Chapter 3
Hassan’s smile twitched.
“What did you say?”
Alexis swallowed the blood in her mouth.
“You said I won’t last a week.”
She leaned forward just slightly.
“Start counting.”
No one laughed this time.
For the first time since she had been captured, Hassan looked annoyed.
Not afraid.
Not yet.
Just annoyed that the prisoner had not played the part he had written for her.
He stood sharply.
“Take her back,” he said.
Then his eyes moved over his men.
He wanted to look fearless again.
He wanted control back.
“Alone.”
The young guard beside the cell door stiffened.
“Yes, Commander.”
Alexis lowered her head as if she had accepted defeat.
But her eyes moved.
To the corner of the ceiling.
The security camera.
Small.
Black.
Red light blinking.
Not steady.
Blink.
Pause.
Blink-blink.
Pause.
Alexis’s heartbeat slowed.
They were in.
Her people had found the prison feed.
Then her eyes drifted lower.
To the young guard’s belt.
A key ring.
Eight keys.
One brass.
Two steel.
One longer than the rest.
The cell key was old, worn smooth near the teeth.
He was nervous.
His fingers kept touching it without realizing.
Good.
May you like
Nervous men made mistakes.
Read Part 4 to see what happened the moment the cell camera went dark.
