Where are you?
The landscaping that once offered serene privacy now provided countless hiding spots. I scanned the area, noting every potential refuge: an overturned cabana, the shadows beneath a row of hibiscus bushes, the space behind a decorative fountain where someone small could tuck themselves away.
"Olivia!" My voice broke, betraying the terror that was creeping into the edges of my focus.
Get it together, Eva Rae. She's counting on you.
"Mom!" I spun on my heel, the sound slicing through the gunfire and hysteria.
"Here!" Fainter this time, but unmistakably Olivia. I locked onto the direction, sprinting past a grove of palm trees.
"Stay put, baby, I'm coming!"
My legs burned, and my heart pounded a relentless rhythm—one I couldn't afford to silence until I had her safe.
I rounded a corner, nearly colliding with a woman in a blood-stained sundress. Her eyes were wild, her breathing erratic.
"Where did he go?" I demanded, gripping her shoulders to steady us both.
"Th-that way," she stammered, pointing shakily. "He was shooting… at everyone."
"Stay down and find cover," I instructed, releasing her with a firm nod.
"Be careful," she whispered as if the words were torn from her lips.
The resort was unrecognizable; scenes of leisure turned into vignettes of violence. The air was thick, and the tang of gunpowder overpowered the salt breeze. Overturned lounge chairs formed an obstacle course that I navigated with grim determination while panic raged in my heart.
"Olivia!"
My throat was raw, but I couldn't stop calling for her. Each overturned chair and every shattered vase had me expecting the worst, yet I prayed for the best.
A cluster of guests cowered behind a toppled tiki bar, their whispers urgent and low. I skirted around them without slowing, my senses on high alert. There was no time for reassurance or comfort; there was only the mission—find Olivia, stop Marcus.
I rounded a corner, pulse hammering in my ears, and nearly tripped over a young man sprawled across the path. Blood seeped through his fingers as he clutched at his arm, face contorted.
"Stay with me," I said, dropping to a knee beside him.
"Help," he gasped, eyes wild with shock.
"Press here, hard," I instructed, guiding his other hand to apply pressure. "It’s just a graze. You're going to make it."
I scanned the area once more for Olivia, then pushed to my feet, leaving him with a nod of encouragement. I had to move; every second was critical.
Dodging through a maze of debris, I caught a glimpse of Marcus ahead. His back was to me, fingers working frantically to reload. Time slowed as I ducked behind a stone pillar, barely breathing. Options flickered through my mind—rush him, distract him, negotiate? No, too risky with the weapon in play.
"Think, Eva," I muttered, watching his shoulders tense with each click of the ammunition. My window of opportunity was closing fast.
The pillar chilled my back through the fabric of my blazer as I crouched, heart a metronome in double time. Marcus's shadow stretched toward me, sinister and elongated on the sun-soaked ground.
A rustle to my left snapped me back to the present. A cluster of guests, their faces etched with terror, huddled like scared hatchlings beneath an overhanging palm. I darted toward them.
"Have you seen my daughter?" I barked, my voice as hard as flint. "Short hair, about this tall. Seen her?"
Their eyes flicked between each other, lips quivering, whispers frantic as a disturbed beehive. Finally, one—a woman with mascara streaks down her cheeks—nodded, jerking her head in the direction of the beach.
"She ran that way," she stammered, voice barely above the din.
"Stay down," I ordered, more bark than bite, already moving. "Keep quiet."
