Layla’s POV
The tiny room in the old ranger station was barely bigger than a closet, but it had a solid door and a window that looked out at red rock instead of a concrete wall. I’d been sitting on the edge of the narrow cot for what felt like hours, just listening. Listening to the shouts of men, the growl of generators firing up, the steady thump-thump-thump of someone hammering something into the hard earth.
Every new sound made me flinch. Every shout was a potential threat. My fight with Chloe played on a loop in my head, her venomous words mixing with the cold, electronic voice on Jax’s phone. ‘Easy for a pretty thing to slip.’
I couldn’t sit still anymore. The walls were closing in.
I pushed the door open and stepped into the main room. Jax was there, leaning over a map spread o
