Four armed men came for the terrified Cane Corso hiding behind me, but when his billionaire owner arrived, the dog planted himself on my foot and refused to move.

Moreno allowed Elias and me as far as the outside wall while her team entered. Bishop pulled hard against his leash. Through the rain, we could hear metal clanging somewhere inside.

The repair bay had two entrances. Officers went through the warehouse. A second team headed around the channel by boat. Moreno waited at the corner with us, listening to both radios.

An officer called from within. “We’ve found Shaw.”

Colin.

“He’s armed. Child not in sight.”

A sharp report sounded from inside the warehouse. Elias surged toward the door, and I grabbed his sleeve. An officer stepped in front of us.

Moreno spoke into her radio. The reply came quickly: Colin had fired at a light above the officers, then surrendered when they closed in. No one was hurt.

But Maisie still hadn’t been found.

Water was seeping beneath a steel door along the warehouse’s outer wall. A faded sign identified it as the entrance to the lower repair bay. Bishop pressed his nose to the gap and whined.

Moreno called the officers over. They forced the door open a few inches, then stopped. Water was nearly waist-high on the other side and rising.

“There’s a walkway above it,” Elias said, pointing to the property plan on his phone. “The stairs start at the far end.”

An officer shone a light through the opening. “I see the stairs.”

Moreno called for rescue equipment. The harbor team was working toward the other side, but a jammed gate blocked their boat.

Then we heard Maisie.

“Bishop?”

Her voice was faint and echoed against the concrete.

“He’s here!” I called. “Maisie, tell us where you are.”

“Up high.”

Bishop barked twice.

“I’m on a shelf,” she said. “The water’s touching my shoes.”

Moreno sent an officer through with a safety line. He reached the stairs, then reported that debris had washed across the upper walkway. He could see Maisie on a storage platform across the bay, beyond a stretch of water too deep to cross without support.

Elias knew the building. He explained that an overhead service rail ran from their side toward the platform. Workers once used it to move tools. A narrow maintenance catwalk followed the rail.

“It should take us above the water,” he said.

Moreno studied the plan. “How old?”

“Thirty years. I don’t know whether it’s sound.”

A rescue worker arrived with harnesses and lights. He went in first to inspect it. From outside, we heard him call that the rail was stable but one section of decking was gone.

“I can get to her,” he said over the radio. “It’ll take a few minutes.”

We waited beside the door. I could hear Maisie crying now. Bishop made a low, distressed sound each time her voice rose.

“Talk to her,” Moreno said.

I crouched near the gap. “Maisie, remember when you read Bishop that book about the lost fox?”

“Yes.”

“You told him the fox was brave because she called for help. Keep talking so we know where you are.”

Bishop settled beside me when he heard her answer.

“Is Dad there?”

“I’m here,” Elias said.

A pause. “Are you mad?”

His face crumpled. He steadied his voice before answering.

“No, sweetheart. I’m coming home with you.”

“I took Mom’s book.”

“I know. You kept it safe.”

“I thought Uncle Julian was helping us.”

“You did the right thing telling us what you saw,” he said. “Let the rescue worker help you now.”

Across the bay, a light moved along the catwalk. The worker reached the missing section and clipped himself to the rail. He edged past it, then climbed onto Maisie’s platform.

“I’ve got her,” he called.

Elias shut his eyes.

The worker fitted Maisie with a harness and began guiding her back. The water rose against the support posts. Halfway across, the lights went out.

For one second, nobody moved.

Then flashlights cut through the dark. The worker reported that the pumps had stopped. The water would rise faster.

The harbor team worked on the gate while Moreno ordered another line rigged from our side. I held Bishop’s harness and listened to the worker talk Maisie through each step.

“Hand here. Good. Now one foot toward me.”

When they reached the gap in the decking, she froze.

“I can’t.”

“Yes, you can,” he told her. “I’m holding you.”

Bishop gave a short bark. Maisie turned toward the sound.

“Bishop?”

I lifted his head so he could see through the doorway. “He’s waiting.”

The worker guided her across.

Minutes later, they came through the steel door together. Maisie’s hair was wet, and her feet shook so badly she could barely stand. Elias lifted her into his arms. Bishop crowded against both of them, nose working urgently over her coat and hands.

She held out a trembling palm. He licked it once.

“I’m sorry I sent you away,” she whispered.

Elias carried her toward the ambulance. Moreno stayed behind to speak with her officers. Colin was in custody. Julian had left by another route before the police arrived.

At the ambulance, a paramedic wrapped Maisie in warm blankets and checked her over. She had spent hours cold and frightened, but she was alert. Elias stayed beside her while she answered questions in a small, tired voice.

I moved back to give them room. Bishop came with me, then looked over his shoulder at Maisie.

“You can stay with her,” I told him.

He returned to the ambulance and rested his head beside her hand.

Maisie saw me through the open doors. “Nora?”

“I’m here.”

“Uncle Julian said Dad would be sorry if he read Mom’s book.”

Elias looked at her. “Why?”