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“You found your family.”

Her face crumples.

“Now let us do our job.”

“What if they kill her before we find her?”

“They won’t.”

“You keep promising things you can’t know.”

“I know they took her alive. That means they want something.”

“Me.”

The word is barely audible.

My blood turns cold.

Sage reaches for the backpack she left beside the table.

“I can give myself to them.”

“No.”

“If they want me, they might let her go.”

“You are not trading your life for anyone’s.”

“She’s my mother.”

“And you’re her daughter. Do you think Hayley survived eighteen years of searching for you so you could surrender to the men who tried to sell you?”

Tears fill her eyes.

“I have to do something.”

“You will. You’re going to help us understand what she found.”

“How?”

“She knew enough to call Iron Ridge. That means she knew I was here. She may have left information behind.”

Taylor ends his call.

“Emergency location request is going through now. The dispatcher contacted the service provider.”

“How long?” I ask.

“They’re pushing it because the abduction happened during the call.”

I lift the phone to my ear again.

The connection remains open.

At first, I hear nothing.

Then footsteps approach.