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He watched me for a moment, his gaze moving from the mirror to the road, then back again. “I’m taking you to one of our associates.”
“What is he going to do with us?”
“Do you really want to know?”
I nodded.
“Depends on what he thinks of you. And where his people are headed in the near future. That one,” he said, his eyes moving to Brielle, “is going to make me a good amount of money. You? You’re older than we usually deal in and a hell of a lot feistier than I’d like. But some money is better than none. And it’s certainly better than you ruining our entire operation.”
The reality of what he was saying threatened to suck the air from my lungs, but I forced myself to speak. I wanted to keep him talking. “I don’t know anything about your operation. How could I ruin it?”
“Preston has his eccentricities. Most of the time, I’m willing to overlook them. But you’re a risk he never should have taken. He actually thought he could keep you at the lodge. Her, I can see. He knows how to get in their heads. A couple more months, he’d have had her drinking milk from a saucer and thanking him for it. But you? No way. I don’t care if he kept you at his cabin for years, the first chance you got, you’d have bolted. And then we’d all be screwed.”
He was right about that. I’d never have stopped trying to escape.
I wasn’t going to stop now, either. Unfortunately, Drew obviously knew it.
“Does your wife know about all this?” I asked.
He chuckled. “She doesn’t want to know. She’s happy to look the other way as long as the money doesn’t run out.”
I couldn’t decide if I felt sorry for Tess or not. Being married to this nightmare of a man? Horrible. But was she willfully ignorant, or did she actually not know? It was hard to say.
“Are we going to be kept together?” I asked.
He shrugged. “Once I have my money, you’re not my problem anymore. He can do whatever he wants with you.”
Brielle’s arms tightened around me. I squeezed her back.
Eventually, we came to a small city. The signs said Pasco. I’d heard of it, but I’d never been there. He got off the highway and made his way through town, clearly familiar with the route. A few raindrops splattered on the windshield and I vaguely wondered if a storm would work in our favor.
Or make things worse.
He turned into a large parking lot with warehouses. The complex was surrounded by a chain link fence, but the gate was open and the entire place seemed deserted. Concrete buildings were littered with graffiti and there were stacks of crates and boxes stacked haphazardly against the walls. He pulled around one of the buildings, out of sight of the road, and parked. Then he twisted in his seat to look at us.
“Anyone within earshot of us works for me. There’s no one to hear you scream. No one to help you. And if you try to get away, I’ll just kill you and be done with it. Understand?”
Brielle and I nodded.
“Good girls.”
He took his gun and got out of the car, then used his key fob to lock the doors. He glanced at us and held up his weapon, making his point clear. Then he walked toward one of the warehouse buildings and disappeared around the corner.
“He’s going to sell us,” Brielle said. “Just like Desi said. They sell the girls they don’t want to keep.”
“No one is getting sold.” I had to dig deep to sound as determined as I did, but there was no way this was happening. “We almost got away once. We’re going to get away for good.”
I tried the door, but of course it didn’t open. Child locks. But there wouldn’t be child locks on the driver’s side. I hesitated. He wouldn’t have left sight of the car if we could just open the door and get out, would he?
I started picturing snipers positioned around the rooftops of the warehouse. But that was silly, right? No one was going to pick us off if we escaped the car. Although, could opening the door from the inside set off the alarm?
It was a risk I’d have to take. Maybe Drew would come back around the corner and shoot me. But I couldn’t sit here and wait for him to sell me to some human trafficker.
I crawled between the front seats and tried the driver’s side door.
Locked.
“How is this locked?” I jerked on the handle a few times, then pressed the unlock button over and over, but it was like it had no power.
