He had indicated Britney, and one of his men freed her from the cuffs. It took a while for the girl to realize that it wasn’t a good thing. Nikki watched in horror as the drama played out. Britney’s eyes grew wide and her face blanched. Her pitiable whimpers gave way to shrieks of panic when one of the men started to yank her by the scruff of her neck toward the set of double doors at the end of the corridor. Beyond that, Nikki had no idea what lay in store for Britney, who managed to dig in her heels and drag her feet, flailing her thin arms.
“No…please…
The girl’s body writhed in frenzy, fighting back against the man who held her. Her face had reddened and twisted into a mix of venom and sheer terror when she saw Nikki couldn’t help.
Speaking to the Russian, the girl cried, “Why me? Why not one of them?” The kid would do and say anything to save herself, and her fear spread like a contagion.
“What about you?” The Russian grinned at Nikki, then at the other girl. “Would either of you go in her place?”
His offer shocked her. Nikki sucked air into her lungs and held it in, and when she didn’t speak up, the man laughed. “I thought so.”
The Russian bent down and poked Nikki’s chin, a mean jab of his finger.
“You see how it is? Here, there are no friends.” He narrowed his eyes. “She would kill you herself if she thought it would do her good.” He pointed at Britney. “That one is no saint.”
Two men hauled Britney away, kicking and screaming. Her cries echoed down the corridor, magnifying the horror. Seeing it happen had gripped Nikki hard, but knowing she had a chance to step in and didn’t do it ripped something from her soul. And she couldn’t live with that.
“Take me instead,” she blurted, surprising herself. “I’ll go in her place.”
She said it loud enough for everyone to hear. The words came from her mouth as if someone else had spoken them. Down the hall, the two men holding Britney stopped and turned. And for a brief moment the girl quit crying and looked over her shoulder, tears streaking her face.
Nikki exhaled and waited for the Russian’s answer. The man squared his shoulder and raised his chin, looking surprised. Eventually, he glared at her.
“Too late. You had your chance to save her.” He jutted his chin to the two men down the hall—the equivalent of an order—and they continued their trek to the double doors with Britney in tow.
“It’s not too late,” Nikki pleaded. “Please.” She made a step toward the Russian, lugging the handcuffed girl with her.
“What are you doing?” the young girl next to her protested. “Are you crazy?”
Two men held Nikki back, as if she posed a threat, but down the hall Britney wailed—a gut-wrenching and pitiable sound. Now Nikki could barely breathe. Her heart hammered inside her chest, an incessant and frantic pulse. Once they dragged Britney beyond the double doors, Nikki only heard her muffled screams until they faded to nothing. Dead silence.
And just like that, she was gone. The finality of it left Nikki drained—and sick. Slowly, she looked up into the malicious eyes of the Russian. She knew he’d been watching her, and as expected, the bastard stared back with smug amusement.
“I said I’d take her place. Why would you offer that if you had no intention of letting it happen?” she asked. “That was beyond cruel.”
He let a moment pass before he replied.
“Frankly, I didn’t think you’d do it, but I have a whole new appreciation for your stupidity.” He stepped closer and whispered, “I have found that people only disappoint. They are not worth a sacrifice of any kind, but how would you know this? You are only a foolish girl.”
He stepped back and grimaced, an expression that became a humorless smirk. “Besides, I have plans for you.”
With his men still holding her arms, he tapped a finger to the tip of her nose, a humiliating and dismissive gesture. “You will learn a new definition for the word ‘cruel.’ I will teach you this, yes?”
Bile rose hot in Nikki’s belly as she fought for control. She clenched her teeth and blinked back tears, searching her mind for something to express the depth of her outrage, but nothing would come.
“I wouldn’t want you to feel left out,” the Russian added, measuring his hostile glare equally between the girls. “You will know exactly what happened to that girl.” He smirked and with a wink muttered, “I will see to it… personally.”
Before Nikki could say anything more, she was manhandled down another corridor with the other girl, who looked numb and in shock. Behind another set of double doors, they would wait their turn—to find out what Britney already knew.
Nikki had always heard people say that “not knowing was the worst,” but she had a feeling that in this case they’d be wrong.
Downtown Chicago
Early morning
“I don’t know where you got these extra pages, but you really scored, girl.”
On her cell phone, Alexa recognized the voice of Tanya Spencer, an analyst she’d worked with on other assignments and trusted with her personal investigation of Globe Harvest. She’d met the black woman a handful of times and was always impressed by her intelligence, but her molasses thick southern accent and familiar tone made Tanya feel more like a friend.
“So tell me, what do I win?” Alexa grinned. “A trip to the Bahamas?”
“Damn, I’d like to score me some of that. I could use a little R and R myself.” Tanya sighed into the phone. “But you and me have to settle for the big picture, honey. You added fifteen more locales to the grand scheme of things. We had a couple of bogus locations, but the rest look viable. I’d say that was good work.”
After she left the bounty hunter’s apartment, she’d sent the pages to Tanya in an encrypted file that she launched off her laptop into cyberspace. Wound too tight to catch some z’s, she found herself at a twenty-four-hour cafe drinking way too much coffee and reading an old newspaper. She’d been bored out of her skull until Tanya called with her rushed analysis.
“Bogus locations?” Alexa asked. “How do you know that?”
“My guess is they were input errors,” Tanya offered. “When we did further checking to verify the information, a couple of coordinates didn’t pan out. One was smack dab in the middle of an ocean, and another one was too remote for the operational needs of our target. We did some homework with satellite surveillance on that one, as I recall. But when we pay a call, you know we like the advantage in our favor. We don’t mess with second best. It’s not worth the effort or the risk. And you know how partial we are to the word ‘discreet.’”
Even though they spoke on a high-tech encrypted phone, Tanya never used names and was always careful not to say anything that would divulge classified information.
“But cheer up,” the woman continued. “We’ve got plenty on our plate. You done good, baby girl.”
Added to the few locales she had before, Alexa had now identified a total of eighteen facilities to look at. A major hit list. Coordinating a simultaneous assault on that many locations would constitute a significant operation. She’d have to involve Garrett now, and convince him that her Globe Harvest investigation was worthy of his attention.
The thrill of the hunt always stirred her blood, and with what she’d learned, Alexa could barely contain herself. Her hard work and perseverance was about to pay off, thanks to the help of Jessica Beckett, a local yokel with plenty of grit.
“I’ll take it from here. Thanks for—” Before she could finish, Tanya interrupted her.
“The order’s been given. I’ve already provided the coordinates to the man himself. He said to give your work top priority—as if I wouldn’t do that anyway. Didn’t you know all this? He made it seem like you did.”
“Yeah, well…we don’t always speak the same lingo, you know what I mean?” Alexa hated to look like she
