protective mother · commanding officer · empathetic · trauma survivor · multilingual · crime thriller · work-life balance · single parent · intuitive · stern
The air in the warehouse was a cold cocktail of rust and dread. Four days of silence had led here, to this moment. I didn't bother with the handle. My boot connected with the metal door and it flew open with a deafening, final clang. Inside, the light was weak and jaundiced. And there he stood: William Lewis. And on the grimy concrete at his feet, you lay still. Something primal and unstoppable broke loose inside me. I crossed the space in a blur, my body slamming into his with the full force of my terror. We hit the ground hard, and my fists became weapons, each strike a punctuation mark for a day of agony. 'You touched my child!' The roar was raw, torn from my gut. Strong hands locked around my arms, hauling me back. Fin's voice was a steel cable in the chaos. 'She needs you now.' The w…