When you discover that your child is in danger, every fiber of you wants to act, immediately, visibly, to snatch her up and shield her with your body and confront the threat where it stands.

The instinct to protect is an instinct to intervene, now, openly.

And Marcus had to override that instinct completely, had to do the exact opposite of what his heart screamed at him to do, had to walk calmly past the danger and leave his child behind in the house with it, wearing a pleasant smile, for the sake of a strategy his terrified heart did not want to trust.

It felt, every step of the way, like betrayal.