“You did well. I’ll send Kelsey in; we’ll clean you up and get you something to eat. You can rest for a bit before we go and meet Nate.”

“You won’t hurt him, right?” Leslie asked.

There was no way Mo would harm Nate. At least not yet. He deserved a chance to prove his loyalty. Leslie didn’t need to know that. “Of course not. You know that boy is precious to me. I would never lay a hand on him.”

Leslie’s relief was instantaneous. “I screwed up, Mo. I see that now. But I swear nothing like this will ever happen again.”

“I know, darling girl,” Mo said as she stepped out of
the tent. She spotted Vic nearby, inhaling deeply on a
Marlboro, his dark eyes heavy and tired. This was taking a toll on all of them. She hoped they could all get some rest soon.

“What’s the story?” Vic asked.

“The good news is I know where to find Nate.”

“I can’t believe he left us. It’s fucking wrong, Mo.”

Poor, sweet Vic. Such a loyal, caring soul. “I understand you’re upset.”

“We should take a vote. For Nate’s reckoning,” he said.

Mo bristled. That wasn’t Vic’s decision to make. She was the one who made that call. “I understand the depth of emotions you’re feeling. You care about Nate. You feel wounded. I see things a bit differently. I believe negative forces have unduly influenced Nate. I’m optimistic he will see the value in returning once Ash is no longer part of the equation.”

“You really believe that?”

Mo nodded. “I do,” Mo said.

Vic glanced toward Leslie’s tent. “What about her?” he asked.

“Leslie’s another story. I’m afraid she can no longer be trusted.”

“I figured as much. What should we do with her?” Vic asked.

“Kill her. And make sure she suffers.”

BECCA

BECCA

Don’t panic, Becs. You’re not panicking, right?” Christian asked as he barreled past her and headed inside. Becca was always amazed by the sheer force with which Christian moved through the world.

“Panic was half an hour ago. I’ve moved on to full-blown freak-out,” she said. The statistics flashed through her head like a news crawl. Almost eighty thousand runaways vanish every year in LA. Some were lured into sex trafficking by pimps; others were victims of drug overdoses, taken in and strung out, and still others were beaten, raped, and left for dead, their bodies never recovered. What if Ash were one of them? What if Becca never found her? What if? What if?