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For one terrible second, I’m nineteen again.
Standing in an empty house.
Too late.
Not this time.
I look at Taylor.
“Turn around.”
He doesn’t hesitate.
The truck slides sideways across the dirt.
Arthur grabs the handle above the door.
“What about the van?”
“Vega and state police have it.”
“And us?”
I look toward the mountain.
“We get Hayley.”
Taylor floors it.
We race back toward Silver Crown.
And for the first time in eighteen years, nothing stands between Hayley and me except a few miles of desert and the men stupid enough to think they can keep us apart.
8
HAYLEY
The lock turns.
Every girl in the room freezes.
I move away from the door before it opens.
My broken restraint hangs loosely around one wrist. I curl my hand behind my back so whoever enters won’t see that I’m free.
The youngest girl grabs my jacket.
“Stay behind me,” I whisper.
The door swings inward.
A guard fills the opening.
“Everybody up.”
Nobody moves.
His gaze travels across the room.
