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hates tattoos. He likes his girls pristine.”
    Terror rose in her throat. “I can’t do this!”
    “I already told you, you have no choice.” Tammy leaned over to turn on the faucet. “Fair warning, he likes it rough. If you can take it, it’s over quicker. If you cry out, he’ll take his time.” Tammy stood and faced her. “Oh. And he doesn’t pay. But if you’re good, he can introduce you to other people who will pay a lot for the right girl.”
    “I won’t be any good. I don’t do this.”
    “It’s not rocket science, baby. Just do what he wants you to do. That’s all any of these assholes want. A living doll.” Haley couldn’t have stopped the tears if she’d tried. Tammy had enough decency left to look remorseful, but she couldn’t bring herself to apologize. This was the world they were forced to survive. Haley had to learn, just like everyone who had come before her. “Don’t bother with underwear,” was her final piece of advice. “It’ll only piss him off.”
    She left Haley to bathe in private. The minute the door closed behind her, Haley ran to the windows to find any means of escape. Below the master suite was a serene pool with a rock fountain at one end. If she could just get one of those windows open, maybe she could plunge the fifteen feet into that water. Even if she missed, cracking her head on the pavement seemed preferable to having that man’s hands on her body. The thought made her skin crawl.
    But the windows opened just enough to let in a breeze. She was quickly running out of options.
    She glanced at the bathwater. With shaking hands, she took off her borrowed clothes and slipped into the water. She cried as she bathed herself, wondering how the hell she had come full circle. She briefly considered sinking all the way down into the water and just ending it altogether, but she quickly rejected the idea. If that were an option, she’d have never left North Carolina.
    When she emerged from the room, her body was clean, her hair was dried and combed, and she wore just a wisp of a pink dress. Tammy was on the bed waiting for her, holding a drink.
    “Good girl,” she praised as Haley approached. “Here,” she said, handing her the drink along with a tiny pill. “This will help.”
    Though she had never done any drug stronger than aspirin, Haley accepted the gift without complaint. She swallowed it with the bubbly liquid in the glass, making a face at the tart, fizzy taste.
    “The best champagne money can buy,” Tammy quipped as she drained the rest of the glass. For all her posturing, this girl wasn’t yet numb to this life. It still stole something from her to give herself over to a john, to allow him to take from her that which should only be given willingly through mutual attraction and respect. But there were no fairy-tale endings for kids on the street. There was no valiant and charming prince riding up on a noble steed to whisk them away with promises of true love and happily ever after. All they could hope for, all they had been conditioned to expect, was just one more minute of survival, by any means necessary.
    Tammy left her alone on the bed, and Haley began mentally preparing herself to separate her mind from her body for the task ahead. She shook like a leaf as she waited for her initiation into the life she had unintentionally chosen when she had boarded the bus. She was officially out of options. She had no money, no means of identification, and even the clothes she wore were not her own. She was a completely new person about to be born in fire. She willed herself to be strong, to be fearless.
    The minute the door opened, however, she was ready to bolt right through it. Mr. Isbecky loomed even larger than he had appeared downstairs, and she knew from the look on his face that it would be foolish to try. He smiled that same, toothy smile as he closed the door behind him, securing the lock. “Much better.” He shrugged out of his jacket and tossed it over a