Page 137 of Veil of Lies

Panic consumed me.

They were all aware of how jittery I got when emotions came up. Harley frequently joked I was a flight risk thanks to my rampant commitment phobia.

Once they figured out I was missing, they might assume I’d disappeared because I needed space. If that happened, nobody would even know I was missing.

It was completely irrational, but the more my brain churned, the more the fear took hold. If the boys assumed I was taking a time out, nobody would look for me. And by the time they did, I might already be dead, or on a plane to some god-forsaken country without an extradition treaty.

The sound of a key in the lock knocked me out of my head. My heart rate shot through the roof as adrenaline flooded my system. Was I about to be dragged into another room and tortured?

Every stupid TV show I’d ever watched flooded my brain with unwelcome images of prisoners being abused by faceless assailants. So not helpful. Breathe. You got this.

I sucked in a shaky breath and forced a blank expression onto my face as a woman walked in. She was backlit by harsh fluorescent lights, so it was hard to make out her features, but she didn’t seem at all intimidating. In her hand was a plastic bowl and another bottle of water.

“For you.” Her accent was thick and her skin tawny brown. My language skills sucked but at a guess, she was from a Spanish-speaking country. Was I in South America? No way. I refused to believe I’d been moved across the border. That was fucking insane!

She placed the bowl close enough that I could reach it, all the while staring at the dirty concrete floor.

“Where am I?” I croaked. My throat felt scratchy and painful.

The woman looked over her shoulder and shook her head in warning, pressing a finger to her lips. “Shh.”

“Please,” I whispered, but she left and locked the door behind her.

I sank back against the wall, defeated. The only positive was that my captor was at least making an effort to feed me. In addition, I’d spotted a bucket adjacent to the bed when the woman opened the door, which meant I could relieve my bladder. Silver linings and all that.

All I could do now was eat whatever was in the bowl, drink my water, and wait.

???

With nothing to do but stare into the abyss, time dragged. Not knowing whether it was night or day soon started to fuck with my head.

Once I had eaten the questionable food and relieved my bladder, I fell into an uneasy sleep. The mattress was probably filthy, but the residual effects of whatever drug my captor had used on me remained.

Sleep was my escape, but the minute I woke up again, the perilous nature of my current predicament came flooding back to me. I lay there in the dark, trying to keep the panic at bay.

Panicking wouldn’t help me. I need to stay focused and alert. Sooner or later, Mateo would want to talk to me, and if I was lucky, he’d let me go.

The hours ticked by. I napped. Used the bucket and tried not to cringe at the lack of basic hygiene. Eventually, the door opened again and I shot up, adrenaline flooding my veins. The silhouette of a woman reappeared.

From the way she shuffled in not making a sound, I knew it was the same one as before. The light from the corridor behind her illuminated her brown skin and simple cotton dress. Her black hair hung down her back in a thick braid. I couldn’t see her face very well, but she appeared to be young, maybe a couple of years older than me.

“Please can you help me,” I whispered, in case there was a guard nearby. “I need to get out of here.”

She placed a paper plate with a sandwich and another bottle of water within reach and then stepped back.

“No puedo ayudarte.” Her voice was so low I could barely hear her.

It sounded like Spanish, but I’d sucked at Spanish, so I had no idea what she was saying.

“María, lárgate de ahí!” Maria jumped when a man yelled from outside the room.

“Que Dios te ayude,” she muttered before hurrying away and closing the door. I heard a lock engaging and sank back against the wall. It looked like help wasn’t coming. At least not from Maria. She seemed terrified of her own shadow.

???

A key turned in the door. I looked up, expecting to see Maria, but this time it was a guy.

“Get up.”

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