level of cruelty Marcus would unleash, or the horrifying phone call that would be waiting for me when I landed in London.

Part 2

The second my plane landed at Heathrow Airport in London, my phone began buzzing with terrifying urgency.

I ignored the corporate welcome team and went straight to my voicemail.

A cold, official voice from the Atlanta Police Department’s Child Exploitation Unit came through the speaker: my nieces and nephew were now in emergency protective custody.

Marcus had truly gone through with it.

At 4:00 PM on Thursday, while a brutal summer thunderstorm tore through Atlanta with blinding rain and dangerous lightning, he and Becky loaded nine-year-old Leo, seven-year-old Maya, and five-year-old Ruby into an Uber.

They shoved a twenty-dollar bill into the driver’s hand and rushed away toward the airport to catch their luxury flight to California, completely ignoring the storm.

The children were left