in the line, the heat pressing against her skull like a vice. Her lips were cracked and dry. A

l crumpled to the ground beside a guard, who stood impassively, the heavy wooden stock of his rifle resting on his should

reached out with a thick, calloused hand. He grabbed Haley's jaw, his fingers digging painfully into her cheeks. He wrenched her face side to side, his eyes scanning her features with the cold, calculating detachment of a man inspecting a piece of machinery. Haley kept her eyes fixed on the top button of his shirt. Her chest rose and fell in shallow, rapid breaths. She kept her facial muscles entirely slack. Rico's thumb pressed against her lower lip, forcing h

dragging her across the wet dirt. Haley stumbled, trying to keep her feet under her. She opened her mouth, her voice cracking. "Where are you taking me?" The older woman, Alma, turned and swung her

e fabric. The sound of the thick cotton tearing echoed off the concrete walls. Haley's arms instinctively crossed over her chest, her hands clutching her shoulders. A hot tear slipped down her cheek, cutting a clean line through the dirt on her face. Alma ripped the remaining fabric away, leaving Haley standing on the cold, wet concrete, the sudden exposure making her feel utterly fragile. Alma placed a heavy hand on Haley's shoulder and shoved her backward. Haley

inued to pound against her back. The image of Richard sitting in the airport, counting the crisp hundred-dollar bills he had pulled from an envelope, flashed behind Haley's eyelids. The memory was a spark. The spark caught on the humiliation, the pain, the freezing cold, and ignited into a massive, roaring fire in her chest. Haley's eyes snapped open. The panic in her pupils hardened into something sharp and cold. She uncurled her body. She pushed herself up from the floor, planting her bare feet firmly on the wet concrete. She straightened her spine, dropping her

ley's wet hair. She dragged a wide-toothed comb brutally through the tangles, pulling hard enough to make Haley's scalp burn. Then, Alma grabbed Haley's left wrist. She snapped a thick plastic band around it. The band emitted a sharp, electronic beep as the locking mechanism engaged. It was a barcode. Haley stared at the black lines and the numbers printed beneath them. The pla