Julian dropped the laptop onto the plush carpet.

He slowly raised his hands, his face twisted in rage.

Vanessa fell to her knees, weeping loudly, her hands over her head.

“I didn’t do anything!” she sobbed.

“It was him! Julian planned all of it!”

“Shut up, Vanessa,” Julian hissed.

The agents swarmed them, pushing them to the floor and ratcheting plastic zip-ties around their wrists.

An agent with a gold badge stepped into the nursery doorway.

“Nathan Caldwell?” he asked.

Nathan nodded, his hands still raised slightly to show he wasn’t a threat.

“I’m Special Agent Miller, FBI,” the man said, lowering his weapon.

“We received an encrypted data transmission detailing corporate espionage, extortion, and child endangerment.”

He looked at the four little girls huddled against me.

“Are the children safe?”

“They are now,” Nathan said, his voice cracking.

He sank to his knees beside us, pulling all four girls into a tight embrace.

The girls began to cry softly, burying their faces in his sweater.

I watched them, a heavy lump forming in my throat.

Julian was dragged past the door, cursing loudly at the officers.