The screen flashed, and a live video feed replaced the text.

It was a camera angle I had never seen before, looking directly down at the cot where my three children lay.

They were sleeping peacefully, but a small red dot was dancing across Noah’s forehead.

I stopped breathing.

The red dot moved from Noah, to Lena, and then to Oliver.

Isabella stared at the screen, her hand freezing on the door handle.

“It’s a remote laser,” Marcus whispered, his face turning pale as he looked up at the ceiling of our secure room.

My phone in my pocket began to vibrate against my leg.

I pulled it out with a shaking hand.

The screen showed a caller ID that simply read: *Unknown*.

I pressed the button and put the phone to my ear.

“Hello, Maya,” a woman’s voice said, smooth and perfectly calm.

“Hello, Camille,” I said, my voice barely a whisper.

“You should have run when you had the chance,” Camille replied.

Her voice sounded thin through the cheap speaker of my phone.

I gripped the device tighter, my knuckles turning white against the plastic case.