"A 7-year-old girl called 911 at 2:17 a.m. because her mother hadn't returned home. When the police entered that dark apartment, the entire neighborhood stopped talking about child abandonment and started talking about terror. Rain hammered the apartment roof hard enough to rattle the dispatch center windows, and the emergency line carried a thin wash of static.

Officer Elena Rostova didn’t hesitate. As soon as Maya’s trembling finger pointed at the dark, unmarked sedan idling in the shadows across the street, Elena’s hand dropped to her duty belt. She unclipped her holster, her eyes locking onto the vehicle. But the driver was already one step ahead.

The moment Elena shifted her weight, the sedan’s brake lights flared an angry, brilliant red in the freezing sleet. The tires spun, gripping the icy asphalt before the car tore down the alleyway, its license plate completely obscured by a thick layer of mud and snow.

“Maya, stay down!” Elena ordered, though the little girl was already curled into a tight ball on the ambulance bench, pressing the faded medical card to her chest.

Elena lunged for her shoulder mic. “Dispatch, this is Rostova. I need an immediate BOLO on a late-model dark sedan fleeing southbound from the 400 block of Elm. No plates. The driver is likely connected to a kidnapping or missing person.”

David Vance’s voice cracked over the radio, heavy with tension. “Copy that, Rostova. Patrols are being alerted. Are the children safe?”

“They’re secure in the bus, en route to Chicago Memorial,” Elena replied, watching the taillights disappear into the winter storm. “David, this isn’t a child neglect case. That mother didn’t just walk out on her kids. She was lured out. Or she was taken.”

Inside the ambulance, the heater roared, fighting against the bitter chill that seemed to seep into everyone’s bones. The paramedic was working quickly, strapping an oxygen mask over little Sam’s face. The baby’s raspy, wheezing breaths slowly began to even out, the terrifying blue tint fading from his lips.

Maya watched her brother, her small hands shaking. Elena sat beside her, gently placing a warm hand on the girl’s shoulder.

“You said she was running away from someone, Maya,” Elena said softly, keeping her voice incredibly calm. “Do you know who was in that car?”

Maya squeezed her eyes shut, a tear escaping and tracking down her pale cheek. “My mom said if that car ever parked outside our building, it meant the monster found us. She said the monster wears expensive suits and always smiles when he’s angry.”