My entire body quaked with adrenaline as I walked into the cafeteria for breakfast. That's when I spotted Melissa eating alone. I grabbed some food and took my place in front of her.

She eyed me. "Did you do it?"

I nodded. "Yeah, he'll be there."

This was good news to her, so she continued to eat.

"Are you having second thoughts?"

I shook my head. "No. But even if I was, it's too late to back out now."

"You're right about that," she confirmed.

"Paige said it was a good plan."

That's when Melissa looked at me with an expression I didn't like.

"You told Paige?" she fumed.

"Yeah? Why is that a big deal?"

"Because Alexa..." She looked around. "The less people that know the better."

"She's not a rat," I claimed. "And I left your name out of it, don't worry."

"That's not what I'm worried about!"

I rolled my eyes. "She's gonna keep tabs on the tenant and make sure she gets the warning. If anything goes wrong I told her to let me know."

Nothing I said seemed to ease Melissa's worrying. I couldn't help but wonder why she was so mad over the fact that I had told Paige.

"What's the real reason you're upset that I told her?" I asked.

She picked at her food. "I don't trust her."

"Well I do," I countered.

"Yeah, and at one time you trusted me when you shouldn't have."

I clenched my jaw. "This isn't the time to be doing this, Melissa."

"Yeah well, it's true."

"It's a good idea to have a third person looking out for us," I tried to convince her.

She shrugged. "Well, if something goes wrong because of her... it's your fault. Not mine."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine. I'll take responsibility. Unlike you."

"Why do you do that?" she asked.

"Do what? State facts?" I jabbed.

"No, state assumptions," she responded. "What makes you think I haven't taken responsibility for my actions?"

"Because you're here with me and not in jail."

"Yeah?" She stood from her seat. "And you'd still be there if it weren't for me."

Then she left me at the table alone.

I was at a loss for words, but I didn't believe what she had said. She was wrong. Chapman was the one who had gotten me out of jail, right? He hadn't been on the rescue mission, but he wouldn't have let me rot away in prison knowing I had done nothing to deserve it.

I watched Melissa leave the cafeteria and I finished my breakfast. I had a long day ahead of me and things to get ready for tonight. Fighting with Melissa wouldn't accomplish anything, so now wasn't the time. We would have to talk this out eventually though, I knew that.

If only I could talk to her without wanting to rip her a new one.

Classes today would mostly consist of reviewing for our exams, so it wasn't high pressure. I was grateful, because focusing on anything but tonight seemed impossible. And I hoped this plan covered all the bases like Paige had said, because I wasn't sure.

Diaz would come in and probably have some words with me considering the last time I had a fix was weeks ago. Melissa would be out of sight, just in case things went amiss. And hopefully I could stall Diaz enough for security to show up in time before I had to take that stuff again. Not that I hadn't thought about it. But the withdrawal wasn't worth the benefits. At least to me.

My classes passed with ease and soon enough I was heading back to my dorm before dinner. At this time there would be no tenants at the front as everyone headed to the cafeteria.

I quickly wrote the note and folded it up, sticking it in my pocket. Then I hesitated when I looked at my shower bag. My gut told me to check my phone, so that's what I did.

I opened it up and reached in, and my heart immediately sank to my knees.

It wasn't there. My cell phone was gone.

I looked in the other compartments of the bag but found nothing. I even turned it upside down and watched everything fall out onto the floor.

"No, no, no..." I pleaded. This couldn't be happening!

That's when the door opened and Paige walked in.

"Hey if you're gonna leave your note now is the time to..." She studied me. "What are you doing?"

I tried to play it off. "Couldn't find my lotion. My hands are really dry."

She raised a brow. "You must really like that lotion."

I stood. "I do."

Without any more hesitation I left Paige behind in our room. How in earth was my phone missing? No one knew I even had it!

No one except Melissa.

Before I left the dorms, I passed in the lobby and behind the desk. I threw the note onto a stack of papers and escaped outside. Then I practically ran to the dining hall.

I found Melissa sitting at a table with a few people I didn't know but I wasted no time grabbing her.

"I need you." I pulled her away from the table.

"Alexa what the hell? Chill!" she pleaded.

I stopped when we made it outside.

"Where's my cellphone?" I accused.

"What?"

"You're the only one who knew I had it. Where is it!?"

By now I was panicking because if Melissa didn't have it... then I was in serious trouble.

"I don't have your cellphone!" she defended. "Jesus, why would you accuse me!?"

"Because no one else knew," I stated. "I don't know who could've-"

I stopped. Could it have been Diaz? He knew where my room was, and he knew I had been snooping for information. What if he had gone into my room again and found it?

I was trying my best not to panic but it wasn't working. The cellphone was missing and if it was traced back to me I could be kicked out of camp before exams.

"Alexa, breathe," Melissa ordered.

I exhaled a breath I didn't know I was holding.

"Did you bring it somewhere? To the library-"

"I didn't bring it anywhere," I interrupted. "It never left the room."

Melissa's worried eyes watched me. "Do you think Paige...?"

I shook my head. "No. It has to be Diaz. He knows where my room is. He could've been looking for something else..."

Melissa looked around for eavesdroppers. "Well, we can't look for it now."

There was nothing I could do about the cellphone. If Diaz did have it, we would find out soon enough. But if he didn't... well I didn't want to believe Paige could've went through my stuff to find it.

I joined Melissa for dinner but couldn't even find the will to eat. The nerves were just too much. And now I was beginning to have second thoughts about tonight. Was the missing cellphone a harbinger? Was it telling me to turn back while I still could?

Then Paige joined us at the table. I snapped out of my thoughts.

"How are you feeling?" Paige asked.

"I'm alright," I lied.

I refused to speak anymore because Paige didn't know Melissa had been the one to formulate the plan for tonight. Paige had no clue we had been working together for a while now, and I wanted it to stay that way.

Yet, while I remained quiet I couldn't help but notice Melissa eyeing Paige like she had something to prove.

Paige broke the silence. "Are you two ready for exams tomorrow?"

Melissa picked at her food and ignored the question.

I rolled my eyes at her childishness.

"More than nervous," I admitted.

Then Paige's hand landed on mine.

"Alexa, you passed midterms with flying colors," she comforted. "You'll so great."

Melissa's eyes watched our hands and I pulled away from Paige. Why was this dinner suddenly so... awkward?

We ate in silence and before I knew it the time had nearly come to leave.

Paige stood. "I'm gonna head back to the dorms and get some last-minute studying in."

Her lie was convincing but her eyes told me the truth. She was going keep an eye on the dorm tenant to make sure things went accordingly.

Then she left me Melissa and I in the dining hall.

"So," Melissa started. "Is there more to you and Paige's friendship?"

I nearly choked on my water. "What?"

"I'm just starting to wonder if that's the reason you're so open with her," she accused.

"You're joking, right?" I said. "What would even give you that idea?"

"Oh I don't know, the way she looks at you, or worries about you." She played with her food. "She's awfully touchy."

I rolled my eyes. "Get a grip, Melissa I don't like her like that."

The fact that Melissa had even brought that up made my blood boil. It was none of her business if Paige and I were friends or more than friends.

Yet, deep down I knew why she was asking, but I didn't want to think about that.

My eyes quickly glanced at the clock. It was almost time. My leg bounced nervously under the table as I tried to calm my heart rate.

Melissa sighed. "It's gonna be okay, Alexa."

I shook my head. "I'm having second thoughts."

"Well don't," she ordered. "You'll be fine. And I'll be there just in case."

Then she stood from the table. It was time to go.

It was around eight-forty when we made our way to the library. My hands shook in my pockets and my heart raced with anticipation. I really needed everything to go smoothly tonight.

We got there and it was completely empty, which I was grateful for. I paced towards the back.

Melissa followed me. "You're making me nervous."

"Good, because we should be," I said.

"This is nothing compared to what we've been through," she comforted.

She was right. We had defied death many times, but for some reason there was a knot the size of a softball in my stomach.

"I'm sorry about blowing up this morning," she apologized. "I shouldn't have freaked out."

I looked at her and saw the genuineness on her face.

"Yeah well, my comments didn't help the situation," I defended.

As I browsed the books I could feel her eyes on me. I expected to feel uncomfortable, but I didn't.

"Alexa I need to tell you-"

The lights in the library cut off. I dropped the book in my hands and tried to find Melissa but it was pitch black. I couldn't even see my hand in front of my face.

"What the hell?" I stated. "I thought you said it doesn't close till nine-thirty!"

"It doesn't!" Melissa panicked.

That's when I heard the doors automatically lock. My heart nearly came out of my throat at the sound.

I felt around until I found a few lamps and flicked them on. The light let me see Melissa, who was clinging to the bookshelf for dear life. Her eyes were shut tight. I realized she wasn't mentally here with me right now.

I walked over to her. "Melissa it's okay."

She opened her eyes as I placed my hand on her arm. She was shaking. What was going on?

"I'm sorry," she forced. "I don't..."

I just watched her struggle to pull herself out of wherever she had just gone. After a minute, she was able to look at me.

"Where did you just go?" I asked.

She hesitated to resurface the memory. Then she took in a deep breath. "The day I found out my father was alive..." She paused. "I've never been able to forget it."

I waited for her to continue.

"I was in Miami when they took me," she revealed. "I was working at a nightclub so I got off late. When I made it to my car a bag was thrown over my head and I was shoved into the back of a van."

Her words continued to shake as she told the story.

"I was like that for what felt like hours, Alexa," she said. "I thought, 'is this what I get for running from my pain?' I get fucking kidnapped?"

I could feel lump beginning to form in my throat.

"Then they marched me into some building. I remember it was freezing. I had cried the entire way there and my throat was sore from screaming..." She took a deep breath. "Then they took the bag off my head... and I saw my dad."

The pain in her eyes was tangible.

"Is that where you went just now?" I asked.

She only nodded.

I rubbed her arm. "I'm sorry you went through that."

She looked at me. "We need to get out of here."

I swallowed my words and followed her to the front door.

She yanked on it but there was no use. The automatic locks had been activated, which meant there was no picking our way out. Maybe there was a back door.

We tried the other but it was the same thing as the front. Automatic locks. Maybe the windows?

We tried the windows but it seemed as if they were practically sealed shut. How the hell were we supposed to get out? Break them?

Melissa pushed on them but it was no use. We were stuck in here for the night.

She sat on a nearby couch and put her head in her hands.

I sat next to her. "Hey, you're not in that place anymore. Your dad is safe now."

"Yeah and you hate me for it," she jabbed.

I took a deep breath and tried to soften to pain of her words. It shouldn't hurt to hear that. I mean, it was true. Or at least it used to be. I wasn't sure if I could hate Melissa now.

She shook her head. "You would've done the same thing for Anna. If you would've seen him... seen what he looked like..."

She wiped under her eyes and sat back into the couch.

All this time I had believed Melissa to be heartless and selfish. That her only motive had been to save her father and nothing else, but this was hurting her more than I had assumed. My icing her out was hurting her.

"We could've helped you find him," I defended. "But you didn't tell us."

She shook her head. "At first it was only Victoria. That's all they wanted. Then we got involved with Chapman and arrested Stanley. I panicked when they threatened to kill my dad..."

She sniffed and tried to hide the fact that she was struggling not to cry. All this time I hadn't let her tell me the truth. And why? Because I was afraid of what? Getting hurt? She was the one hurting.

"It ripped me apart to do that, Alexa," she confessed. "To look you in the eye and turn you in. I wouldn't have blamed you if you had killed me that night."

She paused to look at me.

"But I knew I could get you out of jail. I just didn't know it would take two months," she finished.

Hearing this hurt my heart. It made me angry and upset because what I had done wasn't fair to Melissa, but Melissa's situation hadn't been fair either. She had made a sacrifice, but looking back now it was a sacrifice on her part. None of it was fair and I could no longer blame her. I had to face my anger.

"Well, if we're gonna be here all night, we might as well talk," I offered.

She laughed. Then there was a little piece of light that shined through all her darkness.

"Tell me what happened after I was arrested," I said.

She took in a deep breath. "After they hauled you, Derik and Willi away I thought they were gonna kill me because they threw me in the back of another van. My dad was there. He had been there with them the whole time and I had no idea."

She continued. "We went home after that, and they said if we came up on their radar again they'd kill us. I had to wait a few days before going to Chapman. He had no clue what had happened."

"Did you tell him?" I wondered.

She nodded. "Everything. From the start. He helped me and my father get into witness protection and move. I kept begging him to let me help get you out of jail, but at first he refused. He warned me before he would get you out I had to agree to work for him. He told me I had to become an agent. I had to come here and do everything you did in return for your freedom."

It was like a slap to the face. Chapman had basically forced Melissa into coming here. What if Melissa would've said no? Would he have left me in there knowingly? I didn't want to believe it.

"Obviously I agreed," she confessed with a small sob.

All I could do was stare at her in disbelief. It wasn't even hard to believe that that's what had happened. And the fact that I hadn't let her plead her case before tonight made me sick.

That's when we heard the back door open. Melissa looked at me and then frantically ran off to hide like we had initially planned. I guess Diaz hadn't backed out.

I stood and faced towards the door and listened for footsteps. They approached slowly. It was so quiet that I could hear my heart beat in my head. I looked at the clock. It was nine. The tenant should be alerting someone now.

But it wasn't Diaz that emerged.

It was Paige.

"Paige?" I wondered aloud. "Did the tenant get my note?"

She just smiled and pulled something out of her back pocket. It was my note. Why did she have it?

"This? Ah, no. I totally swiped it before she got there," Paige teased.

There was a sinking feeling in my stomach but my feet were nailed to the floor. This couldn't be happening. Not again.

"Why?" I tried not to let my voice tremble.

She stepped closer to me. "Well we didn't really want any interruptions."

We? As much as I hoped this would start making sense, it didn't. That was until Diaz stepped out and joined us in the sitting room.

Then Paige held up my phone.

"Chapman wanted to let you know to stay away from Diaz at all costs. He enunciated that in caps," Paige read. "Apparently, he's working with the drug cartel you and your friends exposed a few months ago." Her eyes flipped back to me. "Guess Chapman was a little too late."

My blood ran cold. It was like everything was crashing around me but I was a deer in the headlights. All this time I had been rooming with her, confiding in her... and she was the enemy?

She threw the phone to the ground and her heavy boot stomped it to pieces. I jumped at the noise.

Paige glared at me through the dim light. All the evil I had refused to see was there, laced in her irises.

"You know, my father will be so proud to hear that I killed the girl that ruined his life," she accused.

All I could do was remain silent.

Paige huffed. "You know, Dave Stanley. The man that was helping these guys do their job." Her hand then landed on Diaz's shoulder.

"After learning about what you and your friends had helped do... well, I had to keep my eyes on you," she explained. "But then your friend Melissa turned you in, and I thought 'well, someone else took out the trash', and I assumed you would be locked away for life... but then you disappeared. Your existence was wiped from the prison system and you were nowhere to be found."

She took a seat on the couch and crossed her legs.

I just stare at her.

She continued. "I figured this had to be Chapman's doing, so I monitored him. I noticed he booked a flight ticket to Reno for Alexa Cortez, and I just had this hunch you would be coming here. Although, I didn't expect to see Melissa... Yeah, that was a surprise. Chapman must have a funny sense of humor."

I couldn't take it anymore. "So what, this was all just a set up from the start?"

She nodded. "Of course it was! Stacy and Justin were supposed to get your attention with the drugs. You have a knack for sticking your nose where it doesn't belong. And we were hoping you would drag Melissa into this mess too, but I guess you never got around to forgiving her. But that's okay..."

Paige stood from the couch. "Diaz's boss will be... satisfied with the news of your death."

"And what do you get out of this? What does anyone get out of my murder?" I stalled.

"Me? Revenge for my father," Paige admitted, then looked at Diaz. "What about you? What do you get out of Alexa's death?"

Diaz tilted his head. "My boss wants to send a message to Chapman and all of his buddies that screwed up our plans."

I stood tall and stared at Paige. "So kill me if you're gonna kill me."

"Oh, I'm not gonna be the one to kill you," she confessed. "Diaz will, on behalf of Marco Malvardo."

The name sounded familiar but I was in no place to think about it.

"I guess you can say karma's a bitch," she taunted.

Diaz stepped forward and my eyes noticed the gun in the waist of his pants. I had learned a few things since being here, but he knew what I knew. How could I disarm a man who was so aware?

But as I backed away I realized he wasn't going to shoot me. At least not yet.

I took defense and swung first. His left arm raised, blocking my attack. Then his right latched onto my neck. I told myself not to panic and brought my arms up and through his, causing them to release me.

But before I could make another move he pulled the pistol and slapped it across my head.

The pain was excruciating. Like a fire had spread through the inside of my skull and was burning its way out. I could feel the tears well in my eyes without my permission. My body crumbled to the ground in response.

He knelt in front of me. "That's for my brothers you killed on that ship."

Then he stepped back as my hand slowly rose to wipe the blood from my head. It was warm. The smell made me gag.

My eyes found Melissa who was watching in fear.

"You know, Chapman also had some good news," Paige continued. "Apparently, he's found a lead on Victoria. Too bad you won't live to see any of them again."

That's when a hard boot to my stomach knocked the wind out of me. I screamed in pain that time. It hurt so much.

Diaz stepped back. He was toying with me. Making sure I had a slow and painful death.

I forced my eyes to find Melissa who was moving closer towards Diaz. Was she about to try to get the gun? If she could then maybe we could get out of here alive.

I rolled onto my back and tried to breathe. The pain was spreading further and deeper into my body. It was like the walls were closing in. How on earth had I missed Paige? Of all people?

That's when Melissa emerged. Diaz didn't have time to react as she hit the pistol from his hands. It clattered to the ground and I forced my body to move.

The pain made me want to pass out but I reached anyway. I could hear the struggle between Melissa and Diaz. My fingertips touched the metal but Paige's boot came down. Hard.

I screamed as I felt bones crack. She dug her shoe into my hand before leaning down to pick up the gun. I watched in fear as Diaz threw a hard punch and hit Melissa dead in the jaw.

She dropped to the ground unconscious.

"Wow! So you did bring your friend," Paige mocked. "Even better. Killing two birds with one stone."

The adrenaline that was coursing through my veins tried to numb the pain. I struggled onto my hands and knees but it was no use.

Another boot to the ribs made me collapse to the ground. I couldn't even scream anymore. All the air had left my lungs. All I could do was whimper in pain. I was helpless.

It was like blow after blow. Hit after hit. As if there would be no mercy. No peace. At one point, I wished to die just so I didn't have to feel this anymore.

Then it stopped for a minute.

"That's enough," Paige ordered. "Just kill them."

I couldn't move my head anymore as I lied on my back. I could barely see Paige and Diaz standing above me. There was red and black trying to cloud my vision. Everything seemed so far away. Then Paige handed Diaz the gun.

I heard the hammer pull back as Diaz lifted it into the air. I exhaled what I thought would be my final breath. This was it. This was how I would die.

"I'll be waiting in the car," Paige said.

Then she turned and left through the back door.

"I should let you die like this," he mumbled. "I should let you die slowly... But Paige wants to be sure you stay dead."

I watched his finger wrap around the trigger. The black around my vision was growing larger. Soon I would either die from a gunshot or pass out from pain. Either way I probably wouldn't wake up.

I closed my eyes.

And the last thing I heardwas the echo of a gunshot. Then everything went black.