Horrified, I gape at her.
"I've worn hardly anything on stage. I just pretend I'm in a concert to get through it."
"I don't want to give them the satisfaction—"
"Vanessa, don't make them angry. I did the first night I got here." Her voice is firm with warning.
"What did they do?"
"Zoe, out!" the man yells.
"Just do what they say," Zoe instructs. "I'll see you at dinner, and we'll talk in the pit with the others after."
"The others?"
"Yeah. Penelope and Julieta."
Goose bumps break out on my skin. There are more women here?
"They won't be at dinner?"
Her face falls. "No. They'll be fed scraps. Be grateful you'll at least get a good meal tonight. Santiago is fed like a king. The rest of his guys mostly fend for themselves and rely on whatever they can catch. It's not always cooked all the way. It might be a while until you get anything else you can stomach."
"Zoe, now!" The man yells.
She groans. "Gotta go. See you tonight. And shave until you're bald." Zoe winks and leaves me in the river to finish.
I follow her directions and remove all my hair. It takes a while, and when I'm done, I get out. The man hands me a dress and high heels.
Is this a joke? He wants me to wear stilettos in the jungle?
How does he even know my sizes?
Santiago was planning on buying me.
I've been bought.
For the first time since arriving, the realization hits me like a brick. Santiago owns me. At first, it was Carlos. Then the guerrillas.
I'm never going to be free again.
If only I had never met Carlos Garcia.
But I can't go back in time. Santiago knows I'm a keeper of secrets. I quickly need to figure out what secrets to tell him and what to keep to myself.
Both sides of the war are dangerous, but if Carlos does ever capture me from Santiago's possession, I need to make sure I haven't divulged anything that can lead back to me. I don't want to experience his wrath in that situation.
Either way, I'm going to end up dead. Santiago, Carlos, guerrillas, or the other Global Leaders are going to one day end my life. And none of them will give me a merciful death.
For hours, I sit at a table with a linen cloth and candles. As much as I don't want to enjoy anything, the meal I eat is the first in months that tastes delicious. Santiago fills my wineglass and makes me drink. Steak cooked to perfection and fresh fish fill my plate. I eat every last bite. The flavor of the meat bursts on my taste buds. I almost groan from the deliciousness.
Zoe sings softly throughout dinner. When we finish eating, they whisk her away. Her voice echoes in the night with songs faster than what she sang during the meal.
The roar of Santiago's men fills my ears while he intently fixates on me, waiting for me to give him more information on Carlos, Jonas Torres, and the other Global Leaders.
Jonas Torres is the drug lord in Belize who's acquired territory that used to be Santiago's. The Global Leaders are heads of nations that have banded together to create a unified order. Some of them are known Communists. Many of them keep their membership a secret and run the biggest countries in the world.
They all want control and the riches that are acquired by stealing and dictating the rules of their people. But they don't just want to rule their people. They want to rule the world population and will stop at nothing until they get control.
Carlos Garcia is one of these men, hidden in the Communist closet. He, like many Belizean politicians, has sided with Jonas Torres, and is looking to shut Santiago's cartel out of Belize but also other parts of the world. But his actions go deeper than just helping Torres expand his drug operation. He's sided with other Global Leaders, and their plan is in motion.
The guerrillas don't agree with the changes that are occurring, and they sided with Santiago. Somehow, Santiago has caught wind of whose side Carlos is on. As he waits for me to divulge information, the pit in my stomach grows.
When the guerrillas kidnapped me, it was to send a message to Carlos. The knowledge I have is powerful. It's detailed. Carlos never excluded me from conversations. He underestimated what could happen. The guerrillas and Santiago realized Carlos's error. Now, I am a weapon to help take him down.
But when I no longer have any more information to feed Santiago, what happens to me then?
2
Hunter
"Get in, get your target, get out," Andre Lòpez, my former Marine buddy and team leader with Interpol instructs.
I've got the hot blonde woman, Vanessa.
She's been missing for eight months.
Don't flip out on me.
For ten years, I've rescued women and men from all over the world. While I've safely delivered all the targets I've been assigned, some are so severely traumatized, that when I rescued them, they had a meltdown. A few times, it almost compromised the mission.
"I'm in the mood to kill some bastards today. Let me take the right side," I tell Andre.
"Done. Don't miss."
"I never miss." It's a cocky statement, but one any guy on the team would say but also be able to back up.
It's pitch black, so we have our night-vision goggles on. Andre holds up his finger and leads us through the jungle. After several minutes, he stops.
There are about three dozen men in Santiago's crew, between guarding the perimeter and inside his camp. Satellite surveillance from earlier gave us a good view of things beforehand, and scanning the scene, everything looks like it matches our intel.
Andre moves his hand down, and I take out three guys with my silenced handgun. They drop to the ground like dominos.
See you in hell.
One by one, Santiago's crew is killed, until it's reduced to a third of the size. A kid guards the hole in the ground where they are keeping the women. He doesn't appear old enough to drive.
Sorry, kid, but you chose the wrong side. A bullet flies through his head and he falls to the ground.
Santiago and his men are around a campfire, laughing and being loud, as if they are drunk.
I should end his life. One squeeze...
Lòpez will kill me. I could ruin the operation.
But he deserves to die.
Stick with the plan. The last time I didn't follow orders, I almost got kicked off the team. I need to be smart.
Malin grabs the ladder and lowers it into the hole. I continue to scan the area.
Three of Santiago's crew begin walking toward us. They are far enough away and it's dark, so they can't see us. I take out one of them, and the other two are simultaneously shot by others on our team.
Andre goes into the pit, and the women come out one by one.
Not mine.
Not mine.
Still not mine.
I continue watching Santiago's men that are still alive. I know Kalim and the other half of our team will protect us, but my guard never goes down.
There she is.
Mine.
Her blonde head peeks out of the hole, nervously glancing up and around. And my heart almost stops.
She's a beautiful flower.
I was wrong. She's not hot. She's a sexy goddess that I want to...
What is wrong with me? I need to get my head out of my ass. I'm on a mission. This isn't Tinder.