After Logan leaves, the bald man comes back into the room and throws another change of clothes at me. This time, it’s a pair of sweats that are comfortable but too big. Once I’m dressed, he puts a hood over my head.

My world plunges into blackness.

I’m led from the room, stumbling in the darkness. I walk for what feels like a long time until I’m put into a van. I can hear other girls nearby, feel them bumping against me, but we don’t talk to each other. We’re all too afraid.

Lacey is dead. I can hardly believe it. I knew something bad happened to her . . . but this? I sob in the back of that van, trying to be quiet, but unable to stop myself. I don’t understand why she’s dead and I’m still alive. I don’t deserve it.

She was so good. She was alive and vibrant and exciting. The only reason we were out that night was because I needed it. We both knew it. She took me out because I desperately needed some time to have fun

And now she’s dead because of it. She’s dead because of me. I feel a deep hole in my heart and it’s filled with sand, sadness, dread.

The van drives for a while and eventually stops. We’re unloaded from the van and our hoods are removed. I’m numb to everything. I can’t feel right now. I can’t think. Otherwise I’ll break down again.

I blink at my surroundings. We’re standing on the tarmac of an airport, or at least that looks like it used to be an airport. Maybe just a small regional one. Either way, it’s empty except for a single plane. Men with guns stand around and I’m in a pack of maybe fifteen other girls. I recognize some from earlier, but most of them are strangers.

The men with guns shepherd us onto the plane. We’re shoved into the back cargo area and made to lie down. We have no seatbelts or cushions and the hard steel is rough against my body.

The plane takes off. It’s the most horrible ride of my life.

Things only get worse when we land.

It’s still night when we’re unloaded. The men all have guns, but it’s hot as hell and it looks like we landed somewhere in a desert. We’re herded into a few trucks and I realize that everyone is speaking Spanish.

Another long car ride. I watch the countryside flash by outside, and I know we must be in Mexico somewhere based on the language and the buildings. After an hour of driving, I can see the ocean, and we pull into a large, walled compound.

After that, we’re led individually into the building. I try to look around, but they move us too quickly. A man with a gun shoves me into a room, shuts the door, and locks it.

I collapse onto the bed of my new cell and try not to let myself break down into tears.

I’m a long way from home now. I’m even further away from my father and from rescue. If I thought I had a chance in America, I really can’t imagine that I have one now. Nobody is coming for me.

And yet, I suddenly start thinking about Logan. He didn’t seem like every other man I’ve met so far. In fact, he seemed like he wanted to reassure me, to make me know that I’d survive this. He was even gentle and kind to me, although he did tell me that I was going to be his.

My feelings are strangely conflicted when it comes to him. We only spoke briefly, but he was handsome, so damn handsome, better looking than any man I’d ever been around before. And he seemed like he actually cared about whether I lived or I died.

I don’t know how long I lie there, but eventually I close my eyes and drift off to sleep. Time passes without any dreams, and suddenly I wake up, taking a deep, gasping breath. Disoriented, I look around the room.

And spot Logan standing in the corner, watching me.

I stare at him, not moving, not blinking. He watches me back and doesn’t say a word. Finally, he crouches down beside the bed.

“How was the trip?” he asks.

“Not good,” I say, trying not to think about it. I don’t want to remember being treated like luggage.

“It’s over now,” he says. “You’re in your new home. Welcome to Mexico.”

I watch him for a moment. “Why are we here?” I ask.

“A lot of reasons,” he says. “But mainly because it’s cheaper and easier to keep you here than it is to keep you in America. This place is practically a fortress.”

I stare into his handsome face and have the strange sudden impulse to reach out and touch him. “I didn’t think you’d be here,” I blurt out instead.

He smiles at me. “You’re mine now. Wherever you go, I go.”

“And you don’t want to hurt me,” I say softly. “Why not let me go?”

“I can’t do that.”

I sit up and look around the room quickly. There’s a toilet in the corner and I’m on a bunk with a thin mattress. Other than that, it’s just like the cell I had just left, though slightly bigger. My gaze returns to Logan and he’s watching me curiously.

“What’s going to happen to me?” I ask him.

“I’m going to train you,” he says.

“Train me how?”

“I’m going to make you obedient.”

“What am I going to have to do?” I ask, terrified of the answer but knowing it already.

“You’re going to learn to give up your body on command,” he says softly. “You’re going to let me tease that tight pussy of yours until you scream. You’re going to suck my cock until you gag and then you’ll beg me to come down your throat.”

He pauses and I can feel a thrill run through me as I picture each act. I can practically feel his thick cock between my lips and it makes my pussy clench with excitement. I’m dripping wet although it’s crazy, fucked up, wrong. Maybe I’m sick or something worse, but I want all of these things.

“I’m going to train you to be the perfect little fuck doll for me, Riley,” he says, and a shiver runs down my spine.

I want it. It’s so wrong, so dirty and deliciously wrong, but I want it. I need to feel something that isn’t just boredom and pain. I’ve been locked in a cage for so long now, and Logan is the first man to really seem like he cares about me. He said he won’t do anything without my consent, and I don’t know why I believe him, but I do. Maybe he doesn’t really care about me but at least he’s not actively hurting me, and that’s a step up from the other men in my life up to this point.

But I won’t just be some guy’s toy. He’s a total stranger and I’m not just going to give myself to him. I want to survive this, but at what cost? I don’t want to survive this as a used up, broken husk of what I used to be. I can’t do it, I won’t do it.

I’ve let men push me around my whole life. I let my father abuse me all he wanted, that bastard, and I won’t let this guy get away with it.

“No,” I say, surprising myself.

He raises an eyebrow. “You have no other choice.”

“No,” I say again. “I won’t.”

“You will.” He leans forward. “Or you’ll be hurt far worse than anything I’ll do to you. They’ll tear you to pieces, Riley, and pass you around like a fucking toy.”

I bite back tears, but not fast enough. I look away, not wanting to be weak in front of him.

“You can cry, but that doesn’t change anything. You’re mine. Play along and you might survive this.”

I glare at him. “Fuck you.”

He smiles. “Soon enough.” He stands up and leaves the cell. I hear the door lock behind him.

I collapse back onto my bed, feeling like a child as the tears stream down my face. I want to be strong, I want to survive, but I’m torn in half. I don’t know if I can trust Logan. I don’t know if he has my best interests at heart, or if he just wants to use and abuse me.

There’s no way of knowing. Part of me is attracted to him, and there’s no denying that. But I can’t just throw myself at him. I can’t just let him train me.

I have to be strong and I have to be smart. There’s a way out of this, I just have to be patient. It’ll come to me.

I get myself under control and burrow under the single scratchy blanket, dreaming of what I’ll do next.