Seventeen shots. But we only left behind sixteen hostages tied up on the ground.
41 HOURS EARLIER
MADDIE
The forest goes gray and silent around me. I hear nothing but the echo of gunfire.
Seventeen shots, sixteen bound captives. Including Nico. It only makes sense if I count Ryan.
Unless they found Luke.
Guilt brings fresh tears to my eyes.
My legs stop moving, but Indiana tugs me forward. “We don’t know what this means,” he insists. “They could have fired into the ground, to make us think they’re willing to kill. To keep us in line.”
I cling to his logic, because it’s what I need to hear. If they’re willing to kill us, why would they try to save Ryan? Why not shoot the other hostages in front of us?
Nothing has changed. My brother could still be alive.
I cling to that thought as our path steepens, and I have to grab on to bamboo and handfuls of vines to pull myself over obstacles in the trail. I am sweating too much and drinking too little water. But then the narrow path turns downhill,and hiking gets easier. I watch for a chance to run.
“Five-minute break!” Silvana shouts when we reach a clearing, and I exhale slowly.
Holden, Penelope, Indiana, and Domenica gather around Genesis on fallen logs while they snack on food from their packs.
Queen Genesis could hold court in hell, with nothing more refreshing than boiling water to offer. Nothing has changed, socially. Yet she doesn’t even seem to be listening to them.
“How’s your glucose level?” she asks as she abandons her entourage.
I shrug. My eyes water as I dig a protein bar from my bag. Ryan always made sure I had plenty of low-carb snacks.
“Maddie.” Genesis puts one hand over my food, so that I have to look at her. “What does your pump say?”
I check the display. My blood sugar is around eighty. Too high. “I just need a snack.” Soon I’ll have to change my insulin pump site and install a fresh cartridge, but that will take time and energy I don’t want to expend right now.
“¡Vamos!” Silvana yells, and we are on the move again.
“Where do you think they’re taking us?” I ask Genesis as I wipe sweat from my forehead.
She shrugs. “Getting a ransom will take time. They haven’t even sent out any demands yet. So they must have a camp somewhere.”
“Ryan doesn’thavetime,” I murmur.
Holden steps up on my cousin’s other side. “Wake up,Maddie. Your brother’sdead,” he whispers fiercely, and I suck in a deep breath, trying to hold back fresh tears. “The only way to stop that from happening to the rest of us is to take action. We need to—”
“Shut up!”Genesis shoves him with both hands, and Holden stumbles into a tree. Rifles swing toward us. The hike comes to a sudden halt.
Holden pushes himself upright. His face is bright red and furious. “What the hell?” he demands through clenched teeth.
“Be useful, or be elsewhere.” Genesis grabs my arm and tugs me away from him.
Silvana laughs. “¡Vamos!” she shouts. And the hike resumes.
GENESIS
“Do you hear that?” I frown into the jungle, concentrating on the new sound. “Hiking downhill usually leads to—”
“Water,” Indiana says. The sound of the current gets louder with each step, then the narrow trail opens into a broad clearing. Yet there’s no river. After a second of staring into empty space, I understand why.
