Caitlin struggled against the ropes binding her hands and tried to ignore the churning in her stomach. Only the fear of dying so get over it, she told herself. Hawke and Dom wouldn't desert her. She was wearing a tracer so they would have tracked her journey from the club to a warehouse. One of Darrow's supposedly unused properties, Caitlin thought. She's had barely had time to register that it wasn't the one leased to Farrick Textiles before she's been bundled through the side entrance. Hawke and Dom were probably planning her rescue even now, she told herself. Caitlin sighed. She wished they'd get on with it.

The thought shot through her and she stiffened. Since when, she asked herself angrily, did she wait around to get rescued like some hapless TV heroine? She should be planning her own escape. She glanced around the room she'd been left in. She was tied to a chair in the centre. A couch faced a desk littered with the remnants of administrative paraphernalia; folders of paperwork stacked by shipping timetables. A table held a coffee-maker and an assortment of mugs. There was a side-door to its left and as Caitlin was musing whether it was a cupboard, it opened and Darrow stepped out.

He ignored Caitlin and headed for the coffee. He poured a mug and took a large gulp. 'Are you ready to talk to me?'

Caitlin turned her head away and resolutely looked the other way.

'I just want to know what you did with the piece of paper you ripped out of the notebook.' Darrow said.

'I told you already, it was a reminder to get milk.' Caitlin stated firmly.

'I'm figuring that you handed off the paper to an accomplice, maybe it was the guy in the bar who couldn't keep his eyes off your legs. I don't really care.'

'I said I told you already,' Caitlin said.

Darrow put his mug down. 'Sure. You were left alone in the office, you poked around on my desk and you only wrote that you needed milk on a piece of notepaper.' His tone mocked her. He opened up a filing cabinet and pulled out her handbag. 'I know the paper isn't in here.' He pulled out her handgun. 'But interestingly this was.'

She shrugged. 'I'm Texan.'

Darrow strode across the room and shoved the gun at her head. The cool metal tip of the revolver was against her temple. 'You had better start being honest with me.'

Caitlin pressed her lips together.

The door suddenly opened and Darrow spun surprised at the interruption. Caitlin's eyes widened. Two of the men entering she recognised as Linton and Gorel, Sterling's henchmen and the third paunchy man, she was sure she recognised him from the bar, Brick had called him Bill.

'What the hell is going on?' Darrow asked.

'Sorry, Darrow, but I had to tell them.' Bill said apologetically.

Darrow shrugged but his eyes promised the bent cop retribution later.

'What's she told you so far?' Linton asked.

'I was just starting the interrogation.' Darrow said defensively.

'Why get your hands dirty?' Gorel said. 'We can take over for you.' He cracked his knuckles as though to drive his point home.

Caitlin shuddered.

'I'd rather take care of it myself.' Darrow insisted.

'Boss isn't going to be happy.' Linton said.

'Your boss and I have an understanding.' Darrow snapped back.

'If this girl is a cop, you're operation has been compromised.' Linton argued. 'The best thing is to get rid of her and move up the schedule.'

'I'll take it under advisement.' Darrow said. 'Now get out or I'll have to make a phone call your boss won't like.'

Caitlin followed the exchange with interest.

Gorel took a step towards Darrow and Linton grabbed his arm to stop him. 'Come on, Charlie.'

'That's a hell of a game you're playing.' Caitlin commented when the men had left the room.

'And what you know about it?' Darrow lit a cigarette and blew out the smoke.

'Enough to know that Sterling isn't the type of man to let someone else, particularly a small operator like you, calls the shots for very long.' Caitlin allowed.

Darrow grabbed her face. 'You should be thanking me. If I were Sterling you'd be dead by now.'

'Go ahead.' She taunted.

'Oh no,' Darrow tucked her hair behind her ear and ran a finger down her jaw regaining her attention. 'You don't get away that easy.' He enjoyed the shudder she gave.

'Max!' The door reopened and a muscular man stepped through. Caitlin looked at him with foreboding.

'Take her to the cage but keep her for me first. I haven't had fresh meat in a while.' Darrow ordered.

'You won't get away with this.' Caitlin said as Max grabbed her upper arm and lifted her, struggling, to her feet.

Darrow smiled at her. 'I already have.' He nodded at Max and Caitlin found herself summarily pushed forward through the door and into the bowels of the warehouse.

She kept up her struggle all the way down a series of metal stairways, through a long corridor. There was a stuffy musky smell permeating the air. Max met another man who unlocked a door at the end of the corridor and shoved her down into what looked like a basement. It was almost completely filled wall to wall, ceiling to floor, with a metal cage, mesh wiring over steel bars.

Women huddled in blankets around their barely clothed bodies on thin mattresses within its wire walls. The other guard unlocked the cage and Max undid the ropes and threw Caitlin in. She lurched to her feet and banged on the cage, yelling at Max until he disappeared up the stairs leaving only a single, bare light-bulb for illumination in the dark space. As soon as he left, Caitlin dropped the hysterical act and looked at the women around her. They all looked back with something like pity. Caitlin felt bile rising as she took in the obvious physical abuse they had suffered; some seemed catatonic. It was likely, she realised that one of these women was Le's mother.

'Ana?' She called and a stirring in the far corner caught her eye. A small Asian woman emerged from a cocoon of blankets to look at her warily.

'Ana?'

'I am Ana.'

'I'm Caitlin.' Caitlin smiled. 'I know your son.'

'Le?' Ana's eyes lit up in a bruised face and she hurried over. 'You know Le? Is he…'

'He's OK.' Caitlin took Ana's hands in hers.

Ana held a trembling hand to her mouth and shook her head, unable to believe. 'And my sister?'

Caitlin's face saddened. 'I'm afraid Minh died just over a month ago.' She squeezed the other woman's hand. 'I'll explain everything when we get out of here.' She started to look around, testing the cage.

'Look, sister, you don't seem to realise that we're locked up.'

Caitlin whirled to see a young black woman stand up. The woman swept an arm around the cage. 'Or hadn't you noticed our accommodation?'

'I noticed.' She bit out. 'But I'm not about to stick around for Darrow to kill me.' She looked around at the gathered women. 'If we work together we can get out of this.'

'Why should we want to?' One of the other women said. 'Darrow's a pig but we'll get our green cards after the auction.'

'If you help me I know someone who can help you get your green card without being sold to some slobbering jerk who thinks he owns you body and soul.' Caitlin insisted.

A couple of murmurs around the cage indicated that the other women were agreeing with her.

'Look,' Caitlin said pressing her point, 'I'm wearing a tracer. My friends will have a plan to rescue me. We can all get out.'

A few more of the women surged to their feet.

'I want to take them down.' An angry looking brunette with bruises covering her arms and torso. 'I want to grind Darrow's head into the dust.'

'And Max,' added another voice, 'and Horace.'

'Looks like you got yourself a deal, sister.' The black woman grinned.

Caitlin started to smile as most of the women rose to their feet. She nodded at them and started organising.