Her voice broke my heart.

I reached out, gently brushing a stray curl of hair from her forehead.

“No,” I said softly.

“You are safe now.”

Ryker looked down at them, a solemn vow settling over his features.

“No one is going to hurt you again,” Ryker told them.

He looked at me.

“Take them to our private lounge,” Ryker said.

“Keep them warm.”

Just then, Marco walked back to us, his phone still pressed to his ear.

He looked at Ryker and nodded.

“They are halting the aircraft,” Marco said.

“The tower is ordering the pilot to return to the gate.”

Ryker turned toward the corridor leading to Gate C18.

At that exact moment, the red light on his phone began to flash.

I pressed the button on the armrest of Lily’s stroller and looked up at Ryker.

Ryker slid his thumb across the screen, answering the call on the second ring.

“Steel,” he said.

He listened for three seconds, his jaw tightening until a vein pulsed near his temple.

“I am standing at the gate now,” Ryker said into the receiver.