Now, as she disconnected from a paper supply company, Alyssa jotted a note and moved on to the next number, watching as Sandra, with a grunt of frustration, shoved aside her first box and pulled another closer to her. A small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth as she recalled how their newest team member had insisted on carting two of the heavy boxes in one load.

Joe had given her a hard time. ‘You know you’re just making Tony and me look bad, right? Now we’re going to have to haul in extra boxes so we don’t look weak next to you.’

Huffing with every step up the stairs, she’d said, ‘I’m a weightlifter, so I’m a lot stronger than I look.’ Then she’d set her boxes down and flexed her biceps, earning a chuckle from Hal and a whistle from Joe. Earlier in the afternoon, Tony had returned to his inner shell, so he’d remained quiet and unaffected by the team’s easy banter with Sandra and amongst each other. More than once, Alyssa had caught Joe and Hal sneaking concerned looks beneath lowered lashes. She’d been doing the same thing. Once again, she wished she knew how to reach him. She could only hope that he’d come around in his own time and in his own way, and she hoped it would be sooner than later.

Alyssa’s phone rang, putting her head back where it needed to be. But when she checked the caller ID, her palms became slippery with moisture. It was Cord. She punched the green icon and answered. ‘How’s Sara? How are you? The babies?’

All activity in the room ceased as everyone’s heads snapped up, Tony’s included. They froze, their hands in various degrees of hovering as the lot of them, wide-eyed, stared openly.

The phone call Cord had received earlier had been from a panicked friend who’d spontaneously dropped in to check on Sara only to find her collapsed on the kitchen floor, bleeding. She’d immediately dialed 911 and followed the ambulance to the hospital, calling Cord on the way to inform him of what was happening. When he’d raced back into Gabriel’s office, visibly shaken, moisture turning his eyes glassy, and uttered ‘Sara,’ Alyssa had tossed him her keys, no questions asked.

‘Go,’ she’d ordered, ignoring her own wash of fear for her friend and partner.

Catching the keys mid-air, he’d rushed out, the squeal of tires as he left the parking lot a clear indicator of the terror that had to be nearly paralyzing.