She was pretty sure her mother had never acted like Penny. She stopped herself from speculating about the girl. She was not getting to know her roommate. She glanced toward the closed and locked door. Cellmate.

The muffled sound of boots running came through the door. Jewel sat up.

“What’s happening?” Penny asked.

Jewel ignored her. She got up and pressed her ear to the door. Men were running.

“Get the girls,” one yelled.

Sweat broke out under Jewel’s arms as she backed away from the door. Something was going on. Penny sat up on her cot. Her belly fell between her open thighs. Had it gotten bigger in one day? Her belly button was popping through the T-shirt. Penny cradled it with one hand and pushed off her cot with the other. She waddled to stand next to Jewel.

The door banged open. A man with a rifle passed. “Everybody out. Move it.”

Jewel shuffled toward the door. Penny hung behind her. In the hallway, girls paused, eyes wide. A few clung to each other.

“Move it!” a man shouted.

Girls flinched. They shuffled in a pack down the halls. The men herded them into the loading area like livestock. A truck was backed into the cavernous space, the tractor portion extending through the open bay door. A cool breeze blew under the vehicle and chilled Jewel’s bare feet. She looked past the truck at the darkness outside. It was night.

The back door of the vehicle gaped open. The engine was still running. Jewel froze. A man pushed past the girls, not looking at them. Instinct stopped her feet.

She could not get into that truck. Her gaze was drawn back to the darkness. She gave her surroundings a furtive scan. The men seemed distracted. One ran by, carrying a gas can in each hand. They were going to burn the warehouse down.

They were cleaning up loose ends.

Jewel watched the first of the girls climb the ladder into the trailer portion of the eighteen-wheeler. There were at least thirty loose ends right there.

She sidled to the edge of the group. Penny grabbed her arm, her grip tight and scared.

Damn it.

A girl fell off the ladder.

The man in charge of loading the girls reached down to haul her to her feet. “Move it.” He changed position, moving to the base of the ladder to shove each girl into the truck as she hoisted herself up the ladder. His back was to Jewel.

She slipped along the side of the truck and peeked around the doorframe. No one was outside. She glanced back at the group. Penny was looking for her. There were no other men in sight except the one with his back to her.

No. The massively pregnant girl would slow her down. Jewel took a step through the doorway.

Shit.