Waves crash over the rocks as I lean against the compound’s outer wall, taking a short break. I could probably climb to the top of the wall, or find some way to slip out, but I don’t want to risk getting caught.

Mostly, I just need a break. It drains me more than I thought it would, treating Riley like that. I want to pull her out of here, but I can’t do it. I’m trained to follow through with my mission no matter what happens, and that’s what I’m going to do. Even if it means going against my own feelings or emotions and doing things that I don’t want to do.

I haven’t pushed her yet, but I know I’m going to. She knows it too. She can see it in my gaze. I keep telling her that it’ll be best if she listens and obeys, but the way she lashed out earlier surprised me. She seemed like she was actually going to come at me, and for a moment I braced myself. But then she broke down into tears, and I had to get out of there.

I push off the wall, trying to shove my conflict down deep inside of me. On the one hand, I do want the girl, and will take her when the time comes. But on the other, I don’t hurt innocent people, and I know Riley is an innocent.

It just means I have to make her want it. And by the way she reacted when I talked dirty to her, I don’t think that’s going to be too hard.

I walk along the outer wall, following it all the way around the compound. So far, from what I can tell, the place is made up of a large wall surrounding what seems to be four big buildings in total with several smaller ones scattered around. The main buildings house the girls and the guards. The other buildings serve a few different purposes, but I’m not entirely sure what yet.

Guards are posted at every corner of the wall and at the entrance. They’re well-armed, but they don’t look like military regulars. I don’t know how many guards are in the place yet, but it looks to be about thirty, maybe fifty at most.

I finish my circuit of the wall and head back toward the main building. There’s a lot that I don’t know about this place, and I have a lot of work to do. There are likely some secret passages underneath the place that I need to find before I can call the strike in. I guess I have about two weeks’ worth of reconnaissance to do, assuming I don’t get caught first.

I head up the main stairs of the compound, intending to walk the big building again, when I stop short just as I enter the door. Standing across the entrance hall with three other men is Anton.

I didn’t expect to see him here. I want to turn and leave, but he’s already looking at me with a big smile on his face. He says something in Spanish to the guards and then steps toward me.

“Logan,” he says. “I was wondering when I’d see you.”

“Anton,” I say, forcing a smile onto my face. We shake hands and he stands next to me, gesturing at the room.

“What do you think so far?” he asks.

“It’s an interesting place,” I say.

He laughs. “Interesting? It’s the biggest fucking operation in the northern hemisphere!”

“I’m impressed,” I say, nodding at him. Anton is the kind of man that will respond to this sort of flattery. I can already tell that his ego is enormous and needs constant feeding. He’s the worst kind of person.

“We move thousands of girls through here every year,” he says. “I’m keeping the fucking Russian mafia in business singlehandedly.”

“I’ve heard good things,” I say. “So far, I can see why you’ve been so successful.”

“We run a tight ship,” he says, laughing. “No bitch gets out of line and survives.” He leans toward me, a grin on his lips. “Speaking of bitches, how’s yours coming along?”

“She’s good,” I say.

“Good?” He laughs. “Bitch shouldn’t be fucking good. Bitch should be on her knees, bloody and shit, you know what I mean?”

I force myself to smile at his disgusting joke. “Don’t worry, Anton. I find my methods are very effective.”

“Well. They say you’re very good.” He shrugs, exaggerating his movements. “How do you do it, anyway? You got some new torture we don’t know about?”

“Something like that,” I say, hedging.

“Okay, okay, I get it. You want to keep it a secret.” He laughs again, putting his arm around my shoulders. I want to break his wrist off. “Well, you have a good time, okay? Break that girl, do whatever you do, okay?”

“Of course,” I say.

“Okay then.” He releases me and walks away, heading in the direction the soldiers had gone.

I watch him disappear around the corner then release a breath. I feel disgusting, like I need a fucking shower. This whole place is infested with scum and spineless bastards but Anton is one of the worst.

I sigh and shake my head. Thousands of girls a year. That’s more than I thought. We were estimating six hundred, maybe seven, but a thousand? He must be sending some girls off to different countries if that’s the case. He could be lying, but I wasn’t so sure.

The compound is huge. He has the facilities to move that many girls. He has the infrastructure all over the place, too.

Rufus Nosek is right. His daughter is important, but she’s not the only girl that I’ll be saving by taking this place down. If only we can survive and get through this together, it’ll be worth it in the end.

I turn and go the other way, down a few halls, and into the kitchen. There I gather up a tray and put together a little dinner for Riley. Once it’s all set, I head out, skirting through the halls, and finally stopping outside of her cell.

I gently unlock it and open the door. Riley is lying on her bunk, clearly asleep. I place her food down on the floor next to her and then stand in the doorway, watching her.

I should wake her and make her eat, but I don’t have the heart to do it.

Let her sleep. Soon I’m going to have to push her training and start it for real. She deserves a little rest before we get started for real. Let her sleep and maybe have good dreams.

The next time I see her, I won’t be taking it easy. She’ll submit and she’ll break, or else I might not be able to keep her alive.