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get out and leave us?”
    “No. I get out and open that garage door. We all leave.”
    “It’s a bad idea,” Bess said.
    “You got a better one?”
    Bess met her gaze. Her eyes were hard. Fiona hurried to the front door. Bess followed her. She looked at the girl who seemed to be a leader of the others, wondering if she would sabotage Fiona’s escape plan by summoning the hellhounds. She had no choice but to give it a try.  
    A car came down the road. Fiona couldn’t see it for the cornfield between the house and street.  
    “Showtime, girls. Slurp your food down and get in your places,” Bess ordered. “You”—she pointed at Fiona—“get back in your half of Haley’s room and keep your trap shut. No one’s supposed to touch you, but who knows if they can resist fresh meat.”
    Fiona looked at Haley. Her eyes were glazed over. Once again, she quietly retreated to her space. “We can fight them,” Fiona whispered as she entered their room.
    Haley had withdrawn deep into her mind. She didn’t respond. Whatever fight she had was long gone. Once again, Fiona had no choice but to crouch in the corner of her room. Men came continuously over the next few hours. The other girls giggled and made jokes with their johns, but Haley was always silent.
    It was late afternoon before Fiona could venture out of her hiding space. She went to the back door to see what the dogs were doing. She couldn’t see them, so she banged on the door. Instantly, they began barking and lunging at the glass.
    “What are you doing?” Bess asked.
    “I’m getting out of here”—she looked at the two girls who were in the living room—“with or without your help.”
    Haley came to stand at the door to her room. Bess frowned as she looked at her. “Wait,” Bess said to Fiona. “Wait.”
    Fiona and Haley both looked at Bess. She went into the laundry room and rummaged through something Fiona couldn’t see. When she returned, she held out Fiona’s security bracelet.  
    “Is this one of those security bracelets?” Bess asked.
    Tears flooded Fiona’s eyes as she took the bracelet. “Yes.” Her hands were shaking as she pressed the activation button hidden near the clasp. Her knees went weak. She crumpled to the ground, crying as she smiled up at the girls. Her relief was so great, she couldn’t summon anger that Bess had lied to her.  
    “Everything’s going to be fine now.”

Chapter   Four

    Kelan’s phone buzzed with an alert—the one he’d been waiting for. “It’s Fiona. I gave her a secondary security device—a bracelet.” He sent the coordinates to the team. They gathered their weapons and hurried out of their motel rooms.  
    “I’m driving,” Val said as he unlocked one of the SUVs. Kelan didn’t argue.  
    “What are we looking at, Kelan?” Kit asked over their comm units as both vehicles cut through traffic.  
    Kelan used the vehicle’s Wi-Fi to check the coordinates sent by the bracelet. He expanded the satellite image the security app brought up. “It’s a farmhouse in the middle of a cornfield. About forty miles east of here. It’s got some outbuildings, but no other houses or large structures for at least a klick in either direction. The signal’s coming from the house.”
    They drove east, passing the industrial fringe of Denver, urban and suburban neighborhoods, then hit the farms and miles of crops—onions, beets, beans, and corn, some of which had been harvested, some still waiting. All of it looked peaceful in the crisp September afternoon.
    The fields where their target was had not been harvested. Tall spires of drying corn hid just about everything. Worse than merely limiting visibility, it gave an enemy perfect cover. He exchanged looks with Val, all of his senses firing a warning.
    They couldn’t wait for backup. Not even an hour had passed since Fiona’s ping. This was the first break they’d had in the nearly twenty hours since she’d been taken. Val pulled onto the narrow