*During bath time, my 6-year-old daughter suddenly burst into tears. “Mommy… it really hurts when I pee. Please don’t touch me there.

The Edmonds Marina was pitch black beneath a driving rainstorm. Wind whipped off Puget Sound, sending frigid whitecaps crashing against the concrete piers. Metal halyards clanged rhythmically against aluminum sailboat masts like a chorus of warning bells.

I sat in the driver’s seat of an unmarked police sedan, gripping the steering wheel until my knuckles were bloodless. On the passenger seat sat Lily’s pink canvas bag.

Beneath my winter jacket, a hidden microphone was taped securely to my sternum.

“You’re doing great, Sarah,” Detective Hayes’s voice whispered through a tiny, flesh-colored earpiece in my right ear. “We have four tactical officers concealed behind the boat lockers at Pier B. Snipers are stationed on the roof of the harbor master’s office. Do not step out of the vehicle until he approaches. Let him come to you.”

At 11:30 PM, the headlights of a dark pickup truck pierced the gloom. The Ford F-150 rolled slowly into the deserted parking lot, its engine rumbling like a predator. It pulled up alongside my driver’s side door and cut its lights.

Daniel stepped out.

He looked unrecognizable. His hair was disheveled, his eyes bloodshot and wild, his expensive jacket soaked through with rain. He marched toward my car and violently yanked my door open.

“Give me the bag,” he hissed, rain dripping from his chin.

I held the bag against my chest, staring into the face of the man I had loved for nearly a decade. “How could you do this, Daniel? She is your daughter. She was crying in pain, and you threatened her.”

“She’s a child! She doesn't understand the stakes!” Daniel reached in, grabbing the canvas strap. “I was going to fix it! I was going to buy an island in Costa Rica! We could have had everything!”

“You poisoned children, Daniel! You poisoned our baby!”

“They were just products!” he yelled into the wind, completely losing his grip on sanity. “Nobody was supposed to get hurt! Lily got into the supplies when she wasn't supposed to! It was an accident, Sarah! But I am not going to prison for twenty years because of an accident!”

He jerked the bag out of my hands and unzipped the front pocket, pulling out a small brass safety deposit key. A grotesque smile spread across his face. “Now stay here. If you move before I reach my boat, I will destroy your life.”

“Daniel Carter!” a booming voice shattered the storm through a megaphone.

Blinding spotlight beams exploded from the darkness, illuminating Daniel in a stark white halo.