Sadie’s POV
My phone rang when I was busy grading my students’ papers.
It was the school number. My stomach dropped before I even answered.
"Ms. Vance, this is the Maplewood front office. We need you to come pick up Lily immediately."
"What happened? Is she hurt?"
"She's not hurt, but there's been an incident. A woman arrived on campus claiming to be Lily's aunt. She attempted to remove Lily from the school grounds without authorization."
The world went white at the edges.
"I'll be there in ten minutes."
I was out the door before I hung up, my lecture notes still open on my desk, my bag left behind, my keys the only thing I'd managed to grab. I drove faster than I ever had, the speedometer needle climbing past eighty on the narrow country road, my hands
locked on the wheel so tig
