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“Not the exact drug we use, but an illegal version of it.” She motions at the tablet in front of me. “You’ll learn more as you read about your cases.”
More than ready to see what the hell this is all about, I line my fingertip to the scanner on the tablet. After the screen illuminates, I begin reading the documents that give me a brief rundown of what the agency wants me to do.
They basically want me to get close to my father and find out if he’s responsible for some of the disappearances that happened in Fareland. If I find out he is, I’m supposed to try to figure out what he’s doing with the women he’s stolen. But that’s not what gets my heart racing with anxiety.
No, what really gets my heart rate up is the list of names of suspected people my father has stolen. Willa Lynn’s name is on the list.
I know right then and there that I’m not backing out. I’m going to do this.
I’m going to find out what happened to Willa, and if she’s alive, I’m going to save her.
Seventeen
Ensley
I knew this wasn’t going to be easy. That whatever assignment was waiting for me on that tablet was going to be hard to take in. I just never thought it’d require Carter and I to become enemies again.
“Wait. You want me to go back to working for Nicholas?” Carter asks from beside me with his arm draped across the back of my chair.
Lana slants forward in her chair and overlaps her hands on the table. “Holden has already got Gregor covered. And Ensley, if she agrees to her mission, will be helping him. But I need some agents to work with Winston. We know he’s running both sex trafficking and drug trafficking facilities too. I actually believe it’s the cause of the tension between Gregor and Winston—they both run the same types of businesses. Although, we believe Winston’s may not be located in Fareland.”
“Oh.” Carter sinks into silence, a pucker forming at his brow.
“What’s wrong?” I whisper to him.
He locks eyes with me. “If I agree to this… If I go back to working for Nicholas and you go to Gregor, we won’t be able to see much of each other until this is over. We’ll be enemies, and Gregor is going to flip out.”
“I won’t let him hurt you,” I assure him. “If he wants to see me, that’ll be the rule.”
“I know but…” He forces out an exhale. “I just finally got you and I don’t want to give you up.”
“We’ll find a way to see each other in secret,” I tell him. “In fact, we could be like Romeo and Juliet.”
“Yeah, let’s not go that far,” he says. “I want us to live through this.”
I nod. “We will.”
He grips my hand underneath the table, dropping his voice to a low whisper. “Are you sure you don’t want to back out? Take the injection, get the hell out of here, and never look back?”
“We wouldn’t make it very far if we did. I mean, look how fast Winston’s men found me.” I twine my fingers through his. “I want to do this. I want to help all those women suffering because of our fathers.”
“So do I,” he says. “But I also don’t want you to end up suffering.”
“I’ll be fine,” I promise him. “We’ll be fine.”
I hope I’m right. That we’ll be okay. That we will be able to save some lives.
And that mine and Carter’s story won’t end in tragedy.
“So, what do you all think?” Lana asks, watching us closely. Her undivided attention is making me a bit squirrely. “Are you in or out?”
El, Gaige, Carter, and I all trade a look, and then we reluctantly nod.
“In,” El says, leaning back in her chair.
“Me too,” Gaige agrees, thrumming his fingers against the table.
“Same for me.” Carter’s grasp on my hand tightens.
“I’m in too,” I agree and Carter skims his finger along the back of my hand.
The corners of Lana’s lips twitch. “Well then, let’s get started.” She taps a button on her tablet and that’s when all hell breaks loose. Agents dressed in black suits burst into the room and rush at us. Carter pushes his chair away and tries to take a swing at one of them. So does Gaige. El and I put up a fight too. But in the end, we’re way too out numbered.
“What the fuck is going on?” Carter shouts as two agents hold onto his arms, restraining him. “Who are you people really?”
“We’re who we said we are—nothing we told you has been a lie,” Lana explains. “But in order for us to trust you, we need to find out exactly what you know and why you’re really doing this. The only way to do that, is to break you down bit by bit and then rebuild you. Every agent and informant has to go through this type of intense training. If not, there’s no way we can trust you. And if we can’t trust you then who’s to say you don’t walk away from here and tell your bosses and parents where our facility is. Establishing trust is our first and number one priority.”
I remember how Holden said the agency has a way of finding out if we’re trustworthy. This must be what he was talking about.
Lana pushes her chair back and rises to her feet, her eyes landing on me. “Except for this one. Gregor’s first. You’re training will work a bit differently.”
“What does that even mean?” I seethe, trying to jerk my arms away from the agent holding me back, but to no avail.
She ambles around the table and stands in front of me. “It means you were the first child he’s ever had.” I start to relax when she adds, “Gregor used to be training you for the position Ruby Hartingford now holds, which is meant to take over his position if something happens to him. I’m not sure if you know who Ruby is, but will give you more information during your training.” She shifts her weight, hesitancy flashing across her expression. “You’re also the first child he tested drugs on—he’s done that with Ruby too. We’re not sure how much he did it to you or why, but we’re hoping you can tell us.”
“You’re lying,” I spat. “If this was true, I’d remember…” I trail off, recalling what that man said to me before Carter knocked him out.
“You don’t remember?” Lana drums her finger against her lips. “I kind of expected that. You were eight when Gregor suddenly stopped your training, which is old enough that you should remember some things. However, with the right drug, he could’ve easily wiped your memory. Or maybe one of the side effects of the drugs that were tested on you could have caused your memory loss. We’ll figure it out. And there are ways of bringing back your memories. If we do, we might be able to speed up the investigation, especially if you can remember the locations of Gregor’s testing warehouses.”
“I don’t remember anything,” I insist. “What I do remember is being raised by my mother.” Don’t I?
I try to recall a memory of when I was younger, but can’t remember anything much farther back then when I met El.
Why have I never noticed this before?
No! This can’t be true! My mom would never let Gregor do any of this to me.
Unless she’s not your real mother. My heart slams against my chest at the sudden thought.
“Leave her the fuck alone,” Carter growls, trying to catch my gaze.
But I can’t look him in the eye. What if it’s true? What if… I’m the girl from the flyer tucked away in my pocket. But how can that be true? Lana said Gregor was my father… Wait…What she said is that I was Gregor’s first child. But what if I’m like Ruby and not really his child. Then how does my mom play into this…
I shake my head. I’m overthinking this. Something else is going on and I need to figure out what.
“We’re not going to hurt you,” Lana assures me. “We’ve been preparing for this for a while.”
It makes me wonder how long they’ve been waiting for Holden to bring us in.
It makes me wonder if Holden was lying about everything.
It makes me question everything.
Carter, El, and Gaige put up a fight as the agents drag us toward the door. Me, I follow, t
o numb to react.
After we’re dragged out of the room, they haul us off in different directions. The agent holding onto my arms steers me into a tiny room with a tile floor and a medical type bed. He instructs me to sit down and then grabs a syringe.
“I’m not going to hurt you.” He rolls up the sleeves of his shirt. “This is just going to help you relax so we can attempt to get started on resurfacing your memories.”
My mind is racing a million miles a minute. What is happening? Who am I?
A faint memory flickers in the back of my mind of me sitting on a bed. A man is leaning over me with a needle in his hand. I’m small and terrified and shaking. A boy around my age sit besides me, equally as scared, his extremely dark eyes flooding with tears—
I jerk back to reality as the needle pierces my skin. My eyelids lower as I sink into darkness, wondering what I’ll remember when I wake up.
About the Author
Jessica Sorensen is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author who lives in the snowy mountains of Wyoming. When she’s not writing, she spends her time reading and hanging out with her family.
