C183 JUST LIKE HE'D KILLED HER MOTHER.

The phone hit the concrete with a sharp crack, the sound echoing through the alley like a gunshot. The kidnapper, stared at the shattered device as if it held the last remnants of his sanity.

"Emma," he whispered, his voice breaking on the name. "Emma, daddy's here..."

But the line was dead, the phone's screen dark and fractured across the dirty pavement.

Mia kept the gun steady