I nodded and walked quickly out of his office.

The elevator ride down to the lobby felt agonizingly slow.

The mirrored walls showed the dark circles under my eyes.

I checked my phone as soon as I stepped out into the rain.

There were no missed calls from the school.

The temporary custody order allowed Daniel supervised visits only on weekends.

Today was Thursday.

The boys were supposed to be safe in their classrooms.

I hailed a taxi and slid onto the damp leather seat.

“St. Jude’s Hospital,” I told the driver.

The rain smeared the city lights into streaks of red and yellow.

I opened my phone again and sent a text to Lucas.

*Are you and Mason okay?* I wrote.

A minute passed with no response.

Normally, Lucas answered my texts within seconds on his hidden phone.

My thumb hovered over the screen, my heart beating faster.

The taxi crawled through the morning gridlock.

The wipers scraped rhythmically against the windshield.

I watched the raindrops slide down the glass, pooling at the bottom.

My phone buzzed in my palm.

It was a text from Lucas.