The big man took a step forward, looming over her.

“Get back onto your bed and shut up. If you make me come back in here, you’ll wish you’d never been born!”

Celine thought for the briefest of moments about trying to run past him but knew she would never make it. The guy just about filled the doorway and despite his size, moved as quick as any one she’d ever seen.

She trembled with fear as she held out a placatory hand. Celine received a glare that chilled her blood. The big man pointed a single finger at her bunk.

“Move!”

She limped back to her bed. As she lowered herself onto the firmness of the mattress she dared another look at the man. He had moved to one of the other girls in the room. With little care of causing injury, he opened her eyelids. His rough hands. Seemingly satisfied that she was still unconscious, he again pointed at Celine.

Words were unnecessary for the warning to be clear.

He closed the door behind him and Celine heard the distinctive click as a lock was engaged. The sound of despair.

Sitting on the bed, Celine scrutinised the room again. The ceiling was solid, no tiles or vents to be loosened or removed. The only window was a simple rectangle, the glass reinforced with a check-pattern of wire. She remembered seeing similar glass in some of the doors at the dance studio she attended a few years earlier.

Above the locked door, a small inverted dome caught her attention. She knew what it was the moment she saw it.

A camera.

Somebody was watching. They were watching.

16

As the Jeep bumped along the uneven road, Danny regarded his brother with an air of amusement. “You know, even I got a fright when you burst through that door, and I knew you were coming. Very nearly put streaks in my breeks. Stripping to the waist was a bit over the top, though.”

Clay, now back in his shirt, returned a wry smile. He flexed the muscles of his right arm. “I thought it might add a dramatic flair, get their attention.”

“Get their attention? They damn near shat tacos!”

Clay raised both palms along with an eyebrow. “Then I guess it worked.”

Danny laughed. “Subtle as a sledgehammer, but yeah, it worked.”

“There’s a time for the stiletto and there’s a time for the wreckin’ ball. I didn’t think the Pancho Villa fan club would appreciate my subtle side.”

Danny made a show of looking behind his brother. “You mean you’ve got one?”

Glowering at his younger brother, Clay huffed, “Watch it, doofus, or I’ll knock the haggis right out of you.”

“Nice, more subtlety. Who said that, Mother Teresa?”

Clay reduced his voice to a rasping whisper. “Steven Seagal. You’re playing with the big boys now.”

“Should I be concerned?”

“Not if you pass me one of those candies off the back seat.”

Danny reached his hand into the grocery bag and retrieved a bar. “Butterfinger okay?”

“I never met a candy bar I didn’t like.”

“Yeah, I’ve noticed.”

Clay held out his hand like a surgeon waiting for a scalpel. He accepted the candy bar and devoured it in three bites.