The Hunted Girls by Jenna Kernan (best book club books for discussion txt) 📕

She collected the pieces of the can and reassembled them, with more clattering, now certain she was going to be ill.

Nadine paused, deliberating between losing her dinner here in the bin or making a run for her bathroom.

Bathroom, she decided, dashing along. In the hall outside her room, she was fumbling with the key card when the door she had earlier crashed into opened. Out stepped an older woman. Her brown hair, streaked with gray, tumbled in waves down her back, huge glasses with thick lenses made her eyes bulge and a look of fury reddened her face. She cinched her robe and glared.

“Do you know what time it is?”

Nadine shook her head, the key card poised just above the slot.

“It’s after midnight! I have to be up at four and I can’t sleep with you crashing around. What is wrong with you?”

Nadine felt her face heat and her stomach gave a dangerous lurch.

The door across from her opened. In the gap stood a man, dressed in khakis and a dark shirt. He held a towel around his neck, gripping it in each hand.

Nadine’s stomach roiled and she pressed a hand to her mouth.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“She’s drunk or something. Woken me up twice!”

“Migraine,” she murmured.

“So help her with her card and go to bed,” said the man.

He met Nadine’s gaze, his face a perfect expressionless mask. The door swung shut.

The woman huffed as she stepped forward and snatched the key card from Nadine.

“No respect for others. Simply unacceptable,” she said, her words sharp as any schoolmarm.

The door lock clicked, and she swung the door open.

“There. No more racket or I’ll call the manager.”

Threat delivered, she stormed away. Nadine lunged forward, making it to the toilet before losing the sour remains of her meal.

She wiped her mouth on a hand towel and retrieved her migraine medication, downing the second bitter white pill with the crushed saltines she had in her purse.

Then she lay on the bed with a wet cloth over her eyes, waiting for the medicine to work. It did, by degrees, and she slipped into unconsciousness.

Bianca Santander was living a nightmare. After her shift on Wednesday, a man had approached her at the bus stop. She’d seen him coming and called her brother. Told him they were taking her into custody.

He’d been in a uniform, said he was from Immigration. Only after she was in his truck did she see it was a forest ranger’s uniform.

He had taken her into the jungle, shot her with an arrow and left her under the relentless sun, locked in an animal cage.

Now, in the darkness, her thirst grew and the insects came in clouds. Her wounded leg throbbed and sent white-hot bolts of pain through her muscle every time she moved. The blood drew the insects in swarms, biting flies and mosquitoes. They landed, dotting her leg, biting, sucking and swelling with her blood, as she slapped and cried and finally screamed to the sky.

No one heard. No one came.

By now her brother would have told them she was in custody. They’d be calling Immigration. Trying to get an attorney to handle her case and expecting her to be deported. She had no papers. Neither did her father or two brothers. If they called the police, ICE might take them all.

She slapped, moaning at the pain caused by the contact. Then she brushed at her leg, but the insects landed immediately. Should she pull out the arrow? But she had nothing to bandage the wound. He’d left her naked and caged.

What time was it? Clouds covered the moon and stars of the endless night. A downpour at dawn had lasted only long enough to soak her. Why didn’t she think to try and drink what water she could?

Now she shivered as a cold sweat dampened her skin. She was going to die here, she realized, and began praying to God, her dry lips moving with the words she knew by heart.

“Padre nuestro, que estás en el cielo, santificado sea tu nombre…”

Something big rustled in the brush. Was it him?

Six

THURSDAY

Nadine woke well before her six-fifteen alarm. Her head was fuzzy from the medication, but it no longer pulsed with each heartbeat. Her vision was clear, and the light sensitivity had disappeared.

She carried the damp washcloth to the bathroom where she took her antidepressant, then stared at her reflection that showed dark smudges beneath her eyes.

Nadine remembered the encounter with the woman, cringing. Then she recalled the envelope from Skogen. What had she done with that?

A search of her room came up empty. She retraced her steps, dressed only in her robe. She found the trash receptacle now sitting beside the foyer table that held an artificial orchid arrangement. She pulled off the lid and there was the manila envelope.

She blew out a breath in relief and reached into the bin, retrieving the package. Nadine pressed the parcel to her chest. Phew. Returning to her room, she discovered the alarm on her phone sounding.

She flicked it off and noticed that she’d missed a 1 a.m. text from Demko asking her if she was still up.

She glowered at the screen.

No. She had not been. And he had not called. So far their reunion had been a bust. She pushed away her frustration because she approved of his decision to pursue evidence on that trail cam. Anything to get this guy.

Nadine fired off a text to Demko asking him to meet her at breakfast. She’d deliver the damned procedural manual to him and find out what they’d gleaned from the wildlife camera.

His reply was one letter.

K

Nadine spent several minutes on an unsuccessful hunt for her headband before washing up. Leaving the bathroom, she heard her phone sound with a notification. She’d missed a call from Juliette and retrieved the voice message.

“Tina and I are going to see those owls. Leaving the hotel at six-fifteen. Call me if you want to join