“Hey… Pssst…”

My head was spinning; not knowing if the voice I heard was in my head or from someone around me. I was surprised to find that I was back in the same cell as before. However many days ago that had been. I’d lost count after the torture and being knocked unconscious so many times. My entire body ached worse than anything I’d ever felt. Even training back at Quantico wasn’t as bad.

I groaned in agony as I lifted from the hard-concrete surface to sit up, blinking my eyes to focus the room around me. Well, I thought I was back in the same cell, but I was wrong. This one had small crumbled holes in the block wall that separated me and whatever was on the other side, with a jail cell door much like the other one. The floor was a bit cleaner, which wasn’t saying much. My body had been washed and clothed in thin linen pants with a matching top, but my feet were still bare and freezing.

“Hey…” A woman’s whisper caught my attention, letting me know that I wasn’t crazy and hearing voices.

“Yeah?” My voice echoed against the walls.

“Not so loud,” she hissed.

“Where are you?” I lowered my voice as I glanced around the room, looking for some inkling as to where she was.

“The other side of the block wall to your left.”

Two fingers poked through one of the larger holes and wiggled around.

“I see you.” I hurried to the small opening and sat on the floor. My body ached with each movement, but I didn’t care. There was another person being housed by my captor.

“You’ve been out for quite some time.” Her bright blue eye peered through the hole.

“I have?”

“Yeah.” She paused. “They placed you in that cell about three days ago if I’m correct.”

“How do you know how long it’s been?”

“The daylight we have. It’s the only lighting I’ve seen. I counted how many times it went from dark to light…so about three days.”

I slouched back against the concrete slab I’d been lying on and let her words run through my head. Three days of my life had been taken from me without recollection; I’d spent them in a slumber. There was no telling what they had done to me during that time. I made quick movement of investigating my body but didn’t notice anything other than the cuts scabbing over and bruises making colorful paths across my skin.

“I’m Jamie, by the way.”

“I would say it was nice to meet you, but these circumstances are far from good.”

Her humorless laugh echoed, “Yeah…”

“How long have you been here?”

“Six days. I’ve only seen the men who carried you in, and the person who brings food in once a day.”

Six days was longer than any of the time gaps between the victims who’d been murdered and their reservation at Roulette. Either he had gotten his feel for victims, or something was changing. There was a reason he was hanging on to those he captured longer than a couple days. What the reason was, I didn’t know. But there was something that kept me around because I knew I’d been with him for far longer than six days. Not to mention how badly I’d pushed his buttons.

My stomach howled with hunger. “When do they usually bring food? I’m starving.”

“Should be anytime, but it isn’t a gourmet meal or anything,” Jamie laughed.

“Damn, I was hoping for something that mimicked Thanksgiving dinner.”

Full belly laughter took over the both of us.

“It feels good to laugh,” she sighed.

“Yeah…” My smile began to fade and I pulled my legs up against my chest.

Silence fell upon us for who knows how long when the sound of a heavy door squeaking open startled us both. “That should be our food. Don’t say a word and quickly take the tray or they’ll toss it at you,” she rambled.

Heavy footsteps slapped against the concrete floor as they grew closer and closer. The screeching of metal that needed to be oiled shrieked loudly and I watched Jamie through the tiny hole disappear. My heart slammed in my chest as I awaited her return, hoping it was actually food they were bringing.

“We got something decent today.”

Her voice made me smile briefly before the sound of the boots spiked my nerves and Joel’s wicked grin came into view.

“Well, look who it is.” He paused with a tray of food in hand. “I’m surprised he’s kept you around this long.” He slid a small window on my cell door open and placed the tray inside for me to grab.

I hesitated and he narrowed his eyes.

“How long have I been here?”

“This isn’t a time for questions. It’s a time to grab your fucking tray before I toss the son of a bitch on the floor and you can lick it up.”

I quickly crossed the cell and grabbed my tray. The small window slammed shut and I jumped, almost dumping the food on the floor. Joel’s eyes bored into mine as I backed away and dropped onto the concrete slab once the back of my legs hit it. He stood there with a menacing grin. If he wasn’t such a psychopath, he would pass as an attractive man. But I’d seen a side of him that I would’ve never guessed he’d have when I first met him.

“Looks like you’re beginning to heal. All in due time and you’ll be back in my care.” He chuckled.

“Fuck off,” I spat, setting the tray on the slab beside me.

“What did you say?” His voice boomed as he fumbled for the keys in his pocket.

Jamie’s low gasp made me realize just what I’d done. Provoking Joel wasn’t smart, but I’d officially crossed that line without a chance of looking back.

He made quick motions of unlocking my cell and jerked the door back so hard it slammed against the wall, echoing loudly. My hands gripped my tray in preparations of slamming it against his face, but as he stalked toward me, another man’s voice stopped him dead in his tracks.

“Now what might you be doing, Joel?” It was the voice of my captor, and Joel’s boss, if you wanted to call him that.

His eyes narrowed and a snarl curled his lip, “You’re not getting off that easy, you little bitch. Just wait…” Joel’s threat wasn’t one to take lightly. I'd learned that already.

My first round of torture was from spitting in his face. Why I thought going head-to-head with these men was such a good idea was beyond me, but I couldn’t help the rage that pulsed through my veins at the thought of what they’d done to numerous people…including Gavin.

A dull ache filled my chest at the thought of his name. Gavin was supposed to be my end game. The man I spent the rest of my life with, I knew that deep in my heart. Never did the thought cross my mind that I’d lose him during an undercover op. Of course, we had both prepared for our deaths, knowing that each time we walked out our front door could be the last. A job like ours was one you had to prepare your mind for, because you never knew if you’d make it back home or not. No matter how many times they mentioned that at Quantico, you honestly didn’t think it would happen to you.

“Leave the girl alone and carry on with your duties.” He clasped a hand on Joel’s shoulder before pushing him off to the side where I could no longer see him. The sound of Joel leaving the room caused my tense body to ease a tiny bit. That is until my captor's deep blue eyes locked with mine.

He leaned against the frame of the cell with his arms crossed over his chest. This time he wasn’t wearing a suit, but a tight white tee shirt and light jeans. His hair was cut extremely short on the top, almost in a buzz, but the way his navy eyes stood out against his tan skin was haunting.

“Are you going to eat?” He nodded toward the tray resting beside me.

I nodded.

“It’s probably cold by now.”

My hand shook as I lifted the plastic spoon and scooped some peas onto it. I wasn’t a fan of those green little bastards, but I’d eat whatever I could get to keep my strength up. There was no telling if they’d continue to feed me, or how long I’d be of use before they decided to kill me like the rest of them. So, whether it was peas, burnt chicken, or even road kill, I would eat it.

“It’s fine,” my voice wavered a bit on the end as I watched him cross the cell and kneel before me.

He was brave. Even though a plastic spoon would break rather easily, I could quickly do my best to use it as a weapon in some way, shape, or form.

“I don’t know what it is about you.” His hands touched my thighs and smoothed up my legs as he stood. Leaning forward he gripped my chin in his hand and stared deep into my eyes, tilting his head just slightly. “You’re all too familiar.” He breathed before letting go of my face.

It felt like the right time to try a new route with him. A route that would hopefully open a door to why he was killing, and who he was. I swallowed the remainder of the food in my mouth and quietly cleared my throat as I watched him slam the cell door shut and lock it.

“What’s your name?” My voice was so quiet I wasn’t sure he’d heard me until he came to a stop.

He slowly turned to face me and cocked his head to the side. The crease between his eyebrows deepened as he stood there gauging me. My heart raced as he slipped his hands into his pockets; afraid of what he might be pulling out, but to my surprise he left them there as he rocked back on his heels.

“No one’s ever asked me that before.”

Was he serious?

Out of all the victims we’d found throughout Las Vegas, I found it hard to believe that not a single one had asked his name before. Not that I’d be worried about finding out the name of the man who’d kidnapped me when I was in the heat of the moment, and it seemed he’d kept me longer than most, so maybe his victims had never had the chance to ask.

“I—I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked…” I dropped my attention to the food on my tray and quickly devoured a large bit of what seemed to be a chicken finger, hoping and praying my apology would give him the push he needed to tell me his name.

“Look at me,” he demanded and I lifted my eyes to his. I watched as he removed his shirt, showing how defined his body was, but also peppered with scars and a few tattoos. One giant four-leaf clover spread on the center of his chest, barely touching each of his pecs. “You can call me Clover.” He smoothed one hand over the tattoo and gripped his shirt with the other.

I knew that wasn’t the name he was given at birth; it was a nickname, most likely. In different circumstances I probably would have enjoyed hearing the story behind it, but I knew it wasn’t the time to push to hear it. I gave him a slight smile and went back to eating my food. The next time I looked up he was gone; the sounds of his shoes tapping against the floor had gone unnoticed.

“You never gave me your name,” Jamie whispered through the hole.

“Blair.”

“That’s a pretty name.”

“Thanks.”

“One of my favorite characters on one of those teen shows was named Blair. She was fierce…probably wouldn’t have ended up in a situation like this either.”

I knew exactly who she was talking about, but she most likely would’ve easily ended up in a situation like the one we were in. She was reckless, even if she was fierce. Hell, I was reckless and I was built by the government to be a badass.

“I wish this hole was bigger.” I slapped my hand against the block wall.

“Yeah, me too.”

“I’m not even sure how this hole happened.” I ran my finger around the inside of it when it hit me. It was the perfect circumference if two bullets had hit the wall almost directly beside one another.

“There’s no telling.” Jamie yawned. “I’m going to try and get some sleep. Even though I’m sure I’ll wake up in less than an hour freezing myself to death.

“I’m sure I’ll be awake if you can’t sleep.”

Rustling in Jamie’s cell filled the room for a brief moment before silence fell upon us. Everything was dark except the tiny ray of light peeking into Jamie’s cell. I could only see it if I was looking through the bullet hole. I envied the fact that she had natural light, because my cell was nothing but almost solid walls and the concrete slab I called a bed. Still, it could’ve been worse.

I stretched out on the cool slab and rested my arms beside me. I couldn’t curl up on either side because of the knife wounds Joel had inflicted on me, so lying flat on my back was the most comfortable I could get. This was one of the first nights I was trying to fall asleep on my own, without being drugged or physically knocked out. The coldness of the concrete was settling into my body and causing me to shiver. There was nothing I could do to make myself even the slightest bit warmer.

My eyes drifted shut and my breathing evened out as my mind began to wander to thoughts of Gavin. The way he smiled at me from across our bedroom as I’d change for work. The way his lips felt against mine, and the feel of his touch against my skin. I knew it was going to be a long road ahead of me if I could make it out of this place alive, and I’d be lying if the thought of them killing me didn’t send a little bit of ease throughout my body. Because trying to move on without Gavin was going to be hell. A hell that would forever be mixed with the stigma from these psychopaths torturing me, but I refused to surrender. I had to continue on and fight to stay alive; so many people had been murdered in cold blood. I knew he wouldn’t stop kidnapping and killing until someone put an end to him. My mission was to be that someone; to end his life just as he had ended so many others.

If it’s the last thing I do on this Earth, Clover is going to die by my hand. I’m going to put him down, Gavin. Not only for all those lives that he’d taken before yours, but for yours as well. He took you from me…I can’t allow him to take anyone else.

A tear slipped down my cheek and I let out a slow steady breath to try and gather my emotions. I turned on my side, facing the cell door and cringed as a sharp pain ached through me. Instead of rolling over to relieve the pain, I laid there, allowing it to pulse. That pain was a reminder that I could handle anything thrown at me. That I would take Clover down when he least expected it. He was keeping me around because I reminded him or something he once had, or someone from his past. But keeping me around was going to be a mistake he’d soon regret. I wasn’t another helpless girl he’d picked from the crowd. No, I was a trained operative, and the wrong girl to fuck with.