Page 82

“Yes.”

I need to believe that.

I slip into the corridor.

The first guard is still at the far end.

I move quietly toward the next door.

The key ring contains more than a dozen keys.

The third one works.

I open the door.

Four girls stare at me.

One has blood dried along the side of her face.

“Quiet,” I whisper.

They don't move.

“I'm not with them.”

A girl near the back looks at the gun in my hand.

“Then who are you?”

“Someone trying to get you out.”

I point toward the room behind me.

“Go in there. Stay quiet.”

They move.

Fast.

Nine girls.

The next door holds three more.

Twelve.

My hands begin to shake.

Twelve girls.

And those are only the rooms in this corridor.

I unlock another.

Empty.

The next contains two girls.

Fourteen.