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Chapter 1

Gracie Parish had learned three valuable things in the last two excruciating hours driving around Mexico: The fetal position was only comfortable in the womb Her deodorant wasn’t trapped-inside-a-hidden-coth And blood circulation could be lost in your forehead

There had to be an easier way to break into a sex-slaver’s home than smooshed inside this malodorous secret compartment, while her brother and his frene as mano-a-mano live “entertainers”

Sweat salted her eyes, slicked her skin The good news? If she died, the House of Hades would feel like an oasis A spacious oasis

This was it This was absolutely the last tih Sometimes she wished she’d never been adopted into this mess She needed a vacation on an island A Canadian island Someplace cold

With a flick of her jaw, she clicked her ”

“Please, you’ve been in there for two hours People sled out of Mexico stay in that compartment for days”

Days? Days pretending to be the back seat of a car, while your legs were tucked, foaht arht hip screamed, and you could taste exhaust? “Yeah, well, not me If my cyber skills weren’t needed to rescue your boyfriend, nothing could get ”

“Stop your whining You’re almost inside the compound”

Her sister scored zero on the empathy meter Zero “Easy for you You’re on a hilltop, stretched out, overlooking this whole scene through a scope”

“Just playing to th I’m the best shot”

She was a good shot Hey No “You know, this bull-poop has been going on since childhood ‘Gracie’s the smallest, she can fit in that pipe’” She h-pitched voice “‘Gracie’s the sh the vent syste compartment so she can break out Trojan-horse style inside the compound’”

“Bull-poop? If you cursed, you’d realize bullshit is way ” She could hear the focus and humor in Justice’s voice “And it’s not my fault you’re a shrimp”

“Being petite isn’t a talent”

“You also have great red hair and hot underwear”

Oh God She’d never live that down “Good thing Otherwise, I’d have no excuse if they findthey don’t shoot before I explain that Tony and Victor hid me here as a surprise bonus to their sex show”

“Trust ets a look at that thong”

Hued her already too-warm cheeks

Should’ve just nodded when Justice had said, “Sure, Gracie, pretending to be a stoay entertainer is better than nothing, but we don’t have a costume for you” Or when her sister had looked around the desolate plane hangar, thrown up her hands, and teased, “We’re shit out of eight-hundred-dollar bras, and there’s no Agent Provocateur in sight”

What happened after that was probably one of the top fivemoments of her life She’d dropped her pants She’d lifted off her shirt

Justice had burst into laughter Tony had sputtered Victor had whistled “Da that, I would’ve been nicer to you”

Yeah Top five Definitely And this, being in thi

s car, was definitely in the top ten most uncomfortable places she’d ever been

Well, maybe top fifteen

“Our boys are pulling up to the coate”—Justice’s voice was low in her ear—“so stay quiet”

The car turned The crunch of gravel vibrated under the wheels and through her bones “They wouldn’t hear ht “Seriously, I could die trapped in here”

“There’s a release lever”

Yes But the arm by the lever was numb and heavy The car jerked to a stop Her forehead thunked against metal

Her headset clicked She heard Justice’s breathing and then, “There’s a big A to Tony and Victor He see our boys out of the car”

Gracie caught the sound of a deep voice, a guy with an American Southern accent Southern?

The car doors opened and shut as Tony and Victor got out

Justice snorted through the headset “Victor just pirouetted to show he had nothing to hide Hysterical Man has balls”

And then soic Mike costu

“They’re going to check the car”

The front car doors opened with a squeak of hinges Her heart rate jumped to please-God-don’t-let-them-find-me pace

Sweat rolled down her face, perched on her lips She held her breath

They’d find her They’d hear her hyper heartbeat like in Poe’s “The Telltale Heart,” ba-boom, ba-boom, ba-boom And then they’d shoot her Boom

Someone climbed into the back seat Blood whoosh, whoosh, whooshed in her ears Her hearing tunneled and focused in tight Did he have his knee on her left butt cheek? Not a featherweight

Oh Lord, please If she survived, she’d go back to running her bar Maybe keep her cyber-warrior stuff going on the side, but she’d stay far away froer And death

His weight shifted The padding and the springs pressed tight against her hip Ouch

No big deal No big deal

If they caught her, well, she’d heard that Mexicans love redheads

Is that racist?

Gracie, stop overthinking

He didn’t register her beneath hiain, if this had been a shoddy place to hide, she never would’ve gotten into it Petite body didn’t mean petite mind

The door shut with a slam She exhaled Thank the universe, Allah, Dr Phil, and baby Jesus

Soot into the front, started the car, backed it up, drove it a short distance, and parked The car door creaked open and slammed closed

Had they parked the car outside the compound?

“Justice—”

“Fuck Parked it outside the coate”

Fudge She needed to be inside the gate to turn off the security OK Stay calot this I’ll find a way inside and turn off the electric fence for you”

“You’re east of the guard tower”

Honestly The very last time I do this