They delayed their departure until just before sunset, not long before the auction was due to start. Balal must have some friends in high places, for when they stepped out into the street of the city, Jenna was surprised to see an off-road Jeep sitting next to the curb instead of the illustrious limousine. She soon realized why, when he and Jenna hopped in the backseat, behind the driver and another man, both of whom were wearing the same dark masks.

They quickly made their way through the city, but as soon as they were outside the city limits, the all-terrain vehicle did exactly what it was made to do; it left the road and started driving through the rolling desert hills.

It didn't take them nearly as long to reach the mansion as it had when they had been following the roads the day before. Or, maybe it didn't take as long because Jenna was afraid of what would happen when they arrived.

They parked the Jeep out of the way of prying eyes, behind a dune where Balal and his driver were sure they would not be discovered. As darkness fell around them, the Sheikh helped Jenna out of the vehicle, and together they made their way toward the mansion.

Seeing it again so close made Jenna's skin crawl. If it wasn't for the sake of the other girls, she would have refused to go back. In truth, she hadn’t known just how much she would tremble at the sight of it.

“Are you all right?” Balal asked, his voice laced with concern.

Jenna looked at him and nodded fervently. “I am. Let's go.”

Balal walked with her to the side of the house where their plan would begin. There was an access shaft for the air vents that let out of this side of the mansion. He pulled a screwdriver from his backpack, handed it to her, and helped her to climb up onto his shoulders. He stood, and Jenna swayed a little. She was just tall enough now to reach the cover of the air vent. The cover was only attached by four small screws.

Rather unsafe, you might think, Jenna thought, but she set to work, her jaw set. She had the screws loosened in less than a minute.

“Great job,” Balal whispered as Jenna slowly, quietly, pulled the cover from the vent.

Balal took it from her and, after setting it on the ground, helped her up into the vent with another push of her legs.

Jenna hoisted herself into the stuffy metal tube. Balal lifted the cover to her so she could set it in place, but would be able to shove it away if she needed to make a quick escape.

“I’ll be back out here in half an hour, all right?” Balal told her. “If you get what you need before then, meet me back over the dune, and stay in the car. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

Jenna only nodded. She didn't think she could speak, afraid someone was going to catch them at any moment. Balal nodded as well and, after a long look at her, turned to circle around to the front of the mansion.

Jenna turned around, testing her weight on the air vents. Thankfully, they didn't seem to bow very much beneath her, but even the slightest move in the wrong direction made the vent creak, so loud that it sounded like thunder. She clenched her jaw, and moved slowly and deliberately.

She and Balal had studied the sketches of the mansion that he and the other Collectors had compiled over the last few weeks. One of the Collectors had done a little investigation of the air vents, and had given them a general layout of where they went and which rooms were connected where. Before Jenna had joined the team, there had been no one small enough to fit inside. Most of the Collectors were men, and those who weren't were people like Adina, who didn’t serve on the front lines.

Jenna knew she had to take three lefts and a right. The main office that she was looking for—where the kidnappers all met upon arriving at the mansion—would be the third grate she passed.

She was sure that someone was going to hear her. She had just made her first turn left when she saw the shadow of a person through one of the grates she passed. She laid very flat, very still, and tried as hard as she could not to burst into tears from fright. When a few minutes had passed and nothing happened, she chanced a look out of the grate, and saw nothing and no one.

She hurried on as fast as she dared.

Thankfully, Jenna reached the vent she was looking for without any other issues. She was breathing in shallow breaths, the air inside the vents hot and thick. She settled her down on her stomach beside the grate, and pulled out a tiny notebook and pen from the pocket of her jacket.

There were mumbling voices down in the room below her, and she tried to steady her breathing as she listened. There were at least three different men down below. Exhilaration and adrenaline flooded Jenna’s veins as she put an unsteady hand to her notebook.

They were all speaking Arabic, and she forced herself to think of nothing aside from their words. She had to figure out what they were saying. She couldn't allow her own thoughts to cloud her mind. She had to focus.

Jenna caught the words boss and sanctuary almost immediately. She scribbled the words down. It appeared that the men were talking amongst themselves rather than answering to anyone in particular, and she wondered why that was. Wasn't this where the mob boss was supposed to be? Wouldn't he be the one giving orders?

She heard low, growling laughter and caught the words women and well formed. She ground her teeth, and her fingers tightened on the pen.

“Headquarters…” she translated in her mind, furiously scribbling everything she heard. “Where?”

Another man spoke. “Yordan center. Big green space.”

Jenna wasn't sure if she was translating the words correctly, and she scratched the pen on her nose, looking at her notes. It was barely anything to go off.

Once again she was frustrated that her Arabic was so limited. She was sure she’d have been able to understand more if she had just had more time to brush up on it before her trip. She heard something that either meant ‘round’ or ‘square.’ She jotted the word down as she heard it, hoping it would help.

So, these guys were just the cronies who worked for the boss. Maybe one of them had been involved in her kidnapping. It was hard to believe that it had only happened the previous day.

She shifted her arm, looking behind her, wondering how she was going to turn around in such a small space, but just as she did, the movement created a cloud of dust that rose in her face. Her eyes grew wide, and she slapped a hand over her nose and mouth.

“So, boss’s place is…”

Despite holding her entire face behind her hands, Jenna sneezed.

Three terrifyingly long seconds passed, and nothing existed in the entire world aside from the silence that echoed in her ears.