Approaching the warehouse was always the most difficult. It was open ground. She checked for any parked vans, SUVs, cars or trucks nearby. She knew the rhythm of the place, the traffic, and there was very little. All the parked vehicles were ones she was familiar with. She darted across the street, making it to the shadows between buildings where she stopped again and inhaled to try to find any unfamiliar scents. There were none. She stepped up to her door and quickly hit the keypad to unlock it and step inside.

The dark enclosed her. At nearly four in the morning, outside the light was beginning to try to streak through the dark. Inside, her cocoon of darkness held. She rushed to her bedroom and threw herself on the bed, heart beating fast, fists clenched tight. Her eyes burned, but there were no tears. She would never cry again. Never, ever.

Life was all about acceptance. She’d known, when she’d managed her escape from Rafe, that if he caught her, the possibility was huge that he’d kill her. She also knew if he didn’t he’d never let her go. All avenues of escape would be shut down. Truthfully, she doubted she’d find the courage to go against him again.

Catarina pressed her fingers to her eyes. So she had to leave. She had to go and leave it all behind. She’d traded bad for a semi-life and that had to be enough. Straightening her shoulders, she sat up and pulled her travel bag from under the bed. She had two of them. One was empty, the other was her emergency bag. It had money and enough clothes to give her a start somewhere. She set the emergency bag by the door of her room and began filling the empty one. She had to choose carefully. Her clothes were all from thrift stores. She didn’t go to malls or anywhere one might buy a new pair of jeans, but she always loved the items she bought. Still, traveling light was always the key. She hated leaving behind her boots. She only had one pair and she’d paid more money for them than she had most of her clothes combined. But she had to travel light.

When she had the travel bag nearly packed, she opened the safe and counted out the money. She had saved nearly a thousand dollars toward the debt she owed Rafe. With that and her own money, plus her emergency funds, she had enough to take her a few states away.

Catarina changed to her sleeping sweats and tank. She couldn’t go out in daylight, that would be a disaster. Somehow she had to go to sleep. As she stretched out on the bed, the door alarm sounded—a long, horrific noise that made her jump out of her skin.