She picked up on the first ring, already crying. She’d heard Chloe screaming through the hedge that separated our yards.

“Samson, please hurry,” she sobbed. “They just dragged that poor little girl inside the front door.”

The jet banked hard left and dropped through the cloud cover like a stone. Staring at the dark screen in my hand, I understood I was descending into something already well beyond my control.

Part Two — Securing the Perimeter

Three hours and forty-one minutes later, the landing gear hit the wet tarmac at Bradley Air Force Base.

The moment the cabin door opened I stepped out into a humid Connecticut night and found two black SUVs idling with blue lights flashing on their dashboards.

Jackson stood beside the lead vehicle with his collar up against the wind and a tablet in his hand, his jaw clenched hard enough that a muscle jumped in his cheek.