Free SiNN by Tina Donahue

freaking
victim?
    From behind, Toby approached, his shoes slapping the stone
walkway.
    Jake didn’t bother to look at his partner. Nor did Lea. A
gust of wind blew her ponytail into her neck. She clawed it away. “I want my
damn phone.”
    “Did you listen to nothing we’ve said?” Jake shot right
back.
    “Apparently not,” Toby said. “Didn’t I say she needed to
know what we were up against? Didn’t I try to tell you that?”
    Jake looked like he wanted to slug him. “I get it, all
right?”
    “As long as you do.”
    Lea spoke through her teeth to them. “Danielle’s my best
friend. She dances at The Second Circle. She took my last act tonight. I was
just going to—”
    “No calls,” Jake ordered.
    Lea’s body bristled. She advanced until the tips of her
running shoes nearly touched his boots. He didn’t budge. Given his size, he
wasn’t intimidated or moved to do what she wanted.
    Breathing hard, Lea tried to reason, “I have to let her know
I’m all right. She’s my best friend.”
    “Former friend,” Toby said, his words cutting through the
night’s noise.
    “You can’t contact her ever again,” Jake explained. “You
can’t contact anyone you used to know, Lea. They could lead Cubrero to you.
That’s the way this works.”
    Lightheaded, Lea thought of Danielle, the sole constant in
her life, the only genuine love she’d had all these years.
    “We’re never gonna stop being friends,” Danielle had said
when they were only nine.
    She’d made Lea promise that if the system ever separated
them, they’d find each other and would run away, hiding out until they were
adults and could do whatever they wanted. A childish plan that had kept Lea
going until they’d reached eighteen. After that, she didn’t think she had
anything to worry about. She and Danielle would never be apart.
    Only now, Jake and Toby were saying she wouldn’t be able to
tell Danielle any of this? She was just supposed to disappear without a trace
with no one hearing from her again? What in the hell did they think Danielle
would do? Lea knew the young woman would be sick with worry over what might
have happened. She’d never believe that Lea had simply abandoned her as so many
others had.
    “She’ll be looking for me,” Lea argued, needing them to
understand. “She won’t accept the fact that I’m simply gone. She’ll go to the
police.”
    “We know,” Jake said. “They’ll give her the cover story
we’ve prepared for whoever’s asking about you.”
    Lea couldn’t believe it. This insanity had already gone that
far without her even knowing about it or being able to stop it? A wave of
dizziness swept over her again. She locked her knees to keep standing. “Which
is?”
    Toby shook his head. “We can’t say.”
    Jake spoke softly. “Sorry.”
    Was he serious? Did he believe his apology made it all
better or would stop Danielle? They clearly didn’t know her. “You obviously
don’t get it. She’ll never accept what they say. She’ll never stop looking for
me.”
    “Lea, she will,” Jake said. “And it’s for the best. You
don’t want Danielle putting herself into danger, do you?”
    The thought brought bile to her throat. She recalled what
Toby had said about Cubrero slicing off the face of one of his victims. A young
woman.
    Oh God, no. Lea shivered so violently her teeth rattled. “Promise
me she’ll be safe.” She fisted her fingers into Jake’s shirt. “You can’t let
anything happen to her.”
    “It won’t…as long as you do what we say.”
    She had no choice. Lea knew that now. On a hard swallow, she
lowered her head, more defeated than she’d been in all her years of foster
care, her endless nights waiting futilely for her mother. Would she ever see
her again?
    Unbearably weary, craving comfort, Lea leaned against Jake,
resting her cheek on his shoulder.
    “Open the door,” he ordered Toby, his chest rumbling with
his words. “Let’s get her inside.”
    So they could do