By ten o'clock that night, Tori had almost everything packed. Their tent, her little home-away-from-home for the past three weeks, looked spartan and empty. She was almost sad to say goodbye.

Almost.

A knock on a tent post got her attention and she glanced at the front of the tent.

“Yeah?” she called out while she rearranged things in her backpack.

“Message for you, Ms. Tori!”

She smiled and headed across the space. She'd been getting messages all day. Dr. Sarawut's heart attack had been a big one, apparently. Landon had gotten his heart beating again, but he would need surgery, and not the kind that could be done in a field hospital. Using an old military ambulance, Landon and two nurses had taken the sick man to Bangkok. Landon had been keeping her posted – he didn't want to leave until Sarawut was stable. As soon as that happened, though, he'd come straight back.

She opened the tent flap, expecting another message from Landon, hopefully saying he was on his way home. The same volunteer stood outside, holding a piece of paper.

“Sorry he's making you run around all day for us,” she said, taking the note.

“Is no problem. You leaving soon?” he asked. She nodded.

“Yeah. Day after tomorrow.”

“We'll miss you. Maybe you visit sometime?”

“Definitely.”

The volunteer gave her a big smile, then scampered off back up the road.

Tori unfolded the paper, then frowned. All it said was to meet at the guard station. She glanced down the hill, to the small security booth and gate arm. Was Landon already back? She liked surprises, but a surprise from Landon. She almost shuddered at the thought.

With a shrug, she shoved the note into her back pocket and trooped off down the road. The windows on the guard station were so tinted they were almost blacked out, she couldn't see inside at all, but she still smiled and waved. One of her first duties at the camp had been to bring the guards their lunches and dinners, so she'd gotten to know them pretty well.

“Hey, Raul!” she called out as she ducked under the arm and went around to the door. “Hi, Aroon. What's the haps, you guys?”

Her foot landed on something soft and rolled, almost throwing her onto her face. She struggled to catch her balance and fell against the door frame. She hissed and rubbed at her arm, then looked around to see what had tripped her.

“What are you do ...”

Tori's voice trailed off as her brain short circuited. Aroon, a short but stout Thai man, was stretched out on the ground, laying face down. A large pool of blood was spreading away from his neck. She started to shake as her eyes traveled across the small space to Raul, a tall wiry Thai. He was sitting in his chair, like always. His head was tossed back and he was staring blank eyed at the ceiling, blood running from a cut down the side of his neck.

She let out a sob, then pressed both hands over her mouth. She was going to vomit. She was going to faint. Possibly both. But as her knees started to wobble, she quickly she decided the one thing she would not do was fall down. No, because if she went down, she wouldn't be able to get back up.

“Oh my god,” she cried, falling into the door again. She slid her way along it, towards the outside. “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. I can't ... I can't ...”

She was sobbing and hiccuping, almost blinded by her tears, as she all but fell out of the small building. She leaned over the gate arm, trying to control her gag reflex. When she went to stand upright, someone stepped up next to her.

“You know,” a voice with a soft accent spoke from the darkness. “You are much prettier up close.”

Tori went to scream, but before any sound could escape her lips, a rag was shoved into her mouth. It was quickly followed by a black bag over her head which effectively blinded her.

Still, she tried to scream. Tried to lash out and hit and kick. She struggled as she was picked up and carried away. They dropped her, twice, but still managed to shove her in some sort of vehicle. The bag got bunched up around her ears and for just a second, she caught a glimpse of her surroundings.

She was in a van, maybe one hundred feet away from the guard station. There were several people moving around the vehicle, all speaking in a different language. In the distance, the security lights glowed around the medical camp, all orange and eerie.

Then the bag was shoved back into place and she didn't see anything again for a long time.

*

LANDON SAT ON THE FLOOR of the waiting room in a hospital in Bangkok. He was in a pair of ill fitting scrubs. He'd taken off his gloves, but there was still some blood on his forearms. He didn't notice. Just took another long drag on his cigarette. He got a dirty look from an old woman sitting across from him, but no one told him to put it out, so he didn't care.

Dr. Sarawut, the head doctor at the camp, was going to live. They'd had to put several stents into the man's arteries, but it had worked. He was stable and his family was being bused into the city to see him.

Sometimes, Landon couldn't tell whether he hated his job, or he loved it. Moments like this, knowing he'd done everything he possibly could and it had actually been enough, were amazing. But for every one like it, there were five bad moments, and at least three downright awful.

Moments. Only searching for those good moments, but never really working for them. Time to change the tune, Edenhoff. You want good, you gotta work for it.

Speaking of good moments, he hadn't spoken to Tori all day. His cell phone had died on the way into the city, so he'd been sending messages to her via one of the nurses who'd come with him. He'd only just now gotten a chance to charge his phone, and he glanced down at it. Twenty-eight percent, good enough. He unplugged it from the wall and pushed on her contact info.

Usually, she picked up right away, but by the third ring, nothing had happened. He frowned and glanced at his watch. It was after eleven, she might have already gone to sleep. He was about to end the call when the line connected.

“Shit, I hope I didn't wake you,” he grumbled, patting at his pockets with his free hand, searching for a fresh cigarette. “I finally got my phone working and just wanted to let you know I'll be on my way back in like half an hour.”

“Excellent, we are very excited to see you again, Dr. Edenhoff.”

Landon was pretty sure his blood froze in his veins. The cigarette butt in his mouth fell to the ground and rolled under a chair. Time itself seemed to slow down and he couldn't quite remember how to breathe.

No. This was fool proof. I'd gotten away with it. It didn't involve her. No!

“What do you want?” he asked, his voice surprisingly calm.

“Oh, I was thinking of scheduling an appointment,” the drug dealer Niran sighed dramatically. “I thought I should see a doctor. I have been getting these very bad headaches, you see, ever since someone stole a large quantity of my drugs.”

“Sounds like a bummer,” Landon replied, then he cleared his throat. “But you should talk to a neurologist. I'm the wrong doctor for your problem.”

“Oh no no, I think you're just the right one. Do you know what happens to people who cross me, Dr. Edenhoff?”

Landon hurried to his feet.

“If you fucking touch her, do anything to her, I swear to christ, I'll -”

“You'll what, doctor? She belongs to me now, so I will do anything I please. I consider her partial payment for the drugs you stole. While she is a good specimen, she's clearly used goods. I won't be able to sell her for much. You will have to get me another twenty-five thousand dollars, before the weekend is over, or I will find someone else you care about and ruin them, as well.”

Sell her. The drug lord was going to sell Tori. How the fuck had this happened!?

“Sell her to me,” he spoke quickly, licking his lips. “Whatever price. Whatever you want. I don't care.”

“That is not how this works. You fucked with me, now I fuck you up,” Niran snarled. “She's no longer your concern. Focus on the money, Edenhoff. You have two days to get my money.”

Before Landon could argue anymore, the line went dead. He held the cell phone in his hand, staring at the blank screen. Wondering what he could do, who he should call. His brother? What could Liam do? The U.S. embassy? How much help could they be? Fuck, he had to hurry. He had to think. What should he do!?

He pulled up another contact and hit the call button, then he started running through the hospital.

“You have some fucking nerve calling me,” Velez snarled after he'd answered.

“You know,” Landon was panting for air as he burst out into a parking lot.

“Yeah I fucking know! How do you think they found you!? They called my boss, dickhead! We'll be lucky if either of us gets out of this alive, Lan. Stole from my contact, from the guy I hooked you up with! I should kill you myself,” Velez threatened.

“You totally can,” Landon assured, running between cars and trucks. “You can do whatever you want. But help me get back Tori first.”

“I'm not helping you do shit, you piece of – wait, what? What about Tori?” the nastiness fell out of Velez's voice.

“When you told them where I was,” Landon growled. “You told them where she was, too. I'm in fucking Bangkok right now, they took her from the village. They've got her god knows where and he said they're going to sell her. Fucking sell her. You have to get her back.”

“Shit, Edenhoff, how the fuck am I supposed to do that?”

“Ask your boss to -”

“My boss is still thinking about boiling me alive in a vat of acid – he sure as shit isn't gonna loan me a couple thousand dollars to buy some bitch off the black market.”

The urge to commit violence was strong. To howl and scream and throw the phone. Instead, Landon took deep breaths and slowed from a run into a walk.

“She didn't know anything about this, she wasn't a part of this, she wasn't even with me. She has no idea what I did, and now she's paying for it.”

“You're in way over your fucking head, Landon. Wanted to play drug dealer, huh? Looks like you got your fucking wish.”

“Every minute you waste cursing me out is a minute she's closer to being sold and raped. Help me find her.”

There was a long pause. Too long. Landon began to fear his friend wouldn't help him. He had no reason to, Tori was nothing to him and Landon had used him. But then finally, thankfully, there was a heavy sigh.

“She's gorgeous, and with that body ... she's going to be expensive, Landon.”

“I don't care. Make it happen.”

“These are cash only deals, bro. No refunds.”

“Fine. I'll wire my savings account to you. Give you my building. Whatever you fucking want, just make it fucking happen! Get on the deep web and look around and fucking find where they're selling her, I don't care how you do it, just get it done!”

“Alright! Alright. Fuck, this is gonna fucking suck. You owe me in ways you can't repay, Landon. You realize that, right?” Velez pointed out. Landon nodded and glanced around.

“Yeah, but don't worry about it, because in a couple days, I probably won't exist anymore, anyway.”