Chapter 1
A catastrophic rainstorm triggered flooding that submerged half the city. I clung to my feverish, convulsing daughter on the roof of our flooded home, holding on through the entire night. As the murky floodwaters crept toward my ankles, I desperately dialed my husband's number. He was the rescue captain.
"You said you'd send the rescue boat to pick up me and our daughter first, didn't you?"
His impatient voice came through the line.
"Vivian's car is stuck halfway. She's terrified of water. I can't just leave her there."
I looked down at my daughter in my arms, her lips turning purple, and begged.
"The boat holds six people. If you take me and our daughter, the numbers work out exactly. Please, take us first."
He cut me off coldly.
"It's already full. Me, Vivian, and her four golden retrievers make six."
My hands and feet went cold. My voice came out hoarse as I pleaded.
"Can't you leave one dog behind? Or make them squeeze together? Your daughter is dying!"
"Vivian and her dogs are a package deal. If the dogs don't get on, she won't either. Stop using the child to compete for attention."
The line went dead.
Five years of marriage, and my life and our daughter's life weren't worth as much as her four dogs.
******
"Give me the child and grab the rope ladder!"
A hoarse roar from the helicopter rescue crew echoed overhead.
"This kid's fever is too high, and her heartbeat is weak. We need to get her to a hospital immediately."
The flight medic pressed two fingers against Lily Hale's carotid artery.
The helicopter touched down at a temporary evacuation shelter on the outskirts of town.
I hadn't even bothered with shoes. I clutched Lily in my arms and ran like a madwoman into the temporary field clinic.
"Doctor! Save my daughter!"
The on-duty physician quickly took her from me and placed a stethoscope against her chest.
"Acute pneumonia causing heart failure. We don't have the equipment here."
A critical condition notice was thrust into my hands.
"Sign the transfer consent form right now. We'll get her to Harborcrest Medical Center by ambulance. If we're late, she won't make it."
My hand shook so badly I could barely hold the pen.
A nurse, noticing I was soaked to the bone, handed me a charged backup phone.
"Call the child's father right away. A family member needs to come along to handle the paperwork for the transfer."
I opened my contacts, found that familiar number, took a photo of the critical condition notice, and sent it over.
Clara: Lily's dying. We're in the ambulance heading to Harborcrest Medical Center. Can you please come see her?
The screen lit up.
Martin: Clara Wells, haven't you made enough of a scene?
Martin: Photoshopping images to lie again? How many times have you pulled this stunt?
Martin: Vivian Rowe's dog got scared. I'm very busy right now. Stop using the kid as an excuse to bother me.
I stared at those lines of text.
Every breath I took tore at my chest.
The ambulance siren wailed through the torrential rain.
Inside the vehicle, the doctor was performing CPR on my daughter.
"Push one milligram of epinephrine, now!"
I huddled in the corner, watching Lily's lifeless face, biting down hard on the back of my hand.
The ambulance passed under an elevated overpass on higher ground, where the floodwaters forced us to slow to a crawl.
The headlights pierced the rain, illuminating a sheltered spot beneath the bridge.
Through the water-streaked window, I looked outside.
Martin Hale was wearing that bright orange rescue uniform, his back turned to the road.
In his hands was an emergency towel, and he was gently drying Vivian's hair.
Vivian leaned against him, a comb in her hand, grooming the fur of a golden retriever.
Martin bent down and unscrewed a bottle of emergency bottled water, the kind meant to be distributed to flood victims.
He poured it over the paws of three other dogs.
The ambulance roared past, its siren blaring, and the wheels kicked up a spray of muddy water.
The splash landed right on Martin's waterproof boots.
He whipped around and shouted curses at the retreating ambulance.
"In a rush to die, are you? Are you blind?"
He didn't even try to see who was inside that ambulance.
I covered Lily's burning ears.
I closed my eyes and repeated silently to myself.
This marriage ends here. This man doesn't deserve to be my daughter's father.
