RUNNING TOWARD THE CRADLE: THE VOWS WE BROKE

The man inside the nursery was not an orderly. He wore a dark tactical vest beneath an unbuttoned service jacket, and he was lifting Noah’s carrier with brutal efficiency.

""Ethan!"" Claire screamed, banging her fists against the reinforced glass.

""Stand back!"" Ethan roared. He grabbed a heavy metal fire extinguisher from the wall mount and swung it with all his strength against the glass window.

The tempered glass spider-webbed into a thousand fractures. Ethan struck it a second time, shattering the pane into a cascade of glittering shards. He dove through the opening, cutting his arms on the jagged edges, and tackled the man to the tiled floor just as the man drew a silenced pistol.

The gun clattered across the linoleum, sliding beneath an incubator. The baby wailed frantically from inside the carrier on the prep counter.

The man threw Ethan off with trained force, his fist connecting squarely with Ethan's jaw. Ethan’s vision flashed white, but adrenaline surged through his veins. He rolled, lunging for the man’s legs, bringing him crashing down.

Ethan straddled him, landing two savage punches to the man’s temple until the intruder went limp.

Panting, blood dripping from a gash on his forehead, Ethan scrambled to his feet. He grabbed the baby carrier, checking Noah frantically. The infant was red-faced and screaming, but unharmed.

""I have him!"" Ethan yelled through the shattered window. ""Claire, go to the stairwell!""

Claire was already reaching through the broken frame. Ethan passed the carrier to her arms, then vaulted back into the hallway.

The flashing amber lights bathed the corridor in eerie shadows. Smoke from a localized flare in the west wing began to drift through the ceiling vents, triggering absolute chaos among the staff and visitors who were fleeing toward the fire exits.

Ethan grabbed Claire’s arm, guiding her down the stairwell, descending rapidly toward the basement level where the ambulance bay was located.

When they burst through the ground-floor exit doors into the cold rain of the ambulance bay, a black sedan was idling near the dumpsters, its hazard lights flashing. Liam was behind the wheel.

""Get in! Get in!"" Liam yelled, kicking open the rear door from the inside.

Claire dove into the backseat with the baby, and Ethan slammed the door shut behind him as the sedan screeched out of the bay, burning rubber against the wet concrete.

""Did anyone follow you?"" Liam shouted over his shoulder, checking his rearview mirror as he blew through a red light onto the main avenue.

""I took down one of Richard's men inside the nursery,"" Ethan breathed, wrapping his arm around Claire as she pressed Noah against her chest, weeping tears of relief.

Liam swore under his breath, his knuckles turning white on the steering wheel. ""Ethan, you don't understand what you just walked into. Richard didn't hire regular security. That man you fought? He’s private military contracted by Sterling Global's foreign security wing.""