through the broken blinds. It

aceless men chasing her through dark hal

for her phone on the nightstand. It had been p

up. A wall of

face was plastered everywhere. The headlines scr

and Thorne corporations had officially announced a deep, strategic merger, using

turned white. She was nothing but a paw

aller ID showed the Chief of Surgery at the el

red. "Hello,

e her title. "Due to your severe violation of the hospital's moral cl

video is a fak

ic

d. The dial tone

d into a violent knot. A wav

nto the tiny, filthy bathroom. She fell to her knees in front o

up. She looked in the cracked mirror. Her face was t

Bang

t the thin wooden do

rough voice yelled. "We

paparazzi had found her. Or

k back. She climbed onto the toilet, pushed open the smal

ack alley. The impact scraped the skin off h

her feet and ran

three men in hoodies spotted her. They w

s!" one of t

hrew a half-rotten tomato. It

raising her arms t

ged rock from the gutter. H

anica right above

nstantly poured down her forehead, blinding he

knees buckling. She prepare

ch of tires rippe

kidding sideways to block the mouth of the alley. It

nd sunglasses poured out. They moved with military pre

indow of the SUV

th age, but his eyes were sharp, calculating, and deeply

a single,

practically lifted her off the ground and shov

The heavy armor sealed

orehead. The world swam in and out of focus. Her chest heaved as she fought to

y pulled into an underground garage in Brooklyn. Danica wa

d. A doctor quickly stitched her fo

nto the room. He held a clipboard. His face wa

hen turned to Danica.

re pregnant. And based on your extremely high HCG leve

ted to spin. Her hand moved on its own,