Something warm gushed between my legs as pain sliced down my spine. I screamed, wishing Eve would take the pain away as I panted during the little reprieve.

The door opened and Adam stared down at me. I will always remember the expression he gave me. The one that said if the pain didn’t kill me, something else would.

“Let’s go. And be quiet.”

“I can’t,” I cried. “It hurts.”

I doubled over and would have fallen to my knees if he hadn’t caught me and carried me in his arms. He laid me on the bed and pulled a cloth from his pocket. I squeezed my eyes shut as it felt as though my insides would burst.

The cloth covered my eyes and he stuffed something else in my mouth to muffle my screams.

We wound up stairs until he stopped and opened a door. Fresh air filled my lungs, but didn’t dull the pain.

I cried and thought I might choke on the rag in my mouth. I heard the unmistakable sound of a helicopter.

He’d said he’d take me back to the boat. Then I cried because no one had come. My call had gone unanswered. No one had showed up to rescue me.

Time was measured in pain. By the time we landed, I was exhausted.

Though I couldn’t see, I smelled the sea air. A boat, mostly like the one that Sir was on.

“Remember, she’s mine. Let me know when it’s done. And don’t take long. I have to get back soon.”

I was handed off before Sir spoke. “She’ll be fine.”

The rag was pulled from my mouth and I heaved in a full breath, then I screamed.

Sir didn’t seem to care. When he pulled off my blindfold, I was back in the room on the boat where it had all begun.

“Let me see.”

He lifted the sleeping gown I’d been given.

“Ah, it’s about time. Let me get the doctor. And don’t bother wasting time with ideas. He’s one of us and likes young girls. I’m sure he’d take a payment trade for some quality time with you.”

The tightness in my belly forced another yell out of me. Sir just laughed. He disappeared out the door and I couldn’t even look around to see if anything had changed, the pain consumed me so.

When the door opened again, Sir was accompanied by a white-haired man with beady eyes that reminded me of a crow’s.

“Well, young lady, let’s see what’s what.”

My skin crawled, but an urgent need to push took over.

“It looks like you're ready. Go ahead and push.”

I didn’t need his permission. I had already decided to do just that.

Sir came over to whisper to me. “I look forward to having you tonight.”

Determination to stop the pain and kill every man that touched me focused my strength. It wasn’t long before I felt the baby leave my body.

It cried.

I cried.

I lifted my hands, but the man handed the baby to Sir.

“Is it a boy or a girl?” I asked.

“Time to push again.”

The wave was back and I did as asked. Was I having twins? The doctor nodded to Sir and he left with the baby.

“My baby, my baby? Please just tell me if it’s a boy or a girl.”

I’d tried to not love it when I realized I was pregnant. But after Adam made use of Eve and I was alone, I talked to the baby.

The doctor ran a towel over me before leaving the room. I stumbled to my feet and found the door locked.

I slid to the floor, crying for the girl who was lost. I cried for Eve who’d betrayed me in my time of need. I cried until I passed out.

A staccato of noises broke my sleep apart. Shouting preceded silence. And then a word repeated over and over. Clear.

I didn’t understand it until a man wearing gear covering him head to toe opened the door, pushing me to the side in the process.

“Ma’am, are you okay?”

The bright white letters on the hat he wore—FBI—made me sob, and not in pain, for the first time in months.

As he knelt beside me, he asked me the question again.

The first words to tumble from my lips were, “They took my baby.”