ChapterOne
Friday evening
Cielo Ardiente, Mexico
Hot wind blew the dust off white painted concrete walls down the channel between dilapidated buildings, ruffling Kenna’s hair against her face.
Today would be a good day for them to escape.
She lifted the box to the lip of the tailgate. The weight tipped toward her. She gritted her teeth and shoved the box into the back of the semi that had arrived in the dawn hours. They’d been out here for hours loading boxes and crates. Long enough the sun dipped behind the mountains to paint the sky red.
Kenna shifted at the feel of someone at her back. A second later, she heard the wordmovein Spanish from behind her. She got out of the way, but not before the corner of a wooden crate clipped her shoulder. She hissed out a breath.If they couldn’t break me, you certainly won’t.
Elisa dumped her crate on the back of the truck, then managed to clip Kenna with her elbow moving back to get more boxes. The girl was barely nineteen.
Kenna ran her hands down her screaming forearms but got no relief. Sand and dirt mixed with sweat on her skin. Her mouth tasted like carpet. Her hair lay damp with sweat around her forehead. They’d given her shorts and a shirt, neither of which fit well.
Kenna passed Ana and Lola, two local girls carrying a long crate between them that looked suspiciously like it should hold a grenade or a rocket launcher. The insignia on the side had been sanded off. Military style compound. Ex-military men. If they were smugglers it was more than just black-market weapons.
Whoever it had belonged to was probably looking for their armaments. They’d have no clue it was currently being loaded onto a truck in Cielo Ardiente, an hour south of the US–Mexico border.
At least that was as far as Kenna had been able to gather as to their location in the days since she woke up in the tan building with Jax bleeding.
Don’t look over there.
The words had become her mantra.
Don’t let them know you care about him.
Don’t let them see you’re hurt.
She could have all the feelings she wanted once they were out of here. Free of this place, and these people, and the business they had going on.
Kenna grabbed another crate, avoiding Elisa. But not the girl’s scathing look. Or the muttered, “No work, no reward.”
Not exactly what the girl had said, but close enough. Kenna’s Spanish hadn’t improved since she got here. Though, she had learned a few choice words. Not helpful. Instead of trying to figure out how to explain that she had no desire to “earn” anything from these guys, she kept her mouth shut.
One of the other girls—the quietest one, Lola—spoke a little English. Enough to translate on occasion, though usually she just kept her mouth shut after refusing to answer Kenna’s questions about how they got here. Lola pretended she didn’t understand that question.
Kenna gave a second’s side glance at the end of the loading bay where the guards stood. Americans. Two of them. Her first clue that this wasn’t what she’d assumed it would be.
The guys on the gate were Mexican. Locals couldn’t be trusted to not rat you out to the cartel over the hill, so these had been hired from farther away. Lola had told her their accents indicated they were from the south.
None of the girls knew the backgrounds of the four Americans. They’d only known about three of them. Two were currently watching them, holding AR-15s, giving Kenna a military vibe. Then there was the leader—the biggest one. Kenna had seen a fourth these girls hadn’t. When they spoke to each other, they moved like a squad. Men who had served together, fought, and bled together. But who had landed down here smuggling weapons.
Barbed wire fence. Four buildings. Six vehicles, two of which were broken down. One had nearly bald tires that risked a flat too much to take the chance. She’d have to be careful which vehicle she stole. The compound had no cover, so no hiding if she was making a run for it. After she got him out from the building he was being held in, Jax might not be able to move fast.
She dumped another box in the truck.
They could maybe hide in the back of a vehicle. She couldn’t guarantee they’d stay hidden long enough for the truck to leave before the order was called to lock the whole place down.
Wait until the four military guys drank too much, and chance the hired men being easier to get by than trained US soldiers.
Former ones, or mercenaries maybe? She couldn’t figure it out.
The whole thing was a puzzle she had been relentlessly trying to solve since they had been attacked in Washington, DC, and transported in the back of a van all the way here.
Jax injured.