The Vale teams advanced with shields and stun weapons. Gunfire broke out near the front gates, but the fight ended fast — Marcus’s hired men found every exit blocked and every vehicle disabled.

Hannah dragged the rope binding her wrist against a jagged edge of metal beneath the chair. Across the warehouse, a baby began to cry. Lucas. She pulled harder.

The rope cut into her skin. Marcus heard the child too, and grabbed her chair, dragging her toward the side room where one of his men held Lucas.

“Your usefulness has ended,” he said.

The door burst open. Adrian stood in the entrance, his eyes finding Lucas first, then Hannah. One of Marcus’s gunmen held the screaming baby against his chest, a pistol trembling beside Lucas’s head.

“Drop your weapon,” the man ordered.