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He and I shared a look of reluctance and confusion before getting up. We walked into the living room to find them both pacing, panic etched across their faces.

Vivian whipped around, blonde curls flowing down her back as she approached me. “You have Sally, right?” she asked and I folded my arms over my chest. “I’m Vivian, and this is my husband James.”

“Please, tell me you have our little girl.” He hurried to his wife’s side, slipping an arm around her.

“Sally? The little girl who said you dropped her off and left?” I asked and Vivian shook her head.

“No, no— no she wanted a toy, we said no and she ran off,” Vivian stuttered.

My eyebrow raised. “So how do you know if she’s here?”

“We had to insert a tracker in her shoe,” James explained, catching me off guard. He must’ve noticed because he continued. “She’s known for running away when she doesn’t get her way,” he laughed it off.

“Please, just tell me she’s here.” Vivian insisted.

I didn’t like this. “Why’d you wait until now—“

“Look, I don’t have to explain myself to you,” she snapped and Antonio appeared at my side. “Do you have my daughter or not.”

I opened my mouth to speak but Antonio beat me to it. “No.” He shook his head.

“Are you sure, because—“

“I’m sure.” He cut her off and her anxious eyes shifted between the two of us then back to her husband.

“Like we said… the tracker shows that she’s here,” James nervously stuttered again and Antonio gave his shoulder a shrug.

“She’s not,” he said, then turned to Koren who immediately understood and approached the couple.

“I’ll see you both out.” Koren motioned for them to follow him.

Vivian shook her head but James grabbed the sides of her arms, forcing her to move.

“No.” She protested, looking up at him as they walked. “She’s here— you know she’s here,” she whispered.

Koren led them out and I turned to Antonio in confusion.

“There’s no tracker in her shoe,” Antonio explained. “They were following us around at the mall, then they followed us home, and lingered outside.”

My eyes widened. “What?”

“You were too busy with Sally to notice,” he explained and I was left stunned. “Exploitation of a minor? They used Sally, followed us and planned on threatening us with kidnapping their child. It’s the game they play.”

“Wha—no…” I trailed off and watched him roll up the sleeves of his white dress shirt as he left the living room. Of course, I followed him. “How do you know that?”

“It’s the world I live in, Nirah,” he muttered, taking the stairs. “They just didn’t expect Sally to go home with someone like me. Her father knew he had no chance of threatening me with anything.”

We reached his new office and he opened the door, motioning for me to enter. “Try not to burn this one down too, yeah?” he said as I stepped past him and I stopped.

“Try not to be an insufferable piece of shit, yeah?”

He held back a smile before speaking. “I wasn’t sure who they were until Koren pulled up their profiles.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“There was no need to.” He sat back down and so did I, chewing the inside of my cheek.

We tried to figure out how we were not only going to break the news to Sally that her parents were putting her in danger and she most likely couldn’t go back… and the fact that she needed a new home.