You're a US police officer, what are you thinking about going back to the East for?

Just as Danfoss was still arguing with Leon about the rules of shooting, the urgent sirens of ambulances sounded outside the motel, and two ambulances with flashing red and white emergency lights finally drove into the motel's courtyard.

Several paramedics pushed a stretcher, stepping over the broken glass on the floor, and rushed into room 104. They quickly lifted the pale-faced Carlos onto the stretcher.

Lyon walked to the stretcher and looked down at his usually most unreliable subordinate.

"Hang in there, Carlos."

He reached out and patted Carlos on the shoulder twice, his tone indifferent:

"Go to the hospital and get your leg treated properly. Once I'm done with things here, I'll come to your ward in person. There are some things I really need to talk to you about."

"Now, shut up and save your energy for dealing with the ER doctor."

Carlos was sweating profusely from the pain. Hearing Leon's words, his eyes flickered, and he nodded with difficulty before being quickly pushed by the paramedics to the ambulance outside.

Just as the ambulance drove away, a police patrol car stopped outside the cordon.

The car door opened, and a young white woman with disheveled hair and a haggard face stumbled out.

She was wearing a cheap waitress uniform, stained with dirt, and a trench coat casually over it. Her golden hair was messy, and the wrinkles around her eyes and deep eye bags made her look unusually haggard and old, like she was over forty years old. She rushed in like a madwoman.

That was the single mother of the abducted girl.

"Amy! My Amy!"

The little girl, who had been trembling in the policewoman's arms, burst into tears upon hearing the sound and struggled to run into the woman's embrace.

Upon seeing her daughter safe and sound, the woman immediately knelt down and hugged the child tightly in her arms, the two of them bursting into tears.

Lyon and Danvers exchanged a glance, and only stepped forward after the mother and daughter had calmed down a bit.

"Madam, this is Sergeant Danfoss. The child is safe, and the bad guys have been killed."

Danfoss pulled out a small notebook, trying to soften his tone as much as possible:

"However, in order to complete the case report, we need to understand the specific circumstances at the time. How did you get separated from your child?"

The woman wiped away her tears with trembling hands, her voice filled with self-blame and regret.

"It's my fault...it's all my fault."

"I just got off work and took her to the discount supermarket on Fifth Avenue to buy a week's worth of food."

"When I came out, I was carrying heavy plastic bags in both hands, so I couldn't hold her hand. I just turned around to take out my keys and open the trunk of my car..."

"Just one second! Really, only one second!"

The woman covered her face and burst into tears: "A gray bread truck suddenly stopped behind me, the door opened, and someone grabbed her and dragged her inside. By the time I dropped my bag and chased after it, the truck was already gone..."

"I couldn't catch up... I called the police, I thought I'd never see her again..."

Lyon listened to the woman's sobs, his brow furrowing slightly.

"Miss."

Lyon couldn't help but interrupt her, his tone tinged with confusion:

"It's already dark outside, and you're going on a big grocery shopping trip after get off work. Why are you taking such a young child with you? Why not leave her at home?"

"Wouldn't it be safer for you to lock the door and go out to buy things yourself?"

The woman paused for a moment when she heard the question.

Then, she looked up at Lyon and gave a bitter laugh.

"Stay at home? Officer, you probably don't have children yet, do you?"

"I'm a single mother, and I'm barely able to pay my rent. I can't afford a nanny who takes care of my child for $20 an hour."

"As for locking her up alone at home..."

The woman shook her head, her eyes filled with fear.

"Some apartment building managers may be kind-hearted and turn a blind eye to this kind of thing."

"But the building manager I live in, that damn old woman, is extremely mean."

"As soon as she hears my daughter crying alone in her room, or finds me leaving a minor child alone at home..."

Under U.S. law, leaving young children unattended at home is a serious offense of "neglect of child care" or even "endangering a child."

Once reported by neighbors or community members, the Child Protective Services (CPS) will come to your door like sharks smelling blood.

They don't care if you're from a single-parent family or if you're forced to work three jobs to support your family.

They will simply bring bailiffs, forcibly strip you of your custody rights, take your child away, and stuff them into a foster care system that is equally full of problems and violence.

"She will definitely call the police, call the Child Protective Services (CPS)."

"In less than half an hour, social workers will arrive with the police and forcibly break down the door. They will accuse me of 'neglecting and endangering the safety of children.'"

The woman's tears flowed again:

"They would forcibly take Amy away and put her in foster homes set up to earn government subsidies, or even worse."