Prologue
Las Vegas, Nevada
Katrina hurriedly packed the last few clothes into a backpack, her hand hovering over a small journal. It represented all that had happened since she was old enough to write. Reaching inside, she unzipped a pocket the perfect size to hold the leather-bound book that embodied her past.
Casting a nervous glance at the door, tentacles of fear clinging to her, she prayed her mother and younger brother were waiting downstairs. Their escape depended on the next couple hours.
Secure in another zippered pocket were three sets of fake IDs. It had taken over two months to obtain them through a friend of Kat’s. A friend with an uncle who lived a life decidedly outside the law. She prayed they were good enough to pass the scrutiny of airport security.
Kat’s father would never allow them to go, even though he’d taken up with another woman and no longer spared time for his daughter or son. Younger and already well-used, no one understood him giving up his still beautiful wife, a bright woman everyone loved, for a person nobody respected.
Quick to laugh and slow to judge, Teri had been the light of their father’s life since meeting her twenty-eight years earlier. Six months ago, and without explanation, he’d thrown clothes into a duffel and walked out, refusing to defend his actions or discuss a divorce.
In fact, he hadn’t spoken to his family at all since leaving. Phone, email, text, letters. His lack of communication shattered her mother’s heart. If it hadn’t been for friends, Teri wouldn’t have learned of his infidelity.
His behavior would’ve broken a lesser woman, but not her mother. Teri had cried the first three days before embracing the anger blooming within her. She’d loved her husband, been a devoted wife, taking care of all the details, which made his work easier. Teri trusted him implicitly, not once worrying about him coming home to her.
His answer to her devotion had been to take up with another woman. After two months, Teri’s anger had changed to rigid determination. Not to reconcile, but to leave. Over the last four months, she and Katrina had planned their escape.
Even though they hadn’t heard from her husband, it didn’t mean there weren’t men watching them. In fact, all three had seen the guards patrolling the property, making certain they couldn’t leave except for school, medical, and occasional shopping. They’d become prisoners in what had once been a wonderful, loving home on the outskirts of Las Vegas. Today, the prisoners were going to revolt.
Slinging the backpack over a shoulder, Katrina took one more look around her bedroom. The only pictures remaining included her father, a man she planned to forget and never speak to or see again.
Hurrying down the stairs, she let out a relieved sigh seeing her mother and brother, Brady, waiting in the kitchen. In five minutes, the van would arrive to unload the groceries they’d ordered the day before. This time, the van would be driven by Teri’s closest friend, with another friend riding shotgun.
Hearing the telltale sound of an approaching vehicle, the three waited, Katrina bouncing on the balls of her feet as the van backed up to the kitchen door. Tugging down caps to conceal their faces, the friends jumped out, opening the doors to retrieve several bags. While they set the groceries inside, Kat, Teri, and Brady slid into the van, hunkering down behind the front seats.
Kat’s heart thundered in her chest, breath coming in rapid gasps. Next to her, Teri appeared calm, showing no concern over what they were about to do. Brady glanced around, rocking back and forth in anticipation. To his eight-year-old mind, this was an adventure, not an escape from a life without freedom or a future.
Katrina jumped at the sound of the doors slamming shut, wrapping her arms about her. This was it.
In two hours, they’d board a plane taking them far away from Vegas. There’d be people waiting for them. Relatives Kat’s father knew nothing about.
The driver glanced over her shoulder, features tense. “Everyone ready?”
“More than ready,” Teri replied, reaching out to hold her children’s hands, and squeezing. “It’s all going to be all right. We’re going to be all right.”
Katrina leaned her head back, eyes closed as the van rolled along. Not until they boarded the plane would she relax. Once the seat belt clicked, she’d pulled out the new journal and started chronicling their future.
Chapter One
Liberty Lake, Arizona
Six years later…
“Janie!” Katrina waved a hand in the air, getting her employer’s attention. “Where