Chapter 5 - The Locked Perimeter
I didn't argue with him.
I reached past his scorching shoulders, gently sliding my hands beneath the purple blanket, and lifted the newborn into my arms.
Her tiny body was hot, damp, and frail, but her heart was still beating a rapid, fragile rhythm against my chest.
I carried the infant out into the open air, setting her on the cool backseat of my running sedan with the air conditioner blowing cold air directly over her blanket.
I sprinted back to the blue minivan, wrapping my arms around the boy's chest.
He was heavier, his muscles limp from heat exhaustion, but I managed to drag him out through the side door, laying him down beside his sister.
I poured cold bottled water over his forehead, wiping the sweat and matted red hair away from his small, scratched face.
His breathing slowly deepened as the cold air hit his skin.
While I waited for the emergency sirens in the distance, I stepped back toward the minivan to look for medical supplies or an ID.
I looked around the interior.
There was no diaper bag.
No baby formula bottles.
No stuffed animals.
No grocery bags, coats, or personal items belonging to an adult driver.
Then I noticed something else—something that sent a cold spike of pure terror straight through my chest.
The sliding door locks hadn't simply failed or been forgotten by a distracted parent.
Heavy nylon zip-ties had been threaded through the interior door handles on both sides, pulled tight, and snapped off at the ends.
The doors had been intentionally secured from the outside.
These children hadn't been accidentally left behind while someone ran into a store.
Someone had placed them inside that rolling oven.
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Someone had locked them in.
And whoever had done it had walked away, expecting the summer heat to finish the job.
