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girls—don’t you care?”
    “Yes!” Ivy didn’t want to get mad at Jocelyn, but the last eight hours had put her on edge. “You promised if I ever came to you for help, you wouldn’t go to the police.”
    “No police. I’ll talk to the fire chief, he’ll—”
    “Same thing!” Ivy stood and paced. “They’d have to tell the police, and I can’t—” She stopped talking. This conversation was going nowhere. “I shouldn’t have come to you.”
    “I’m glad you did. Okay, no cops, I get it.”
    “Do you?”
    Jocelyn nodded, her expression sincere. Ivy wanted to believe her, but right now she was wound so tight she thought she’d explode. “It’s only a matter of time before they find you,” Jocelyn said. “You can’t hide with Sara forever.”
    “I can hide as long as it takes to put together two new identities.” Except, she had no money. She sank back into the chair and put her head in her hands. “Everything’s gone, Jocelyn. My passport. Sara’s passport. Money. Everything.”
    “We’ll figure it out. For now, you’re safe here.”
    Ivy couldn’t even fake a smile. She walked to the bathroom, closed the door behind her. Locked it. She needed five minutes alone. Five minutes to think.
    Jocelyn’s problem was that she trusted the system, and Ivy knew the system was screwed up.
    Still, Ivy had no money and she needed a place to regroup. Hiding in plain sight—not a bad idea. If they didn’t leave the hotel room, there was no chance anyone could find them. They’d have this safe house, at least for a couple days. She’d call the rest of the girls and have them meet here as soon as possible.
    But Ivy knew she couldn’t count on Jocelyn indefinitely. The hotel cost nearly two hundred bucks a night, and while Jocelyn wanted to help, Ivy wasn’t so sure her husband would be on board when he learned the whole truth, and Jocelyn had made it clear that she was going to tell him everything. She swore Chris Taylor could be trusted. It was one thing when his wife was doing her job getting prostitutes off the street; it was quite another being a party to kidnapping.
    She dialed Kerry’s number first. No answer and no messaging on the disposable phone. She disconnected and called Nicole next.
    “Yeah?” Nicole answered.
    “It’s me. You okay? Mina?”
    “In a crappy dive.”
    “I have a place for us, at least for a few nights.”
    “That’s it?”
    “Enough time to figure out what to do.”
    “Shit, Ivy, we lost everything! The only thing to do is hit the streets.”
    “Give me a few days to figure this out, okay?”
    “Where are you?”
    “Hotel Potomac.”
    “Holy shit, Ivy! You’re liable to run into half the guys you screw.”
    “When you get here, let me know and I’ll bring you in through the side door.” She didn’t give Nicole a chance to argue, but moved on. “Let me talk to Mina.”
    “She took one look at this dive and burst into tears. Besides, she sticks out in this neighborhood. So I took her to Marti’s. You said we could trust her.”
    Why hadn’t Ivy thought of Marti? She would have taken them all in, no questions. Except they couldn’t all stay with her. Too small, too many people coming in and out. But Mina would be safe for now.
    “Thanks. You’re safe where you are?”
    “Back in my old stomping grounds. I know this place better than anyone, all the ways in and out.”
    “Be careful.”
    Ivy tried Kerry again; still no answer.
    Jocelyn knocked on the door. “Are you okay in there?”
    Ivy opened the door. “I’m calling the girls. I’d feel better if we were together.”
    Jocelyn nodded. “I’ll let you get settled. Call room service if you’re hungry. I’ll go shopping. Do you need anything specific?”
    “Clothes, nothing fancy. Toiletries, maybe a deck of cards so I can keep Sara from freaking out. Give her something to do.” And a passport into Canada, she wanted to add.
    “Not a problem.” Jocelyn squeezed her arm. “It’s going