Her gloved fingers brushed the edge of the leather cover.

I pulled it back, but my footing slipped on the damp concrete.

I fell to one knee, the rough ground scraping through my tights.

I cried out as another wave of pain hit my abdomen.

This pain was different.

It was deep, rhythmic, and urgent.

The stress had triggered something, and I knew the baby was coming.

“Julian, take it,” Victoria ordered.

Julian lunged forward.

He grabbed the top of the ledger.

I held on with both hands, using all of my remaining weight to pull it back.

“Let go, Natalie,” he muttered, his breath warm and sour against my face.

“You are going to hurt yourself.”

“Let go of me, Julian,” I said.

The sound of my own voice seemed to shake the dust from the metal beams above us.

On the dashboard of the town car, Victoria’s tablet flashed again.

A new notification popped up in bright red letters.

“System Breach,” the guard read aloud, his voice hollow.

“The federal authorities have accessed our secure server.”

“They are tracking the IP address of this location.”