Panic, I thought. The panic button—where? My backpack was somewhere tucked under the front passenger seat. If I could get to it, if I could reach the door—

“Yeah?” Liam spat. “And what’s the going rate for me these days? How much did it get cut back when it took you three weeks to finally catch up to us?”

Her smile faltered, but returned with far more teeth than before. “You’re still at a healthy two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, love. You should feel proud of that. You barely fetched me ten thousand the first time around.”

Liam was vibrating with rage, too choked up to speak. I heard his breath catch in this throat. I suddenly understood how he had known so much about her—this was the same woman who had captured him before.

“You can’t imagine my surprise when your name popped back up in the bounty database—and with that kind of reward? It seems that you’ve gotten yourself in a fair bit of trouble since we last met.”

“Yeah, well,” Liam said, his voice rough. “I do my best.”

“But, darling, how could you be stupid enough to go back to that place? Didn’t you think I’d look for you there?” The woman tilted her head again. “Your friends were only too willing to tell me where you were headed and why in exchange for letting them go. Lake Prince, is it?”

My pain gave way again to fear. If she finds East River… God, I couldn’t even imagine the consequences.

Liam could, from the look of it. His knuckles were white with the effort it took him to keep his fingers clutched in his hair.

“If I can pull in that much for you, imagine what I’ll get for a whole camp full of kids,” she said. “Enough to finally buy my way home, I think, so thank you for that. You have no idea what kind of funds it takes to get an official to look the other way and admit someone from a disease-ridden country.”

The next second of silence that passed was deafening, only because I knew exactly what he would say next.

“If you let them all go, you can have me,” he said, both hands still on his head. “I won’t give you any trouble.”

“No!” Chubs shouted. “Don’t—”

The woman didn’t even need a moment to consider it. “You think I’m going to do you any favors? No, Liam Stewart, I’m going to take all of you, even that girl of yours—maybe you should consider her condition before you try to bargain?”

His eyes slid my way, taking in the blood streaking down my face. I tried to keep my vision straight as I took the tiniest step forward.

“I don’t know where you came from, little girl, but I can assure you that where you’re going won’t be nearly as pleasant.”

I’m not going back.

None of us were. Not if I could help it.

“Come here,” she said, her eyes on me but her gun still trained on Liam. “You first, little girl. I’ll take special care of you.”