“Bellamy, report,” Lorenzo ordered.

For three seconds, there was only static.

Then, a trembling voice broke through the speaker.

“Lorenzo,” Mrs. Bellamy gasped, her voice thick with tears.

“I’m so sorry. He… he had the master codes.”

“He told me he would kill my sister if I didn’t bypass the perimeter alarms for him.”

“Where is he now, Bellamy?” Lorenzo asked.

“He’s in the server room,” she sobbed. “He has the override key.”

“He’s been changing the lock sequences all night.”

“The nursery… Lorenzo, he’s locked the nursery from the inside.”

The radio went dead with a sharp hiss.

Lorenzo looked back at Evan, his eyes wild with a father’s desperation.

“Open the door,” Lorenzo growled.

“I can’t,” Evan said. “The program is already running.”

I stared at Evan’s face, the green light catching the sharp angle of his jaw.

My mind began to wander to a dark place, a place I had tried to forget.

I looked at his hands.

On his right index finger, he wore a thick silver ring with a rough, uneven texture.

My stomach did a violent flip.