and we trot over to several vehicles. He tries several, and the passenger door for a dark SUV finally opens. "Get in," he instructs.
I get in and unlock the driver's door.
Within minutes he hotwires the vehicle, and we drive away. We pass a small sign and building.
"Who would have thought there would be a jungle lodge in the middle of nowhere."
"We just got really lucky," he says.
"Do you think they will notice this missing?"
"Hopefully, not until tomorrow."
"Do you have a lot of experience stealing cars?" I tease.
He snorts. "Nope."
"Well, you could have fooled me."
He smiles. It's the first one he's given me all day and my heart pitter-patters.
We drive for a few hours on a two trek path until the rain comes down harder, and the wipers don't seem to help.
Dirk stops the car. It's pitch black now except for the lightning that constantly streaks through the sky.
"Zoe, you're shaking."
"I'm okay. It's just from my soaked clothes."
He touches my face and mutters, "You have chattering teeth and purple lips."
"It's not a big deal."
He pats the console.
"What?"
"Sit."
"Why?"
"Just do it."
I awkwardly sit on the console, but it's only for a moment. He slides me over it, so I'm sitting in his lap with my head against his chest. "Take my body heat." His strong arms circle me, and it feels like I'm exactly where I should be.
My pulse beats faster, and my favorite smell in the world flares in my nostrils.
"Better?" he asks.
"Yeah. Thanks."
I hesitate where to put my hands but eventually place them on his chest. His heart beats against my palm, and I slowly look up.
A torrential downpour continues to bang on the vehicle. The lightning lights up the night, and Dirk's beautiful face.
"I wish I wasn't such a hot mess." I only mean to say it in my head, but I don't.
"Are you ever going to tell me what they did to you?"
Thunder claps, and I jump. He tightens his grip around me.
"Zoe, I need to know."
"I wouldn't know how to answer you."
"Why did they pump you full of drugs?" he quietly asks.
"So I could keep working night after night. And maybe they knew I needed it for...the other things."
"What things?"
I hide my face in his chest—shame, embarrassment, and pain cyclone. And I know once I tell him, he'll never look at me the same way.
His hand moves to my head and his lips brush against my forehead. "I want to know."
"I've never told anyone. There was no one to trust or save me," I whisper.
"Then trust me, my Little Diva."
The words alone shed my tears. "I want to."
"Tell me."
Just tell him. Then he can move on and be happy he didn't let things go any further with you.
I swallow the lump in my throat and somehow manage to get out, "I was their whore."
His heart beats faster, his chest heaves quicker, and he holds me tighter. "Who?"
"The Global Leaders."
"Who are they?"
"Who aren't they?"
He tilts my chin up. "I need you to explain what you mean."
I close my eyes. "Heads of nations. People in political power. Leaders of the free world."
"Which ones?"
I sarcastically laugh. "All of them."
"I don't understand."
I've already told him too much and shouldn't tell him any more, but it's like the small confession I made is a shot of truth serum.
"The Global Leaders rule the world and every major industry. They do what they want, to who they want, and they take more and more power from the people."
"Like a secret society?"
"I guess you can call it that."
"You said the leaders of the free world. Are you talking about the Mexican President?"
I scoff. "Yeah, but yours too."
His eyes widen.
"How..."
"It's all behind closed doors. Meetings. Parties. Real conspiracies."
"Conspiracies to do what?"
"To rule without opposition and be so powerful anything they want they get."
"But there are checks and balances in free countries, so that doesn't happen."
"Not when you own the drug and media industry."
"What are you talking about?"
"They steer the drug trade with the War on Drugs. I don't understand it all, but they deal with the heads of all the cartels. I...I was too high most of the conversations."
Dirks scrunches his face. "The War on Drugs is meant to stomp out illegal substances."
"No, it's not. It's a cover-up to give the government more access to military power, take people's property, and incarcerate anyone they want without question."
Silence.
"You don't believe me?"
"I'm trying to comprehend this."
A loud boom rattles the vehicle, and the sky lights up.
"The Global Leaders determine the supply of addiction and information people receive—two of the