getting out together.”

He threw his arms around her neck. His body trembled so hard she could feel it through his hoodie.

“I tried not to cry.”

“You can cry all you want. You're allowed.”

Footsteps approached. Maya pulled Nico behind her. Ethan appeared at the corridor entrance, breathing hard.

“I heard the shots,” he said. “An officer pointed me toward the back exit.”

For a second Maya wanted to scream at him for coming. Instead she let him carry Nico over the fallen door while she followed, one hand steadying her son.

Aboveground, Rusk was pinned behind a wall by responding officers. Felix dropped his gun and surrendered. Sloane had escaped through an exterior stairwell toward the construction road, taking advantage of the chaos she helped cause.

Ortiz met them at the perimeter. Her face was streaked with dust.

“Rusk is in custody,” she said. “We've got Felix. We'll find Sloane.”

Maya pulled Nico against her chest and held him until his sobbing slowed. She had imagined this moment a hundred times in one night. None of those imagined versions had included how small his hands felt around her waist.

Ethan's phone rang. The hospital number flashed on the screen.