The pain in my stomach subsided to a dull, throbbing ache, but the weakness in my limbs remained.

“Let them pass, Ms. Mercer,” Marco said, stepping forward.

His hand was fully out of his jacket now, the black metal of his sidearm visible in the dim light.

The two men behind Vivian stopped, their hands disappearing beneath their coats.

“We don’t need to make a scene here,” Vivian said, her eyes locked on Marco’s weapon. “We can make a deal.”

“There is no deal,” Luke said.

He lifted me into his arms, his muscles straining as he stood up.

“If anything happens to her, or to my child, I will personally make sure you spend the rest of your life in a federal penitentiary,” Luke said to his sister.

Vivian looked at him, her face pale under the fluorescent tube.

She saw the look in his eyes and knew he meant it.

Slowly, she stepped to the side, letting the damp wind blow past her into the unit.

“You are making a mistake, Luke,” Vivian said as we passed her. “Arthur will never let her keep that child.”