“Pete does a good job making it seem like the victim deserves it. You saw their faces—everyone was on board.”

“Why would he make the children come?” Fucking bastard.

“I’d say that’s a powerful lesson about toeing the line.”

“We’ve got to stop him. He can’t do that again.”

“That’s not our mission. We’re to find the weapons and their plan.”

“Jessica?” asked Vera from a dozen feet away.

Mercy flinched at Vera’s voice. She’d spotted the older woman during the whipping. Vera had barely blinked as she stood ramrod straight, watching the beating, one thumb casually running back and forth over the scar on her wrist. An air of justification swirling around her.

“Pete suggested I take you back to the women’s quarters.” Vera’s tone stated that refusal wasn’t an option.

Mercy pushed away from the tree and awkwardly patted Chad on the arm, unable to bring herself to hug him, let alone kiss him. Her skin was hypersensitive, her nerves jumpy and painful. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

His face closed off and he gave a short, jerky nod. “Good night.” His words were strained.

Without another word, Vera walked away, and Mercy stumbled as she followed. The sun had long set, and Vera’s flashlight did little to illuminate the path behind her for Mercy.

I’ve got to find the guns, so I can get out of here.

America’s Preserve had become Mercy’s Hell.

Vera led her into a clearing, and Mercy could finally see where to put her feet. She looked up at the moon.

No better time than tonight to check out the new construction.

Chad didn’t need to know.

Mercy carried her boots as she slipped out of the cabin in the dark. Her roommates were up and down throughout the night using the bathroom, so she’d created a lump with her sleeping bag and blankets, but anyone who took a decent look would know she wasn’t in bed. All she could do was cross her fingers and hope everyone stumbled to the bathroom with their eyes barely open.

She silently closed the front door and balanced in the shadows on the tiny porch, slipping into the boots. The compound was silent as she waited for her eyes to adjust in the fading light. The moon had moved far across the sky in the hours since she’d decided to snoop and was about to set behind a grove of firs. She shuddered. It wasn’t from the chill.

What am I doing?

A man had been beaten last night. For possessing a cell phone. What would be the punishment for snooping?

She paused, breathing deep and doubting her decision. There was no excuse that would get her off the hook if she was caught. Stating she was meeting Chad for a sexy rendezvous would only get him in trouble too. Wandering because she couldn’t sleep was a weak reason.

Getting caught was not an option.

I can be back in fifteen minutes.

Or less if she moved fast enough. Decision made, she darted for the darkness of the trees. Her breath hung in the cold night air. She couldn’t see a single cloud in the dimly illuminated sky, but snow was coming. She could smell it.

Right now it wasn’t consistently cold enough for accumulation back home, but she had no doubt that here in the higher hills, snow would fall fast and thick and then stick. Mercy prided herself on being prepared to live in all conditions, but that was back in the Cascade foothills, where she had her years of hard work stored and ready for the first sign of disaster.

Out here she had nothing. No GOOD bag from her vehicle. Not even a fucking knife.

Her safety net was gone. She was dependent on the nutty people around her, and her skin crawled at the realization.

Chad must show me where the satellite phone is hidden.

It was her only thread to safety. Right this second she had no connection to the outside world. She was floating without a tether and fighting to control an escalating level of anxiety. There was nothing she could do to save herself. If her situation went FUBAR, she had to rely on Chad.

She hated relying on other people. Especially people she didn’t truly know.

An ache for Truman touched her heart. Her fingers wanted to feel the scrape of his evening beard. She inhaled deeply, wishing she could smell the scent of his skin and see the smile that was always in his eyes.

Stay focused.

Below the trees, pine needles crackled under her feet, and she silently swore, slowing her pace. She continued along an arc of trees toward the path where Sean had led her earlier that day.

Cigarette smoke reached her through the night air and she froze, her gaze rapidly darting in every direction. She dropped to a crouch and moved backward under a pine, her hands in the dirt to keep her balance. She huddled against the trunk and waited, making herself as small as possible, thankful she was in her usual black clothing. Perfect for snooping in the dead of night.

There.

The red tip of a cigarette flared as someone strolled beside one of the men’s cabins. His dark silhouette had a rifle over one shoulder, and he ambled between the other cabins, circling each one. Mercy stayed motionless until he headed in the direction she’d come from, no doubt to circle the women’s cabin. She studied the figure but didn’t recognize his profile.

When he’d been out of sight for a full sixty seconds, she continued her trek. It felt like hours before the big new garage came into sight. Holding her position behind the protection of the last trees, she scanned the area, looking for more guards, knowing she’d be fully exposed as she crossed the clearing.

Low gasps sounded from somewhere ahead of her. Mercy shuffled back deeper into the trees and listened.

More gasps. Then a moan reached her ears.

Someone is hurt. Maybe Ed?

After the whipping, he’d vanished.

A movement near the garage caught her attention, and she squinted in the poor light. It moved again, and she slapped a hand over her mouth, containing her exclamation.

Two people were having sex outside the structure.

Laughter welled up her throat, and she fought to hold it in, leaning against a trunk for support. For the last ten minutes, her every nerve had been on high alert, and the abrupt shift to absurdity had turned her muscles to mush.

The couple lay along one wall, their movements and coordinating moans now unmistakable to Mercy.

If they couldn’t get inside the building, I doubt I can.

Assuming the couple had tried to enter it to have sex. She doubted anyone would have chosen the outdoors over the privacy of the empty building.

Unless they like the thrill. The chance of being discovered.

Her plan to investigate evaporated into the night air. She exhaled, wondering if she’d have the guts to try again tomorrow.

“Enjoying that?” said a low male voice.

Her lungs stopped, and the question ricocheted inside her skull. She slowly turned toward the speaker.

“Lieutenant,” she whispered. Sean was three feet away, his rifle casually on his shoulder. The side of his face was lit by the lowering moon, and amusement quirked his mouth.

He jerked his head at the copulating couple. “They’re out here a few times a week.”

“Who are they?” Her voice didn’t give away the panic shooting through her veins. So far Sean didn’t seem angry or curious about her wandering at night.

“Hate to reveal their secret,” he answered.

“If they wanted to keep it a secret, they should have found a different place. Inside.”

He shrugged. No odor of smoke hovered around him, so he hadn’t been the guard she saw earlier.

“He told you to stay away, didn’t he?” Mercy guessed. “You knew full well they’d be out here. They didn’t even try to hide.”

“She thinks they’re a big secret,” Sean said. “If she found out we know about them, she’d put an end to it. So we stay away to let him have his fun.”

“Of course you do.”

“It’s consensual.”

Mercy could see and hear that for herself.

“But you aren’t to be out here at night,” he said in a hard tone. He straightened his back, appearing to grow four inches, and fingered the strap of his rifle.

“I couldn’t sleep. People snore, and it stinks in there,” she said calmly as her heart tried to pound through her ribs.

“Sounds like the men’s barracks.”

Mercy was silent, and the couple’s moans increased.

“They’re almost done,” Sean said casually.

“You watch often?”

“There’s not a lot of other entertainment here.”

The male made a sound as if he were being strangled, and the woman let out a series of high-pitched squeals.

She’s faking it.

“I’m always looking for entertainment.” Sean took a step closer to her, his face now completely in the dark, but she saw his intention as clear as if the sun were shining.

“Fuck off.” She held her ground.

Heel of my hand to his throat. Knee to his balls. Fingers into his eyes.

“I don’t mean now.” His bearing relaxed. “Later maybe. I should turn you in, but I don’t feel like it tonight. Consider it a favor you can repay in the future.”

“What kind of favor?” Mercy stayed on high alert. Every muscle ready to defend herself.

He didn’t answer.