Chapter 2

Her eyes darted back and forth. "The medicine in the car is imported. No hospital nearby carries it. My son only takes this one kind. Going to the hospital is useless."

She was pushing the explanation at me, and it rang false.

"Victor, it's simple. You open the door, pull the car forward a little, just enough for me to squeeze behind the trunk and open it and grab the medicine. That's all."

As if that would set my mind at ease about driving it.

She even swore it. "I promise, even if you scratch the car, I won't hold you responsible."

Looking into those pleading eyes, I hesitated again.

【Don't go soft. She knows you like to help people. That's why she picked you.】

"No, Ms. Summers. I really can't drive your car. If you don't trust the medicine from outside, I can call 911."

The second I pulled out my phone, she snatched it away.

"Are you deaf? My son takes imported medicine. The hospital doesn't have it. An ambulance won't help."

"Victor Fox, all I'm asking is for you to move my car. Fifteen minutes have already gone by. Keep stalling and something's really going to happen to my son."

I glanced at the phone. Already three-thirty.

At this hour every owner in the complex was fast asleep.

If it was really like that line of black text warned.

Once I got in, Gertrude would trigger the car's self-driving.

She'd set it to autopilot straight into the river across from the complex.

Nothing waiting for me but a dead end.

And there was a body in the trunk.

By then I'd be dead, with no evidence at all.

Everything, she could tell it however she liked.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Summers. I really can't move your car for you. If it's that urgent, I can call someone to come help."

She glared at me, hard. "In the middle of the night, who are you going to call? Victor Fox, you're the security guard on duty. It's your job to move my car for me."

"My husband pays a fortune in fees to keep people like you around, and you can't even move a car when I ask. Why all the excuses?"

Her voice had turned sharp with anger, her face darkening.

"Victor Fox, either you come move the car with me right now, or I file a complaint and have you packing your bags out of here by morning."

【Don't be scared. She can't actually do that. And she's more afraid of sunrise than you are.】

When I said nothing, she switched tactics.

"Victor, how about this. You come with me, you talk me through it, and I'll move the car myself."

"I mean it, my son's having an attack. He needs saving right now."

When I didn't argue, she grabbed me and hauled me toward the garage.

She was strong. She yanked the buttons right off my uniform.

Even with me pulling back as hard as I could, she dragged me all the way to the garage.

Right at the entrance, I saw her car.

The newest city crossover, its rear nearly flush against the back wall.

"Victor, here's the key. Once the doors are open, get in with me."

"You just sit in the passenger seat and talk me through it."

While I was still hesitating, her phone buzzed.

She pulled up a video. Her son, Valentine Coleman, was struggling to breathe.

"Mommy, save me, save me, I can't breathe."

She held the phone up in front of me. "Victor, look, his little face is all flushed. There's not a second to waste."

Looking at that face twisted in pain, I reached out my hand.

But the instant before I touched the key, I snatched my hand back.