Silvio exhaled. “Thank God.”
“Can I see him?”
“He’s sleeping. You can see him in a little while.”
Silvio nodded. He sat back down. He called his lawyer. He called the police. He called his mother again. He arranged for a room for Mia. He arranged for a guard at Ethan’s door.
Then he called his wife. She was in New York. She answered on the first ring.
“Silvio? What’s going on?”
“I need you to come home. Something happened. I’ll explain when you get here.”
“Is it the children?”
“Yes.”
“Are they okay?”
“They’re alive.”
She started to cry. “I’m on the next flight.”
She hung up. Silvio sat in the waiting room. He watched the sun set through the window. He thought about his sister. He thought about the little girl who had called her Mommy. He thought about the little boy who had almost died.
He thought about the truth. The one that was still waiting to come out.
The next few days were a blur.
Ethan woke up. He was weak. He was scared. But he was alive. Mia stayed by his side. She held his hand. She told him stories. She told him they were safe.
Silvio stayed at the hospital. He didn’t leave. He slept in a chair. He ate hospital food. He watched the children sleep.
Lucinda and Grant were arrested. They were charged with attempted murder, child endangerment, and conspiracy. Grant’s mother, Eleanor, was arrested the next morning. She had tried to flee the country. She was caught at the airport.
The trial was three months later. It was fast. The evidence was overwhelming. The security cameras. The text messages. The testimony of the bodyguards. The testimony of the paramedics. The testimony of the children.
Mia testified. She was seven years old. She sat in the witness box. She held a stuffed rabbit. She told the court what had happened. She told them about the car. About the heat. About her brother crying. About her mother not coming back.
Lucinda cried. She said she was sorry. She said she had made a mistake. She said she never meant to hurt them.
The jury didn’t believe her.
Lucinda was sentenced to twenty-five years. Grant was sentenced to thirty. Eleanor was sentenced to fifteen. They were all taken away in handcuffs. They would not be eligible for parole.
Silvio was granted custody of Ethan and Mia. He and his wife had been trying to have children for years. They had almost given up. Now they had two.
The children moved into their house. They had their own rooms. They had their own toys. They had their own beds. They had never had any of that before.
Mia was quiet at first. She didn’t trust anyone. She didn’t believe she was safe. She had been told she didn’t deserve to be part of a family. She had been told she was unwanted.
Silvio and his wife told her every day that she was wanted. They told her every day that she was loved. They told her every day that she was part of their family.
It took time. It took patience. It took everything they had.
But slowly, Mia started to believe them.
The final twist came a year later.
