The door to her room slammed open, and an irate Vasquez stepped in, followed by the scrawny, tattooed henchman who had leered at her since her incarceration. Whatever intentions sat behind his eyes; she was sure they were deeply troubling. Behind them, she could see another man dressed in a nice suit. Only his shirt was stained with blood. Judging from the bloody rag he held to his nose and the bruising around his nose, the blood belonged to him.

Vasquez stomped towards Alex; his eyes wide with anger.

‘Your friend. Who is he?’

‘What do you mean?’

The back of Vasquez’s hand connected with Alex’s cheek with such a velocity, it sent her sprawling off her chair. The pain was instant and caused her eyes to water.

‘Sam Pope,’ Vasquez spat. ‘You tell me now, or I’ll let Emilio have his way with you.’

Alex looked up at the vulgar man, who made his intention noticeably clear by grabbing his crotch. She pushed herself back up to her chair, collected the saliva in her mouth, and spat it out onto the floor.

‘You have the Internet, right?’ Alex smirked. ‘Look him up.’

Vasquez ran his hand across his mouth, wiping away the froth that had grown with rage. Agitated, he pulled out his phone and tapped the screen. As the search returned its results, Alex smiled as Vasquez’s eyes flickered with worry. It was only a split second, and despite his best efforts to hide it, he knew Alex had seen.

‘Yeah. You boys are in trouble.’

‘Shut up, you bitch,’ Vasquez snapped. He turned to the man with the broken nose. ‘We progress as before. If Pope shows up, I want you to put a bullet in his head. Do you hear me, Raul?’

Vasquez berated his right-hand man in Spanish. Although Alex didn’t understand, she could infer that it wasn’t a compliment. Vasquez turned and stomped from the room, closely followed by Raul who followed like an obedient puppy. Emilio lingered for a few more moments, blowing Alex a kiss, which sent a shiver down her spine. A shadow filled the room, and the hulking presence of Edinson filled the doorway. His eyes locked on the scrawny man.

Although Edinson didn’t speak, the message was clear.

Emilio lowered his head, scuttling to the door and uneasily sliding around Edinson who made a point of standing in his way.

Once the man had got by, Edinson shot a final glance at Alex before slamming the door shut. Alex realised she was holding her breath and let out a deep sigh.

She’d made poor decisions her whole life. Most of them for the right reasons, but none that had ever landed her in as much peril as she was in now. Locked in an unknown location, a captive for a violent drug gang.

The threat of sexual assault hung heavy in the air.

The promise of death, almost an inevitability.