“Damn it, Frank, I don’t have all day,” Colt growls at his iPad, waiting for his lawyer to send him a link. As if on command, his inbox makes the familiar ding announcing new mail, and Colt wastes no time opening the message. I watch as his finger hovers over the blue link, trembling slightly before he presses it.

A YouTube video opens, giving us a glimpse into a sunny afternoon on the beach. The owner of the shaky footage is recording a beach volleyball game while giggling with her friend about some cute guys. Sure enough, the cell phone footage sweeps across the sand to the glistening hard bodies of two twenty-something white guys in long board shorts standing around pretending they’re trying not to be noticed. Although their inexplicable flexing and slightly oiled up muscles are telling a different story.

The camera quickly sweeps back across the sand and a blast of wind hits the speaker, making Colt and me both jump in our seats. I’m still waiting for something in this video to explain why we’re sitting on a private jet heading for Florida right now. The volleyball game barely comes back into focus when the girl behind the camera decides to focus on a woman walking into the water with a large basket instead.

“Oh my God, Leah. Look at her! I told you this beach was full of crazies.” The unidentified recorder laughs as she gains the attention of her friend. They both break out into a giggle fest as we watch the woman walk into the waves fully clothed.

The water splashes up over her shoes as she struggles to keep the basket balanced. Her jeans are soaking up the waves lapping at her ankles, yet she seems oblivious. Her only focus is holding the basket steady as she moves forward deeper into the rolling ocean waves.

The woman stops in her tracks, wrestling to hang onto the basket, which seems to be jostling in her hands. In the background, a couple of teenage boys stop splashing water at each other to turn and stare.

Colt and I watch in horror as the woman tries to shove something back down into the basket. No longer able to contain the movements, the woman leans over and holds it on the surface of the water. The reason for her struggles are quickly revealed when a tiny toddler almost flips it upside down in an attempt to stand up, throwing her arms around the woman’s neck.

Colt and I gasp at the same time as the girls behind the camera. My breathing slows down as my heartbeat rises in my throat. What the hell is she doing? The child is crying so frantically, we can’t hear anything except “Mama, please! Mama, Mama.”

The woman looks completely unaffected, almost like a zombie. It’s like she’s taken too much Ambien. I’ve seen this look before. It’s a look of hopelessness, of giving up.

Screams rip through the iPad speakers so loudly, they crackle. On the screen the cell phone jostles around, but footage remains fixed on the woman and child. She’s trying to pry her child’s arms from around her neck in an eerily calm manner. It’s like she’s running on autopilot as she attempts to make the panic-stricken little girl sit down in the wooden basket bobbing on the waves.

“James! James! Get over here. Look at this woman. Stop her! What is she doing? Oh my God, she’s going to drown that kid! Holy fuck, she’s gonna drown her!” The woman behind the camera starts screaming. Apparently the consequences of crazy aren’t funny to her anymore.

A rumble of screaming and yelling erupts over the beach as more people take notice. Still the woman looks completely unaffected by the scene she’s causing.

Her sole focus is on keeping the little girl in the basket. Two college age boys slice through the water and reach her as the woman is still attempting to push the basket away after successfully pulling her daughter’s arms off of her.

The little girl is screaming in a cry of desperation that can only come from sheer terror. Above the screams of the panic-struck crowd, I can hear the little girl’s cries cut through them all begging the woman, “Mama, no! Please, please, Mama, no. No!” She sobs over and over.

I twist my head away from the screen, afraid of what I might see next. Colt is completely absorbed in the video, hunched toward the image. His face is twisted in anguish and his eyes are misting up with tears as he continues watching. I can’t stand to see him like this, so helpless. I go back to watching the horrible video instead.

It isn’t until one of the good Samaritans pulls the basket away from her that the woman seems to come to, like somebody snapped their fingers beside her at a hypnotist show. I actually see her shoulders twitch like she was shaken from some sort of deep dream… or nightmare. When she sees the young man attempt to rescue the girl she begins to freak out. You would think from her reaction that he’s trying to kill her. The woman begins thrashing and jerking as one of the men holds her tight. She’s still trying with all her might to kick the basket into the water. She’s screaming and writhing as though she is possessed.

Luckily, the young man has a firm grasp on the little girl. He easily pulls her free and holds her safely over the water as her little toes dangle by his side. The other young man is forced to restrain the woman. She looks like she could become violent at any second. As he holds her arms behind her, she twists and flails about.

Her face is contorted with anger. “You ruined everything! She needs to be found in the reeds. I need to save her from the pharaoh! You don’t understand. Moses, he came to me in a dream. He told me!”

The young man carrying the child brings her safely back to the shore and a crowd of mostly women surrounds them. People are clapping. Others have their hands drawn to their chests in horror at the scene that just unfolded in front of them. In the background security is racing up the beach, spitting sand from their tires at anyone foolish enough to still be lying on their towels in their path.

The cell phone camera swirls back over to the woman in the water. She’s sobbing and leaning over like she’s trying to unclasp herself from the man’s grasp and float away into the ocean herself. She’s still pleading her case with conviction. “You don’t understand,” she cries over and over.

“Oh my God, that bitch is so fucking crazy. She just tried to kill her kid! Did you see that?”

The video is abruptly ended, but the scene of the terrified child and the sobbing mother are burned into my mind. The moment is already replaying itself over and over in horrifying detail. Colt and I are both still frozen, staring at the screen despite the fact the video is over, apparently in the same deep, traumatized trance.

My hand instinctively hovers over my belly as fat tears roll down my cheeks. I can barely swallow, as if somebody punched me right in the throat. How can anyone harm a child? The idea rips a hole in my heart. Glancing at Colt’s set jaw and white-knuckled grip on the armrest, he appears to be equally affected by the video, not with sadness, but with rage.

“Was, I mean, is that your daughter?” I whisper the words over my strained vocal chords.

Colt finally looks up from the screen, his hazel eyes darkened by anger. He shakes his head slowly from side to side, wordlessly, but his face tells me exactly what he’s feeling.

“No. Madison isn’t my daughter. She’s my niece. Fuck Lisa!” He slams his fist on the armrest, making me jump at the unexpected outburst. “I’m sorry.” He unfurls his fingers and rubs them over my shoulder gently, reassuring me. “I didn’t mean to scare you. It’s just, well, this is a lot to take in right now.” He sweeps his hand toward the iPad, now turned off and reflecting our anguish back at us.

I nod in agreement as Madison’s frantic face flashes before my eyes again, bringing fresh tears with the memory.

“Colt, what is this all about? What’s going on?” My voice falters as I desperately search his face for answers I’m not sure he has.

Colt opens his mouth, but an announcement from the pilot interrupts him.

“Good afternoon, sir. I wanted to inform you that all systems are a go and we’re ready to take off. The air conditions are working in our favor today, so we’re expecting to arrive at William Gwinn Airport in three hours and forty minutes today since the tailwind will be pushing us along in the right direction. Nicole will be your flight attendant on this trip, so don’t hesitate to get her assistance for anything that will make this short flight a little more comfortable. I’d ask that you remain seated with your buckles fastened for take-off, and Nicole will alert you when it’s safe to walk around.”

Nicole smiles at us, well, more accurately at Colt, from the front of the small plane. With her plastered on makeup and flat-ironed hair she looks like she’s spent a lot of time perfecting the look of a stewardess, right down to the extra-toothy grin reserved for my man.

The jet engines roar as we bump and roll down the tarmac. Within seconds we’re leaning back against our seats as the nose of the little plane pokes through the clouds like an Olympic high diver cutting into a pool of water. As the plane levels out, so does Colt’s mood. The hostility he carried on his face has melted away into sadness.

Nicole stands up with an unnaturally large smile to make her way to our seat, but Colt raises his hand, signaling her to leave us alone. I get a little kick out of watching the disappointment cloud over her face and rub it in a bit when I lean into him and rest my head against his arm.

“Lisa, the woman you saw in the video, is my sister-in-law and she’s sick.” His voice wavers a little.

There’s no doubt in my mind that she isn’t well. I don’t think anyone who watches that video will think differently.

“She’s my brother’s wife. Well, she’s my brother’s widow, I guess.” He circles his thumb and forefinger around the gold watch on his wrist while he searches for his words.

“I’m so sorry you lost your brother, Colt.” I touch his arm, waiting for him to continue.

He nods at my condolence and clears his throat loudly. “Thank you.” He draws a huge breath into his lungs, and I stop leaning on his arm so I can look at him.

I’ve never seen him so emotional. Colt keeps clenching his jaw like he’s trying to keep his feelings locked inside. “Trevor died from leukemia a year and a half ago when Madison was six months. I know she doesn’t remember him, but she sure looks like him. Whenever I see her, I see him looking back at me.”

“That must be hard.” I grab his hand and give it a little squeeze.

“You’d think so, but I actually find it comforting in a lot of ways. When Trevor found out he was near the end, he asked me to watch over Madison and to do everything I could for her. Begged me is probably a more accurate description. He knew Lisa wasn’t well. I mean, she had a drinking problem before he ever got sick, but he thought she beat it when she quit for her pregnancy. He was wrong. Obviously, it goes without saying that she’s also mentally ill.”

His unexplained absences suddenly become so clear in my mind. To say he’s been keeping his promise to his brother would be an understatement.

“I promised him, on my word”—he breathes a ragged breath into his lungs—“my word as a brother, my word as a SEAL, and my word as a man, that I would do everything possible to take care of them. And clearly, I failed.” His voice breaks under the pressure of his enormous burden.

“No, you didn’t. You’re doing exactly what you said you would. None of this is your fault,” I comfort him.

“The thing is, I’ve been watching Lisa unravel ever since. Her drinking has gotten out of hand and lately she’s been talking about how she thinks she’s being possessed by the devil. It’s, well, it’s been difficult to watch. Difficult and scary.” The gentle lines across his face seem to have grown deeper. His eyelids look heavy, like he hasn’t slept in a month.

“She thinks she’s possessed?” I shudder as I envision someone so unstable in charge of a little girl.

“It’s impossible to know what she really thinks, to be honest. She’s always been dramatic, downright annoying if you ask me. I never did see what Trevor liked about her, but you can’t stand in the way of love, right? And God knows he loved her. He must have because even before he ever got sick she was what you’d call ‘high-maintenance.’ Anyway, her drinking has made everything a hundred times worse. I’ve been pushing my lawyer to take her to trial for custody, but he keeps telling me we don’t have enough on her.”

“Well, you must now.” I point to the iPad, and he nods.

“Yeah, I could see the writing on the wall a while back. I mean, I never imagined in a million years she’d get this bad, but I knew it wasn’t going to end well. That’s why I’ve been flying out all the time and paying for full-time and live-in care. When that hasn’t worked I’ve had my mother step in. It’s been a grind, but it’s kept Madison safe. Until now.”

“Hey, you couldn’t know she would do this.” My grasp on his hand tightens. “You’ve done everything you could. How could you predict she’d pull some crazy shit like that? It’s nuts.”

Colt swallows hard. “I know. It’s just… fuck, it’s so infuriating that it takes something so goddamned drastic before people take it seriously. Anyway, Lisa’s been arrested and now Madison’s in custody of a social worker. I have no idea how this is going to play out, but I’m not walking away without her again. I won’t do it.”

“You won’t have to. There’s no way they’re just going to give Madison back to her. There’s no way.”

I can’t imagine a world where anyone in their right mind would send a helpless child to live with someone so dangerous. That’s not a world I want to raise my own child in. My hand lies against my tummy and my conscience reminds me I still need to find time to tell Colt about another child.

Our child.

He stares off like he’s watching the next few hours unfold in front of his eyes and it’s wilting what is left of his strength. Colt puts his arm around me. I close my eyes, leaning my head against his shoulder, and he presses his lips against my forehead in a weightless kiss.

“What about you? How are you holding up?” he asks, searching my face for clues. “I know this is a lot to process.”

“Hey, look, don’t worry about me. Right now you just need to focus on this. I’m just happy you asked me to come along. It’s been hard to be sitting in the dark guessing.” Now I’m searching his face, but all I can find is exhaustion. “I really wish you’d told me about all of this sooner.”

“I should’ve told you sooner,” he agrees quietly, but his eyes are locked on his watch. “I just didn’t know how to get into all of this, or even how it was going to go, you know?”

I don’t want to chastise him. I know he has enough to deal with right now. More than he even knows, I look down at my belly and consider how much more complicated this whole pregnancy just became.

I was already afraid to tell Colt, but now with Lisa and Madison in the picture things are even more frightening. I was worried Colt wasn’t going to be ready for my news and that he might not want to take on a baby right now. Now, I’m wondering if I’m ready for his news and whether or not I’m ready to take on a two-year-old and a crazy sister-in-law.

I just don’t know.