The hours she had waited for Olivia to return had been like an eternity. Her mind had run rampant, creating horrific scenes of what the Recruiter might be doing to Olivia. Now that Olivia was back, Greyson was on edge. She needed to do something. She needed to feel like she was working toward something. Desperate, Greyson jumped up and began shoving the chairs around. “I’ve got to do something before I lose my mind.”
She stacked the chairs on top of a table bolted to the wall, trying to build something high enough to reach the window. The chairs were molded aluminum and not very heavy, but they seemed sturdy enough to hold her. She guessed the guards used these chairs because they couldn’t be broken down into weapons and were too lightweight on their own to do much damage.
“What are you doing?” Olivia said from behind her.
“I can’t take it anymore. I have to see outside. I have to see the sun. I have to know the world still exists out there.” Now that she had set her mind to a plan, Greyson was consumed by her need. She felt something brush the back of her arm and turned to find Olivia holding out another chair.
Olivia smiled up at her. “Can I help?”
Greyson smiled back, thankful Olivia hadn’t tried to stop her. Everyone else always shut her down every time she did something out of bounds.
“You think I’m losing it, don’t you?” Greyson asked.
Olivia shrugged. “I’d have to go back to thinking you were in on this if you weren’t. I know I feel like this place is crawling under my skin. Sometimes I think I can hear him talking inside my head. Some sunshine would be good.”
Greyson held out her hand. “Want to go first?”
Olivia smiled. “You sure?”
“Why not?” Greyson answered.
Olivia took Greyson’s hand, allowing herself to be pulled up on the table. Greyson climbed onto the next level of a jumble of chairs. Olivia glanced around to see the others had started to gather around them.
Samone called out to Greyson, “Is this your big escape plan? Are you going to crawl through the window?”
The women laughed.
Greyson ignored them. “Don’t listen to them. They gave up a long time ago.” Greyson was able to reach the lip of the windowsill. She gripped the sill and braced her knees against the wall.
“Climb up. You can step on my legs and onto my shoulders.”
Olivia held tightly to Greyson, certain they were about to fall.
“It’s okay. I’ve got you,” Greyson said confidently.
Olivia took a deep breath and did as Greyson said. Something in the sound of Greyson’s voice, in her touch, made Olivia believe Greyson could do anything. Olivia pressed her knee into Greyson’s shoulder and pulled herself up to peer out the window. She sighed at the sight before her.
“What is it? What do you see?” Greyson asked.
Olivia gasped. “I see the sun. I see a courtyard surrounded by a white building several stories tall. I see a giant rock and a mountain behind it. There are trees growing on the top.” Olivia sucked in a breath of surprise. “Oh.”
“What?” Greyson asked shakily.
“I need to get down.” Olivia scurried down from her perch, clutching Greyson’s arm. She glanced at the other women staring up at them. “I think I know where we are,” she whispered.
Greyson opened her mouth to speak.
“Shh.” Olivia gestured for Greyson to be quiet. “You look. We’ll talk later.”
Greyson gripped the edge of the window and pulled herself up. She could feel Olivia’s hands against her sides, trying to help lift her. The scene was just as Olivia described. She had to find a way to get access to that courtyard. The more she could learn about this place, the better her chance of finding a way out.
Greyson lowered herself down, feeling Olivia’s fingers slip beneath her T-shirt, grazing her sides. Goose bumps peppered Greyson’s skin as a tingling sensation skimmed across her flesh. She met Olivia’s gaze, not sure what to think of the feelings stirring inside. Greyson pushed the feelings aside. The excitement of learning something new must have her body on overdrive.
“Thanks,” Greyson said breathlessly.
Olivia nodded and started her climb back down the makeshift tower.
Samone grabbed Greyson by the arm as her feet hit the floor. “Did you find the golden road you were looking for?”
Greyson laughed. “Hardly. But I did see something I want.” She started to step away, but Samone’s grip tightened around her arm.
“Be careful, Greyson.”
“Why?” Greyson asked defiantly. “What have I got to lose that they haven’t already taken? I’m already as good as dead.” She pulled her arm away. “Relax. I just wanted some sunlight. I’m not Spider-Man.”
Greyson was sure she could feel Samone’s gaze on her back as she walked away. She looked around to see Ruby watching. She nodded to Ruby. To her surprise, Ruby smiled and nodded back. Did Ruby know what was outside the window? Had she been outside? Was that how she knew about the prison, and the rock?
Greyson couldn’t wait to talk to Olivia. If Olivia had figured out where they were, she might be able to figure a way out. But why had Olivia wanted her to keep it quiet? Greyson studied each woman in the room. Most had returned to the usual routine now that her stunt was over. Ruby didn’t seem too worried, but she continued to watch Greyson. And what was up with Samone? Why had she warned her? It wasn’t like there was any way she could get through the window, and if she could, it was a long way down, and there was nowhere to go.
Greyson went to Ruby. “We need to talk.”
“About?” Ruby said, sounding bored.
“I need to know everything you can tell me about this building. As far as I can tell, you’ve been here longer than anyone. I need to know what you know. We’re running out of time and you know it. One way or another this needs to end. We need a plan.”
Ruby studied her, then trailed her gaze around the room, seeming to watch the other women. “You have to be careful. Not everyone here can be trusted. You aren’t the only one who has made alliances, struck bargains, or made sacrifices.”
Greyson nodded.
Ruby leaned over the table, her voice barely more than a whisper when she spoke. She told Greyson about the different areas of the prison, the strengths and weaknesses she had observed in each area.
Greyson’s heart raced. She felt like she was finally getting somewhere. “Has anyone seen how the deliveries are made? Has anyone made any deals for contraband?”
Ruby glanced around them, as if to make sure no one could hear. “Yes. There are food deliveries, laundry services, and the van that moves the girls…and the bodies. Some of the women trade favors sometimes.”
“Good, we need to know which guards we can manipulate the most—who’s easily distracted and who we can play against the other. How many guards are there? I’ve only seen a handful of men here. This may be a prison, but it isn’t staffed like one. Outside, I didn’t see anyone in the towers, and it’s always the same faces that do the rounds and escort us around. I would bet there are times when they are working with only a few guards in key places. That’s when we don’t see them. They have to have a schedule. We need to figure out when they are most vulnerable.”
Ruby shook her head. “I’ve never seen anyone in the towers. I only know of the men who come to get us and who we see at the fights. Audrey has told us of three others who stay with the Recruiter’s girls.”
Greyson thought for a moment. “There are other men in offices too. I saw the guard that held Olivia at the last fight coming out of an office when they took me to meet with the Recruiter. They must work out of the offices during the day as if this is some kind of business.” Greyson thought hard, needing to know more if she was going to figure this out. “Is there any way to get to that courtyard? Have they ever let anyone out there?” Greyson asked, her excitement growing.
Ruby frowned. “No. We do not go outside. We might be seen. People might start asking quest
ions.”
Greyson thought about what she had learned. “The guards carry batons and Tasers, but I haven’t seen any guns.”
Ruby shook her head. “No, no guns that I’ve seen, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have them.”
Greyson nodded. “It’s a chance we’ll have to take. We’ll have to work together if anything is going to succeed,” Greyson said pointedly. “If we’re going to risk the lives of the others, they need to know.”
Ruby shook her head again. “No. Trust me on this one, Greyson, if you tell them your plan, the Recruiter will know.”
Greyson bit her lip, frustrated. “What if we don’t tell them the true plan? What if they know parts of the plan but don’t know everything? The Recruiter expects me to try something. He’ll be more suspicious if things are too quiet. This is going to take everyone pulling every stunt in the book.”
Ruby drummed her fingers on the table as if visually sorting through the idea in her mind. Finally, she looked up at Greyson. “That might work.”
Greyson sighed. “Okay. Good. You get the girls to work on the guys. I want them distracted. The night of the fight there will be people crawling all over this place.”
Ruby sat back in her chair. “You’re going to get us killed.”
Greyson leaned in, her gaze locked on Ruby’s. “You and I both know if we don’t do this, we’re dead anyway.”
* * *
Olivia couldn’t sleep. She could hear the Recruiter’s voice inside her head. The faces of all the women she had met, the violence she had witnessed and been victim of, played over and over in her mind. She closed her eyes to block out the images, but the Recruiter’s voice remained, taunting her, reminding her that her fate was now tied to Greyson. She was afraid it was all going to drive her crazy. The worst was the fear, the not knowing what would happen next.
She and Greyson hadn’t talked since looking out the window. Olivia needed to talk to Greyson—she needed to tell her about her suspicions about where they were being held.
Olivia slid out of bed, silently moving across the aisle to Greyson’s bunk. She leaned down, gently touching Greyson’s arm. “Greyson.”
Greyson rolled over. “What is it?”
“I need to talk.”
Greyson scooted over to the edge of the bed and pulled the cover back, making room for Olivia.
Olivia hesitated. She hadn’t thought this through. Should she just crawl in bed with Greyson?
“Come on, I won’t bite,” Greyson urged.
Olivia rolled her eyes. Great. She slid into bed, fitting snugly against Greyson in the small cot.
Greyson pulled the blanket back up around them, wrapping her arms around Olivia. “See, this is cozy.”
Olivia was glad Greyson couldn’t see the redness she felt burning her cheeks. “Maybe this was a bad idea.”
“No,” Greyson said, tightening her hold around Olivia. “This is the only way we can talk that no one will be suspicious. Tell me what’s going on. What did you see today? Where are we?”
Olivia wasn’t sure why she had kept it a secret, but something told her this information was safer between her and Greyson. “I think this is an old prison that was shut down a few years ago, not far from where I grew up. I remember old stories about it, and my grandfather used to drive me by here when I was a kid on our way across the mountain to visit family. We used to hear of breakouts here when I was little. Everyone would be warned to lock their doors at night and not let in any strangers. So that means there has to be a way out of this place. The rock we saw today is an obvious dead end, but the road circles around it and crosses the mountain. That’s the back side of what used to be maximum security, and if I’m right, that’s the building we’re in. But the front side is the much older prison and isn’t as well built, and the structure is crumbling. It’s one of the reasons they shut the place down. I’m guessing that’s where the Recruiter keeps his girls and where the individual cells are that you were in when you first got here. I’ve been to the kitchen and the laundry there too. It’s all pretty old. The stairs and railings are rusty and narrow, nothing like we have here.”
Olivia told Greyson everything she knew about the area. “If we can get out, we won’t have to get very far. There are houses nearby. If we could just get far enough to tell someone about what’s happening here, we could shut the whole place down.”
Olivia stopped talking as Greyson brushed the hair away from her face, her fingers lightly skimming across her skin. The touch was unexpected and took Olivia’s breath. She was completely caught off guard by Greyson’s tenderness. The warmth of Greyson’s body pressed against her pushed through her skin into her heart, loosening the grip of fear.
“I have to tell you something.” Olivia struggled with whether to tell Greyson about her talk with the Recruiter.
Greyson shifted, her thigh brushing between Olivia’s legs. It was brief, and only an accident, but the sensation made Olivia’s head spin and her heart race.
“What is it?” Greyson whispered close to her ear. Hot breath brushed Olivia’s skin. Olivia shivered.
“Tell me,” Greyson urged.
Olivia took a moment to gather herself. She wasn’t sure why this was happening now, but something was changing. Olivia had come to Greyson expecting to talk about what she had learned, and possibly to tell Greyson about the Recruiter’s message. But now that she was there, she couldn’t bring herself to tell Greyson. She swallowed. “I’m worried about you. About the fight.” She felt Greyson stiffen. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to upset you, but I know you’re up to something. If you’re planning something, I want in on it. I need to believe there’s a way out of here.”
“Don’t worry.” Greyson brushed her hand up and down Olivia’s back. The contact was soothing and distracted her from the reality around her. Olivia felt nice against her. She shifted and thought she heard a hitch in Olivia’s breathing.
“Greyson, I don’t think I can make it here without you.”
Greyson peered through the dark, trying to see the meaning behind Olivia’s words. “I don’t think you have to worry. I’ve been going along with the program. If anything happens to me, you’re off the hook.”
Olivia pinched her arm. “Don’t say that. You know that’s not true. I’m stuck here with or without you. I just…I really don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“Why?” Greyson asked. She could hear the urgency in Olivia’s voice, feel the tension in her body, but she needed to know why.
“You’re my last connection with the real world.” Olivia’s voice cracked when she spoke. “Even though running into you that day basically ruined my life, for that brief encounter, you were a part of my life, my real life. I had dreamed of seeing you again. I wanted to hear about your adventures on the trail. Even though we only had that one day, you became part of my future. You keep me tethered to that dream. I’m afraid if I lose you, I’ll never have that again.”
Greyson pulled Olivia’s head to her shoulder and held her. She was surprised by Olivia’s revelation. She knew Olivia was scared, and she half expected her to still blame her for the situation they were in, but she hadn’t expected Olivia to want to have her in her life, even if it was a life of captivity and torture.
“You’re going to have that life again. This isn’t forever. We’ll figure a way out of this,” Greyson said, relishing the comfort of holding Olivia.
Olivia slid her arm around Greyson and sighed. Olivia’s breath was warm against Greyson’s neck. Greyson wanted to believe what she was telling Olivia was true. She wanted to believe there was a way home. For now, she would hold on to this moment of peace and comfort in the arms of a woman whose fate was in her hands.
Olivia sighed. “Did you get to go on the AT?”
Greyson stilled. “Yes. I was two weeks into my hike before he took me. Didn’t you get the postcard I sent you?”
Olivia lifted her head to look at Greyson. “You sent me a postcard?”
&nbs
p; Greyson nodded. “I did. I wanted you to know I was thinking about you. I thought about you a lot.”
Olivia smiled. “Really?”
“Yeah. I was looking forward to seeing you again.”
Olivia settled her head against Greyson’s shoulder. “Tell me about the mountains.”
Greyson stroked Olivia’s hair. “It was peaceful. During the day the birds sang to me along the trail. Some days the heat and humidity made it feel like I was being baked in an oven, but then the night would cool so I had to burrow deep into my sleeping bag to stay warm. At night the birds grew quiet and the night sounds took over. Cicadas, frogs, owls, and even the occasional yip of a fox or a coyote were like a wild symphony. Nothing compares to the smell of the earth and forest after a soaking rain.”
“It sounds like heaven,” Olivia said as she gripped the seam of Greyson’s shirt. “I’m glad you got to see it. I wish we were there now.”
Greyson closed her eyes and breathed in the scent of Olivia’s hair. “Me too.” Greyson closed her eyes, losing herself in her memories. “I’ll take you there someday when all of this is over. We’ll sleep under the stars where there are no walls and you have the freedom to do whatever you want.”
Olivia’s breathing changed, signaling she had drifted off to sleep. Greyson smiled, allowing herself to rest. She had to believe the dream could be real, and they would be free again. Greyson fell asleep cradling Olivia in her arms.
Chapter Thirteen
Greyson gripped the cell bars in her fists. “Come on, Uncle Dan, you’ve got to help me out. I’m going nuts in here. Man, if you knew anything about me, you’d know I have to be outside. My whole life was about nature and sunshine and being outdoors. I feel like I’m going to lose it in here.”
“No. No one goes out,” the old man answered.
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