“No.” The word was harsh and his eyes flicked in my direction.

“Owen, I won’t let him have her.” Mavis finally looked back over at me. “I would make sure you were unharmed.”

“Why take me?” I twisted the napkin in my hands. “How will that help you?”

“He’s got a price on your head. I can offer you as a trade.” Mavis shrugged.

“No.” Owens fist slammed down on the table, startling people around us.

“A trade for what?” I ignored him, curious as to what Mavis was thinking. Despite her overt flirting with Owen and her pompous attitude, I could see the wheels turning behind her eyes. There was intelligence there; I just hadn’t decided if it worked for good or evil.

“Laura.” Mavis’s eyes grew dark with anger. “My friend’s sister.”

For a minute I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think of anything except the horror that the girl might be experiencing and how bad I felt for her sister. The worry and fear would make me sick. Then, with a flash of lightning hot adrenaline, determination filled my veins. Something had to be done. This had to stop.

“Okay—”

“Absolutely not.” Owen shook his head. “You are not taking Ava into that place. It is a pen of vipers. I’m sorry about your friend. I’m sorry. But you are not in any way taking Ava in there as a trade.” He leaned forward and looked at me. “I won’t risk it. End of story.”

It was odd, to feel completely calm about the idea of using myself as collateral, and then to compare it to the panic in his eyes.

“You can come in the back while he’s distracted.” Mavis’s words were quiet. “There are two guards at each door and one that stays with Marcus. If I’m at the front door with Ava, you can take out the back guards quietly and slip in. You know the house and how to get in, where to hide. It would be simple.”

“No.” Owen stood up and pulled his wallet out. He threw a few bills on the table and held his hand out to me. “Ava?”

“We should talk about this.” I crossed my arms.

“I promised to never lie to you.” The words were a growl as if he hadn’t wanted to say them in front of Mavis. “If you go in there you will get hurt.”

“I could get hurt walking down the street.” I frowned at him.

“I’m not talking about a random drunk driver or tripping on a curb.” His green eyes flashed angrily. “These are people that would hurt you. They won’t hesitate to torture you or even—” He stopped and made a horrible face. “If they are selling sex slaves then you know what they are capable of.”

“They’re already after me. They’ve shot at me, Owen. They chased our car through traffic.” I crossed my arms. “I want to know why. Why me? Are they after Tess? I can’t just hide away. I need to know what is going on.”

“Ava.” My name came out as a forceful grunt just before he pulled the chair back out and dropped into it. “This is not so simple.”

“Sure it is. This is a pretty simple plan that will work.” Mavis sat up straighter in her chair as if smelling victory. “Simple is the best. You taught me that.”

Owen watched me from under his furrowed brow, but didn’t respond. I could tell that he was thinking it over, deciding what could go wrong and what could go right.

“We don’t have to do it today,” I reasoned. “We could take a look, see if there is anything you don’t like and then come back tomorrow.”

“We’re not doing anything today because we’ll have to get you ready.” Owen frowned at me.

“What are you thinking?” Mavis smiled.

“She can’t carry a gun.” He leaned forward. “They’ll frisk you. Anything you have on you will be found.”

I nodded, but my stomach dropped. The idea of walking into the enemy’s base without a weapon seemed like very bad idea.

“And there is no guarantee that they will let you stay with Mavis.” Owen watched me closely. “And guards that work for sex slave traders are not to be trusted with the merchandise.”

“Stop it,” I said. I didn’t want to focus on what could go wrong. “We make plans.”

“You can’t plan for everything, love.” Owen shook his head.

“Marcus likes pretty girls,” Mavis suggested. “We put her in the right clothes and he’ll make sure to show up.”

“Won’t he suspect there is something wrong if he already knows I’m with Owen?” I fought the urge to chew on my thumbnail. I didn’t want either of the professional killers to know how nervous I was.

“That part’s easy. You ran away.” Mavis shrugged. “You were scared and tried to go it on your own.”

“And you were there to sweep me up?” I took a deep breath and looked at Owen. “It could work?”

“It could, but you have to know that no plan ever works just the way you think it will.” He shook his head and stood up. “We’ll meet back here tomorrow. Mavis, you have my number?”

“I do.” She cocked her head to the side. “Do you want to do some surveillance?”

“I know the house. Looking at it again isn’t going to change the layout.” He walked around to my side of the table and held his hand out. I let him help me stand and took one last drink of the orange juice.