Ethan gripped the phone so hard his knuckles turned white.

“She is not dead,” Ethan said.

“She will be soon,” Brenner said. “And when she is, the girl goes to the system. Unless, of course, we make a deal.”

Ethan didn’t answer.

He hung up the phone and handed it back to me.

His chest was heaving under his cashmere overcoat.

“Where is Paul?” Ethan asked me, his eyes searching the empty corridor.

“He went to the lobby to get coffee,” I said.

“Find him,” Ethan said. “Tell him I need his phone. Tell him to call the judge.”

Before I could move, the double doors at the end of the hall swung open.

A woman in a navy blue pantsuit walked through, carrying a clipboard.

Two security guards in grey uniforms followed her.

One of them was looking at a photograph in his hand.

“Evelyn Higgins?” the woman asked, looking directly at me.

I froze against the wall.

“I am Evelyn,” I said.

“I am Susan Vance from hospital administration,” she said. “We have received an emergency protective order from the state regarding the minor, Lauren Fitzgerald.”