My phone buzzed again. The message was clear—Are you safe? Don’t go back. I’ll explain everything later. The sense of urgency in those words made my skin crawl. Who was this person, and how did they know what was about to happen? A million scenarios played out in my mind, each more terrifying than the last.

Taking a deep breath, I considered my next move. It dawned on me that staying put wasn’t an option. I needed answers, and I wasn’t going to find them parked at the end of the driveway under a storm of flashing lights. As I turned the key in the ignition, I noticed a figure emerging from the shadows—a man, tall and wearing a hooded sweatshirt. He approached cautiously, gesturing with his hands to show he meant no harm.

Lowering the window slightly, I kept my foot ready on the pedal. “Lucia, it’s me, Sam,” he said, pushing his hood back to reveal a familiar face. Sam was an old friend of Robert’s from college, someone who had always seemed to hover at the edges of our lives. “We need to talk, away from here,” he urged.

Trust was a fragile thing, but seeing the sincerity in Sam’s eyes made me pause. I nodded reluctantly and motioned for him to get into the passenger seat. As we drove away, leaving the chaotic scene behind, he began to explain. “Robert got mixed up with a bad crowd,” Sam confessed, his voice heavy with regret. “I didn’t know how deep until it was almost too late. I sent you the text—there are people looking for him. Dangerous people. The police were tipped off, and I knew you needed to be far away when they arrived.”

Silence hung between us as the weight of his words settled in. My heart ached for my son and for the family caught in the crossfire of his choices. “What do we do now?” I asked quietly, staring at the road ahead.

“First, we find a safe place to talk,” Sam replied, determination in his voice. “Then, we figure out how to fix this.”

As the city lights blurred by, I felt a flicker of hope. There was a long road ahead, but we weren’t traveling it alone.