Sweat dripped off my brow.

I pumped my arms harder as I lengthened my stride.

My heart felt like it was about to explode inside my chest.

Mike continued barking off words of encouragement that went in one ear and out the other.

I couldn’t stop. Didn’t want to quit. Pain and suffering were my escape. They stopped only when I was fighting my way through the dark clouds lining my vision.

“Kendra!” Alex slammed her hand down on my treadmill controls.

The belt slowed to a stop and, with it, my workout. Bending over, I took the next minute to catch my breath. Lightheaded and exhausted, I needed more.

“Hey, what’s gotten into you?” Alex stood over me with her hands rooted into her sides.

Closing my eyes, I shook my head. “Nothing.”

“Good work, ladies.” Mike clapped as he strode across the gym, making his way back over to us. “Excellent job today.”

I let Alex handle Mike as I wasn’t in the mood to talk. She made promises to be back again the day after tomorrow as I dabbed my forehead with a dry towel. Turning back around, Mike fixed his gaze on me. “Good job today, Kendra. I’ll see you in two days.” He held up two fingers as he backpedaled away.

“Kendra, baby, what’s going on with you?” Alex caught up to me as I was already heading for the locker room.

“Nothing,” I muttered through a frustrated breath. “Just pushing myself, doing what Mike was telling us to.”

Alex’s eyes watered with deeper concern.

Kelly had been the first to suggest I take better care of my body. Now there was more to it than just that. I took the opportunity to push myself beyond its limits, act as if I could run away from the persistent problems that chased me down on a daily basis.

“I swear,” I said, rubbing my sore ass.

Pushing through the locker room door, humidity from the showers hit our faces like a wall of thick air. “Have you called the psychotherapist I gave you?”

Rounding the corner, I stepped in front of my locker and yanked it open.

“You haven’t, have you?” Alex rolled her eyes with disbelief.

Stripping off my shirt, I pulled my shorts down to my ankles. “I found a better alternative at Kelly’s office.”

Alex turned and dropped her bottom on the bench. Hanging a towel around her neck, she said, “I can see it with the way you’re walking today.”

“See what?” One side of my face scrunched.

“That Kelly spent all night fucking you. Trust me, girlfriend, I’ve been there,” she pointed at my tight ass, “and have looked like that.”

Nothing could take my mind off of what I felt was coming for me. My troubles were only escalating. No matter how hard I tried to suppress my fears, they only grew larger by the hour. “So, you don’t want to know my alternative?” I couldn’t wait to see her face when she learned what I had. “Because it’s not sex.”

Angling her head, she flicked her annoyed eyes up to me. “Fine. What is it?”

Leaning close to her ear with a smile filling my face, I said, “I stole Kelly’s handgun.”

Her brows pinched as she gasped. “Why would you do that?”

“People listen when they have a gun pointed at their face.”

Dropping her head into her hands, Alex grumbled, “This isn’t right, Kendra.”

Alex might have been right about that, but things weren’t what they once had been. Kelly was beyond stressed and completely over his head. There was too much on his plate for him to stop and truly care about what was at stake. We weren’t even close to finding Sylvia, and the paranoia that was keeping me from eating a decent meal had me thinking that it was because of Nora. Kelly loved her more than he would ever love me.

“You should really just call my friend.” Her brow furrowed when she looked up at me. “She can help.”

“I’m not going to a psychotherapist.”

Reaching around behind her, Alex pulled her water bottle from her bag and squirted a thick stream into her mouth. Handing the bottle to me, she asked, “Then, things are fine? You’re not experiencing any triggers?”

My eyes rounded as I stared back, knowing she was one of the few people I could never lie to.

“My point exactly.” She stripped down to her underwear.

I caught her by the wrist before she left for the showers. “I’m not okay,” I admitted.

“Fucking, Kelly.” She jerked her head. “I’m going to kill that bastard.”

“It wasn’t him.” My voice was a whisper.

Alex held my gaze, then wrapped me up inside her loving embrace. We held each other for what felt like forever before I finally sat her back down and told her everything that happened to me at the party last night. “This Rob Jones guy has photos of me and Kelly entering and leaving Echo.”

“Rob Jones?” she asked.

“Some reporter,” I said.

“Isn’t that where—”

I nodded. I didn’t want to hear Maria or Tonya’s names.

“Has Kelly taken you to Echo before?”

“Just that once.”

“Fuck, Kendra. Why would Kelly take you to the place where these women are getting killed?”

I reminded her that Maria had died before I ever met Kelly, but I still didn’t have a good answer for her.

“You don’t think Kelly has something to do with this, do you?”

“I think he has everything to do with these cases.”

“You know what I mean.” Her thoughts churned. “And why does this reporter want you to know he’s seen you there? It’s a public place isn’t it? I’m sure many faces are regularly seen entering and leaving the club.”

“But not everyone is linked to these people the way we are,” I said warily. “Maybe he wants to remind me that Echo is where I’ll meet my end.”

Alex snapped her head to me with knitted brows. “Don’t say that.”

Staring at my feet I shrugged, knowing that it was truer than I wanted to believe. Madam knew I was expendable. Knew that if I didn’t agree to do her errands she would make sure that I paid for my disloyalty one way or another.

I shuffled my feet and let my shoulders fall back into the cool metal locker behind me.

Thinking about my need to deliver this flash drive today, it was my chance to regain Madam’s trust. I didn’t want to do it but it was my last hope at ensuring my safety without having to count on Kelly, who only seemed to be half there.

“Is Madam still making you deliver those packages?”

Sucking back a breath of air, I said, “Not since I mistakenly handed the last one over to Sylvia Neil.”

Alex barely responded, just sat there feeling sorry for me.

“I need a favor.”

She lifted her head. “Anything.”

“Kelly told me Madam is trafficking drugs. Find the evidence. And if there’s anything else I should know about.” My tongue wet my dry lips. “It’s not in any of the files I stole. I haven’t seen evidence at her office.”

Nodding, Alex agreed to help. “But this isn’t my expertise. I’m not sure that I’ll be able to find what you’re looking for.”

My eyes swelled and began to water.

“What is it?”

“I’m thinking of leaving Kelly.” My voice cracked under the weight of my words.

Alex’s hand found its way to mine.

“At least for now.”

Swallowing hard, Alex didn’t argue. “Call my friend. Talk this out with her. Then see what your heart tells you.”

Nodding, my phone alerted me to the time.

Panic rose in my chest. “Shit. I’m late.”

“Late for what?” Alex stood, watching me frantically toss my dirty clothes into my gym bag.

Wiping the sweat off my body, I didn’t have time to shower. A quick swipe of deodorant under my pits, a shirt over my head and pants on, and I was slinging my bag over my shoulder.

“Kendra, late for what?”

I paused to stare into Alex’s round eyes. “Madam has me—”

“—I thought you said you weren’t doing more deliveries?” Her mouth pinched.

With fear keeping my core cold, I wasn’t ignorant to the fact that this might be a setup to get me killed. “This is different.” I knew Alex didn’t believe me. I could hear the uncertainty in my words as they passed over my lips. “Just look into that thing for me. I’ll call you later.”