Page 37

Slowly, I withdrew my cell phone from my boot.
I lifted my finger to my lips, warning the other girls in the next cell over not to say anything as they watched us with a fierce intensity.
Would they betray us?
We were all in this together, right? Unless one of them had been like Skylar, hired by the mob to kidnap women.
Was that what happened with Skylar, or had I got it all wrong? Did it matter? She’d led us into the hands of the mob. And for what purpose?
I retrieved my cell phone from my boot and glanced at the signal.
No service.
That was strange.
Just about everywhere that I’d been in, Breckenridge had cell service. While the signal might not have been strong in the mountains, there had been plenty of cell towers.
They were probably blocking the signal. But if I could just get outside with my phone, then I could reach Jaxson and he could track me.
That was an unrealistic expectation.
Why would they let me outside?
And if I could get outside, I’d sure as hell run far and fast. I wasn’t going to stick around to make a call.
Hopefully, Jaxson was able to locate the signal before we were tossed into the compound.
“Nothing,” I said, and shoved my phone back into my boot. As long as they’d already searched me, hopefully, they wouldn’t go looking again for the device.
* * *
Gunfire erupted in the distance.
Was that Jaxson and the team coming to rescue us?
The lights flickered in the basement, and the three of us sat huddled together on the floor.
“We move the girls, now!” Ben’s voice echoed as he hurried down the basement stairs.
Behind him, a half-dozen men with guns ushered us out of the prison cells and to follow them outside.
Hazel and I quickly stood and helped Harper to her feet.
“She stays,” the man with the bushy eyebrows said, pointing at Harper.
“Are you sure?” Ben asked the other man. “We could get double for her.”
“These men don’t want babies. They want sex. I’ll make some calls, see if we can find a buyer outside of our usual channels.”
“No,” I said, and stepped in front of Harper.
Was I helping her or making things worse by leaving her behind with these monsters?
I wanted to protect Harper, but I felt the barrel of Ben’s gun against my head. I heard the click of the safety being turned off.
“Don’t tempt me, sweetheart,” he said, his breath against my ear as he leaned in and grabbed my arm.