I don’t think I’ve ever driven this fast in my fucking life. I drove down the streets of Fallujah with the fucking Taliban trying to kill me once, but this time I’m driving even goddamn faster.

The Mexican desert whips past my windows. I’m pushing eighty in a place where I should be doing twenty, and it’s dangerous as fuck, but I have to risk it. I need to get back in time to help Riley.

As I drive, my computer begins beeping. I grunt and force myself to slow down enough so that I can safely check it for new messages. I keep driving, but I glance down at the screen as more information scrolls in.

They want me to meet up with a local unit on the south side of the compound. Apparently, they think I’ll be a good asset to help coordinate the strike, which of course I would, since I’m the only person with an intimate knowledge of the inside.

That’s a solid plan from command. I can’t deny the logic. I shouldn’t be on the front lines but back with the generals, helping to coordinate the attack. If I were to get killed, we’d lose a ton of valuable information that only I have at this moment. I’m too useful for them to risk.

And normally I’d obey. Especially an order that results in my genuinely helping them succeed. I want to see these bastards fucking burn, and I’ll do whatever I can to make sure it happens.

But I can’t do this. I know that if I disobey this order, they’ll fire me and make sure I never work again in security. It’s the only thing I know how to do and I can’t imagine doing anything but this. I live for the fight and for winning against the bastards I’m assigned to destroy.

But I can’t leave Riley alone. I know the guys in my squads are all good men, but I can’t risk Riley getting hurt. Anton might have taken her already and he might hurt her just out of spite, and I can’t allow that. I can relay this information to a squad, but they don’t have the same desire that I do.

I’ll fight harder than I can imagine for her, and I have to do it. I can’t sit back in some general’s tent and direct other men to fight and maybe die on my behalf. I started this and I have to finish it.

I shut the laptop and toss it aside, hitting the gas again. They’ll be angry, very angry, but that’s okay. They’ll have to survive without me. I know they will. I’ll send them a message when I get to the compound, but not before. I don’t want to risk them intercepting me before I can get back inside. I know they’re likely tracking me at this very moment.

They can track me all they want. That doesn’t mean I’m going to roll over and do what they want me to do. I’ve been pushing for this move now for a week and they kept putting me off. They can go to hell.

I have my own priorities now.

The truck flies through the small town just outside of the compound. I slow down as I approach the walls, heart beating fast.

I could get out and sneak back in through the gap in the wall, but this is the fastest route. I’m fairly sure that Anton hasn’t spread the word about my death just yet, and so the guards at the gate probably won’t think twice about letting me back inside. It’s a small risk, but it’s one I have to take.

I pull up to the gate and honk. The front pulls open and Miguel steps out.

He cocks his head at me, a little surprised, and walks up to the window.

“Everything good?” he asks. “Where are the others?”

“Shit went bad,” I say. I can’t really pretend otherwise considering the bullet holes and the blood. “Gotta talk to Anton.”

Miguel narrows his eyes. He’s clearly skeptical, but I need to push forward.

“Now, you fucking asshole,” I yell at him. “This can’t wait.”

He nods and lets me through. I let out a sigh of relief as I pull around the corner and park the truck in line with the others.

I slip back into the main building, skirting around and going through the back entrance. There are guys around, but most don’t give me a second glance. I guess it’s not uncommon to see a bloody and angry looking gringo walking around this place, which says a lot about them.

I hurry through the halls, not stopping for anything, until I’m outside of Riley’s cell. Heart beating fast, I use my keys to open the door.

And I stare in at an empty room.

“Shit,” I whisper to myself.

They took her already. I slowly close the door and stumble back until I hit the wall behind me.

I don’t know where Riley is. I wrack my brain, trying to guess where they put her, but it could be anywhere. There are hundreds of cells in this fucking shithole, and she could be in any one of them.

But no, I have to think. I know the ones that are filled already. And I know Anton. He wouldn’t put her in just any cell. He’s going to want to take his anger out on her and make sure that she’s broken for the upcoming shipment.

That means he’s going to take a personal involvement with her. I might be wrong, but it’s a starting point at least. I head over toward Anton’s private area, near that large room he’s always hiding in.

Just then, I hear some shouting. I begin to walk faster, not sure what’s happening. It could be the operation going down or maybe it’s just the normal bullshit going on, but I can’t be sure.

As I turn the corner, two guards with their guns drawn come rushing toward me. They start shouting in Spanish, too fast for me to understand.

They might just be asking me for directions or greeting me, but I doubt it. Based on their expressions, they’re supremely unhappy with something I’ve done.

No time to waste. As the first guard comes near me and goes to lift his gun, I step in toward him lightning-fast and shove my elbow into his throat. I grab his gun and control it, bringing it toward the other guard just as it starts firing. The second guard is lit up with bullets and drops to the ground. I twist the gun and rip it from the first guard’s hands then bring it up and finish him off.

The guards slump to the ground, dead in seconds, and now I have no time to waste. I move forward, gun at the ready.

Just then, I hear more shouting and the unmistakable sound of automatic rifle fire. It’s coming from the direction of the front gate, which means that the operation is definitely going down.

They must have tracked me coming back into the compound and decided to move their timetable up. That worries me. It might mean they think I’m a traitor, which suggests that they’ll come after me as well as everyone else in here. I can’t be sure of that, and so I’ll have to be extra careful when they finally breach the inner compound. I don’t want to get caught up in some friendly fire situation.

I move through the hallways and fortunately don’t come up against any more guards. I’m guessing they’re mostly outside holding back the breach that’s happening at the wall.

I move through the halls slowly, trying not to get caught off balance. Finally, I move down the hallway where Anton’s quarters are located.

I don’t know which rooms are cells, and so I just start trying knobs. The first room is a janitorial closet. The next one is a bathroom. The next one looks like some kind of observational room, which is strange.

I pause and move further into that room. There’s a single chair sitting in front of what looks like a two-way mirror. The mirror isn’t large, though. It’s the shape of a normal window mirror, like something you’d see in a bathroom. I can’t see what’s on the other side until I walk right up to it.

Riley is sitting on her bed, looking afraid. I can see bruising on her face, but otherwise she looks okay. My heart leaps in my chest from joy, but it’s quickly replaced with anger.

The bastards hit her. They fucking hit her. Pretty hard, too, based on the crusted-over blood and bruising that’s already forming. Her knees are pulled up to her chest and I can only imagine what’s going through her mind right now.

More gunfire erupts, this time closer than I expected. They must be breaching a new part of the wall, and probably are inside by now. I quickly move back into the hall and then come up against Riley’s cell door.

I try the handle but it’s locked. I get out my key, but it doesn’t work on this door.

I look up and down the hallway.

“Riley,” I yell. “Get away from the door.”

“Logan?” I can just barely hear her.

“Get away from the door. I’m going to break it open.”

“Okay,” she calls out.

I bring up the rifle and unload on the lock. It tears through the door to the point where I can kick the door in with my boot. It bursts forward, falling off its hinges, and dust billows up into the air.

I sling the rifle over my shoulder and step into the room. Riley stands up in the corner, staring at me, and I smile.

“There you are,” I say.

She runs to me and throws her arms around my neck. I grab her and pull her against me, hugging her as hard as I can.

She sobs against me and tries to say something, but I can’t understand her. “It’s okay,” I say to her, stroking her hair. “It’s okay. I’m here now. We’re going to get out of here.”

“I thought you were dead!” she finally manages to say. “Anton said you were ...he said you were dead ...“

“He was wrong,” I say simply. I pull back and take her face in my hands. “It’s pretty fucking hard to kill me. I’ll never leave you, Riley.”

“Logan.” Tears stream down her face. “I love you,” she says. “God, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“You’re not sorry for anything. I love you too.” I kiss her hard, lips melting against hers.

It’s the moment I’ve been waiting for. I can finally name the feeling that’s been growing inside of me all this time. It’s love, it always has been love. It must be. I don’t know it by anything else. I’m willing to sacrifice so much for her, and I can’t imagine letting her down.

I love her. I fell in love with Riley and now I have to figure out what to do about it.

My commanders are coming for us, and they’re going to want to give her back to her father. Anton is probably going to realize that I’m here sooner rather than later, and that won’t be good, either.

There’s only one obvious choice, but it’s not a good one. I pull back and look at Riley, anger coming and going in waves.

“What?” she whispers.

“Do you want to go home?” I ask her.

“Not if that means going back to my father,” she says.

I smile. “Good. I’m glad you said that.”

“Is that what they’re going to do with me?”

“Probably,” I say. “They’ll release the other girls. But you’ll go right to your father.”

“I can’t,” she says, shaking her head. “Logan, I can’t go back to him. I won’t.”

“I won’t let you,” I say. “I promise. No matter what happens now, I won’t let your father have you. I won’t let Anton have you.” I pull her against me again. “You’re mine, Riley.”

She nods against my chest. “I trust you,” she says.

“Good.” I pull her back and take her hand. “Come on.”

We step back out of her cell and into the hallway. I look both ways and it’s mercifully empty. We head back the way I came but only make it down to the next door before four men turn the corner down at the far end.

We stop short as they see us and raise their weapons. “Riley, run,” I say, turning back toward her.

But there’s nowhere to run. At the other end of the hall, three more men, rifles raised, are walking slowly toward us.

And then I hear him, his fucking laughter ringing through the space, somehow coming through atop the deafening gunshots coming from the firefight outside.

“Anton,” I say, and we turn around to face him.

He cackles like a witch and steps between the three guards, their rifles still pointing at me.

“Caught you, sneaky bitch,” he says, grinning huge. “Put down the gun, Logan. It’s over now.”

Slowly I put the rifle on the floor and raise my hands high over my head. I nod at Riley and she does the same.

The guards close in on us from behind and in front. This time, we’re trapped, and I have no clue how we’re going to get out of it.

Riley looks at me, fear on her face, and suddenly horror strikes through me. The fear isn’t of dying, but of letting Riley down. They’ll kill me and then they’ll take her, and if they escape with her, they’ll abuse her until she’s used up and finished.

I can’t let that happen. No matter what, I have to resist them. I have to fight back. In the end, I’m the only thing that’s standing between Riley and certain torture, abuse, and doom.

Anton’s laughter breaks through the silence again and I’m stuck, rooted in place, with no clue how to move.