to Dawn. Dawn will pass it to Anna, and Anna will pass it to Freya. On down the line, we’ll share until the last drop is gone.
Then we’ll wait for the door to open again.
We don’t have the strength to fight. Not that I’ll waste my energy on these men. I’m saving mine for the real monsters to come.
Not sure if my eyes are open or closed, fetid darkness folds around me. My thoughts wander, like they do every hour of every day, to the last moment I was happy.
I don’t focus on the men who snatched me off the street.
Instead, my thoughts go to the brilliant-blue skies and white sand beaches of Cancun. Crystal-clear, tropical waters sparkle beneath a bright sun. The festive spring break party atmosphere lets a smart girl lower her guard.
I lost my freedom in the span of a heartbeat, on my very first night in paradise.
I thought I could walk from the beach to our hotel by myself. I gave no thought to the vulnerability of a pretty, young girl walking alone. I didn’t think I was alone. People were all around me, partying, with far too much liquor flowing in their veins.
I felt safe.
But I was separated from the crowd. They yanked me into a filthy van. Took me to a filthy house on a filthy street. There I was stripped, examined, and left to huddle on a filthy floor with a filthy flea-infested blanket. Then they shoved me inside a filthy shipping container twenty feet long with ten other girls.
Has it really been ten days? The braids in my hair don’t lie.
What are my friends doing now? Did they call the police? Do Mexican police care about American girls who disappear? Or do they think I got drunk and passed out in some foreign bed with some nameless boy?
I’ll never know. Austin must be going ballistic, worrying about me. My overly protective brother will not stop until I’m found. And my father? He’ll do whatever it takes to bring me home. I cling to hope, even knowing how desperate that makes me.
“How do you feel?” Bree keeps her breathy voice soft. We aren’t allowed to speak to one another. That freedom, among many things, was violently taken from us.
“Good so fa…” I struggle to complete my thought as darkness overtakes me. My eyes droop. My muscles relax.
“It’s drugged.” Bree’s voice sounds far away and defeated.
Hands reach for me and drag me over a rough metal floor as I dream of a happy, vibrant girl who doesn’t believe in nightmares.
Two
Axel
“Alpha-one to Alpha-three.” Max’s voice crackles through the radio. “Axel, you gotta see this.” His tone makes my skin crawl.
“Copy that.” I hold my position, weapon leveled on four men lying face down on a dirty floor. Zip Ties bind their wrists at the small of their backs and join their ankles together.
Legs bent. Backs painfully arched. Shoulders straining. They’re furious with my handiwork. Took less than thirty seconds to truss them up, but I’ve been hog-tying cattle all my life. For the record, humans are much easier to subdue than calves.
“You got this?” My attention shifts to my buddy, and teammate, Griff.
“Go ahead. I got this.” He spits into the eye of one of our prisoners. Bastard curses in Spanish. “Sorry, bud, a little spit in your eye is the least of your worries.” Griff gives the prisoner a love tap to the kidneys with the tip of his steel-toed boot.
Our angry friend’s thick muscles bunch. Fury darkens his face. He, and his buddies, aren’t going anywhere, and I think they’re finally figuring that out.
I don’t move until Griff gives the okay.
We’re a six-man team. Knox and Liam stand outside, guarding our retreat. Griff’s with me. Max and Wolfe moved through, looking for the target.
“Alpha-three to Alpha-one, headed to you.” My radio squawks as I relay my intention to move my position and join up with our team leader, Max.
“Copy that.” Max sounds frustrated; his irritation vibrates in his clipped reply.
We’ve been on assignment a week while our target suffered at the hands of these men.
Our target? I grind my molars until my teeth throb and the muscles of my jaw ache.
Our target is my best friend’s little sister, an annoying little scrap of a girl who made my life miserable with her hopeless crush. Only, she’s not a girl anymore. A sophomore in college, she’s more woman than girl. Which is a big problem. Last year, I had to do something about her