Free Gone Unnoticed: A Kate Reid Novel (The Kate Reid Series Book 3) by Robin Mahle

her. It offered comfort, familiarity, and Kate needed that right now.
    Jocelyn’s departure was a reminder that this was no easy path. In fact, it had been more difficult that she’d imagined. But with Nick’s support, she pushed herself far beyond her comfort zone.
    Whether it was this latest disappointing news or the fact that the memory of Ruxandra Sala’s appearance simply couldn’t be squelched, Kate began to consider what had happened to the young woman. Labeling her a woman seemed a stretch. She couldn’t have been more than twenty years old, but she was beautiful. Even through her marked face and swollen eyes, anyone could see that. Thick black hair and caramel-colored skin, she could have easily passed for a model.
     
     
    » » »
     
     
    The young girl wore a blindfold, causing her to trip over the steps until finally reaching what she thought was the threshold—an opened doorway. The man behind her yelled at her in a language she understood little. “Molim, ja ne razumijem. Molim te, nemoj me povrijediti.” Please, I do not understand. Please, do not hurt me , she said.
    “Just get inside!” the man yelled.
    “Sorry, sorry.” The young Serbian woman had learned enough English to get by, considering she’d only been in the country less than a year. Most of the words learned were the result of watching television shows.
    It had been three days and Madlena had been on the move almost the entire time. Never allowed to sleep more than a few hours at a time; awakened by the cries of the other girls who had the misfortune of traveling with her, and suffering the effects of drugs used to keep her sedated.
    Hungry, filthy, and having been violated more times than she cared to remember, Madlena prayed they would push enough drugs in her arms to kill her because this was a fate much worse than death. She wondered if her father was looking for her and if her sister was okay. Thinking of them helped suppress the reality she now faced.
    The girls were so tightly packed into the dilapidated homes in which they were forced to stay that the stench was unbearable. Urine, body odor, and sex. It was enough to make anyone vomit, but there was virtually nothing in Madlena’s stomach left to wretch. Already too thin, she hadn’t looked in a mirror in three days, but when she felt along her rib cage, she was sure they protruded more than what she remembered.
    Now, as she stepped inside wherever it was they’d taken her this time, she’d regretted ever coming to this country. It turned out to be no better here, at least not for someone like her.
    A hard shove to her back courtesy of the man that towered behind her and Madlena was on the ground. She pulled her knees to her chest and the high-heeled shoes she wore in a life that appeared would never see her return were making it hard to stay in that position, but she did her best not to move. There were consequences for such prohibited actions.
    “Help me.”
    Madlena, still wearing the blindfold, turned in the direction of the sound that was more like a whimper coming from another girl next to her. “Shhh.” She knew what happened to the ones who spoke out of turn.
    A man, she had no idea who, or how many there were, yanked the blindfold from her eyes and the light made her squint. It didn’t take long for her focus to clear and the comprehension to return that she was in yet another run-down house. Madlena’s back rested against a wall and on that wall were spindles of a staircase. Next to her was the girl who whispered for help. Madlena had none to offer. None of them did.
    In the room directly in front of her, she spotted three men. Two were seated and one paced as if trying to solve a problem. He must have felt her stare because he whipped his head around and glared at her. Madlena turned away, fearing retribution for her curiosity. And although she could no longer look at them, she listened—and waited.
    The only indication of time was the sun shining through