Three days before Sofia's due date, Caroline escaped from federal custody.
Not dramatically. Not violently. Simply gone. A routine transfer between facilities, a moment of procedural failure that sophisticated people exploit with devastating effectiveness, and Caroline Winters vanished as completely as if she'd never surrendered at all.
Morrison called at 6 AM.
"I'm sorry, Isabella. We're investigating how it happened. But she's gone."
I sat on the edge of our bed, Dante stirring awake beside me, and processed this information with the particular exhaustion of someone who's survived too many setbacks to be properly shocked by new ones.
"How long ago?"
"Approximately nine hours. We delayed informing you until we were certain hoping we'd recapture her quickly. That clearly hasn't happened."
"Does she have access to resources? Funds, safe houses, anything she might have held back from her supposed full cooperation?"
