“We are alone out here.”

I looked back toward the living room, hearing Clara humming a low, soothing lullaby to Owen.

The little boy was coughing, a dry, raspy sound that made my heart ache.

“What about Marissa?” I asked Ryker.

“She is desperate,” Ryker said, pulling a thin silver laptop from his leather bag.

“She needs the children to access the final disbursement of their father’s estate.”

“Without them, the trustees will not release the remaining funds.”

“And she is broke?” I asked.

“Worse than broke,” Ryker said, opening the laptop.

“My financial investigators in New York have been digging into her shell companies.”

“She owes millions to offshore creditors.”

The laptop screen cast a cool blue light over his face, deep shadows forming under his eyes.

“I am putting everything on the line for this, Evelyn,” he said softly, looking up at me.

“My board of directors is already questioning my absence.”

“If the press gets hold of the fact that I am hiding two state wards, the stock will plummet.”

“And the judge will see it as a kidnapping,” I pointed out.