THEY DECLARED HER DEAD—THEN ORDERED HER CREMATED WHILE SHE WAS STILL ALIVE!

The clinic's back door hung off one hinge when Lena arrived. The waiting room smelled of bleach and broken plaster. Dr. Grant was sitting on the floor with a split lip, pressing a towel to her forehead.

"Nora?" Lena asked.

Grant shook her head. "They took her. I tried to stop them."

Maya stood in the doorway wearing an oversized borrowed jacket. She looked terrible, but she was steady enough to walk.

"I'm going to get my sister," she said.

"Not alone," Lena answered.

Nia called from the car. She had salvaged an image of Rourke's confession from her lawyer's secure backup. The evidence was spreading to independent reporters and state investigators, but the police had not yet moved. Not a single agency could promise Nora was safe.

A message appeared on Maya's phone.

RIVERSIDE CREMATORY. EIGHT P.M. BRING THE ORIGINAL CARD. COME ALONE.

"They're going to kill her," Maya whispered.

"They're counting on us believing that," Cole said, arriving behind Lena with a bandage across his cheek. "They need the card. They need you scared."

Maya looked at him. "I am scared. That doesn't mean I'll leave her there."

Lena understood. She'd spent the night trying to keep patients alive. Maya had spent her whole life trying to keep Nora safe. Those were two versions of the same promise.

They made a plan. Nia would stream the crematory meeting to multiple outlets at eight unless she received a safe-word from Lena. Cole would bring state troopers he trusted, not anyone from Rourke's command. Lena would stay close to Maya. No one would surrender the only original without seeing Nora breathing.

As the sun dropped behind the river, Lena received a text from an unknown number.

SHAW HERE. THEY'RE MOVING EVERYONE OUT OF B4. CREMATORY HAS A SIDE MAINTENANCE DOOR. BLUE HANDLE. I'M INSIDE.

"Can we trust him?" Cole asked.

"He let us escape once," Lena said. "That's all I know."

At 7:58, Maya stepped through the crematory's front gate carrying the pink lunchbox. She was alone, just as the message demanded. Lena watched from behind a parked truck, unable to breathe.