A message.
I unlock mine and freeze.The screen glows with a single sentence.
You’re not watching close enough.
My fingers tighten around the phone until I hear a crack.
“Teo…” I grind out.
“On it,” Teo says instantly, already hammering keys.“Whoa!Someone sent us our own surveillance footage.”
“From where?”Luc leans in.
Teo narrows his eyes.“The old warehouse.From the last trafficking bust a few weeks ago.I’d pulled our men, but left the outer cameras running.Haven’t checked the feed in weeks since nothing’s happened there…until now.”
The screen flickers.We watch in dead silence as a nondescript white van pulls into the lot.Two men exit, then pop open the rear.From inside, two others jump out, each carrying a slumped figure over their shoulder like sacks of grain.Even pixelated, the limpness of those bodies makes my vision swim.
Lily.
She was in that van.
I already have my phone to my ear, summoning all of my captains.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Lily
My mind is in thick fog, my limbs heavy as lead.The first thing I notice is the ache in my head, then the dryness in my mouth.I blink, my vision swimming in the dull, gray light.
“Lee!Oh my God!”Chiara’s voice cuts through the haze like a beacon.
“Give her water,” another voice commands, calm but firm.Cool plastic touches my lips, and warm, stale water trickles down my throat.I gulp greedily.My mouth tastes like cotton and something bitter.When I force my eyes open, Chiara’s worried face hovers above mine, surrounded by four other unfamiliar women.The lighting is awful.What little there is comes from a tiny, grimy window high up on one wall.I look around and all I can see is concrete walls and a ceiling held up by rusted metal beams, so high it blends into darkness.
“What…happened?”My voice is hoarse, almost unrecognizable.
Chiara helps me sit up and clutches me like I might disappear.“Oh my God, Lily, I thought you wouldn’t wake up.Mother… She…” Her voice breaks into a sob.I frown.Memories begin to filter back.The dizziness, the tea.Daria laughing.
“Where’s Daria?”
Chiara pulls back, tears streaking her cheeks.“She drugged your tea.When you passed out…they came.Armed, masked men.There was a struggle.Th-they shot her.She’s dead.”
The words hit me like a slap.I try to stand but my legs protest.“Where the hell are we?”I ask, scanning the room.
“We think it’s an old warehouse,” says one of the women.“Maybe this was the office once.”
“They keep us locked in here,” Chiara adds.“No one’s seen their faces.They wear ski masks all the time.”
I grope at my jeans, searching for my phone.“No one has a phone?”
They all shake their heads.
“We were stripped of everything.”
I exhale slowly, trying to focus.“Who are you?”
“I’m Laura,” says a beautiful woman with a pixie cut.
“Giulia,” offers another.
