That left the glass.

The panel opposite the free end of the door was untrimmed and maybe three-eighths of an inch thick. Jack pulled out his glass cutter and knelt. Leaning into the cutter, he scored an arc into the glazed surface, starting two feet up on the free edge and running down to the floor. Worked the diamond tip back and forth half a dozen times in the same groove, hot work that sweated up his hands inside the leather gloves. Next he cut a straight score along the floor line. That done, he lay back and gave the section a quick sharp kick. Once. Twice. On the third try the quarter-round piece of glass cracked along the scores and flopped inward onto the carpet.

Jack crawled through, then peeked into the main corridor to give it a careful twice-over. No visible security camera and no likely places to hide one. Good.

He straightened his warm-up and went hunting the lords of Berzerkdom.

16

“You didn’t eat,” the girl squeaked.

Nadia sat next to Doug on the cot and sized her up where she stood in the doorway of the trailer. She had a high-pitched voice and an undersized head, made smaller-looking by the tight ponytail she wore. She didn’t seem too bright, and looked so frail Nadia was sure she could bowl her over and leap to freedom through the open door. But Nadia was also sure that even she and Doug together would never get by the pair of hulking dog-faced roustabouts standing a few feet outside.

“I can’t,” Nadia said.

Half an hour ago the girl had brought them each two hamburgers, two hot dogs, and large cups of fruit punch—all from the concession stand, Nadia was sure. Doug had eaten his, but Nadia could barely look at it.

“You must. Oz says so.”

“It’s too hot,” Nadia said, hoping to keep her talking. The longer she lingered, the longer the door would stay open, allowing fresh air to waft through the stuffy interior. “And I’m scared.”

“Aw,” the girl said with what sounded like genuine compassion. “Don’t be scared. Oz is nice.”

“Who’s this Oz?” Doug said, putting his hand on Nadia’s thigh and leaning forward.

“He’s the boss.” Her tone said, Everybody knows that.

“But why did he kidnap us? Why is he keeping us here?”

A shrug. “I don’t know. But he’s feeding you good, right? And he gave you a nice trailer.”

Nadia lowered her voice. “Can you help us out of here? Please?”

“Oh, no!” The girl’s hand flew to her mouth and she started backing away. “I could never do that! Oz would be so mad!”

“Would he hurt you?”

“Us? No, Oz would never hurt us. He protects us; he helps us.”

“Then help us. Please!”

“No-no-no!” she said. She turned and jumped through the door. “No-no-no-no-no!”

“Wait!” Nadia said, rising, but one of the roustabouts slammed the door in her face. Fighting back tears, she slumped back onto the cot and leaned against Doug. “What are we going to do?”