Trafficked by Kim Purcell Page B

disappointed. A bath would have felt really luxurious, but a hot water shower would be a treat too. “I think so.”
    â€œUnlock the door,” Lillian said. “I’ll show you.”
    â€œI can figure it out.”
    â€œOpen the door,” she ordered.
    â€œI have to put on my clothes.”
    â€œWe’re both girls,” Lillian said, laughing outside the door, with an edge of impatience in her voice.
    â€œOne minute.” Hannah tied the pouch around her waist and put on her blouse and jeans. She opened the door, and then realized, too late, that the pouch felt a little loose.
    Lillian glanced at her hair—probably because it was dirty and the waves were all knotted from the ponytail she’d had her hair in for two days. Hannah walked to the shower to show her that she could figure it out—and to get Lillian out of the bathroom before the pouch fell off. Guessing, she tugged at the lever and water burst out from the shower. As she leaned forward, her pouch loosened. It was falling off! She jerked up and pinned her arms to her sides to hold it in place.
    â€œOh,” said Lillian, oblivious for once. “You know what to do. I thought maybe you would have had to bring water from the well.”
    â€œI’m not from the village.” Lillian’s brow furrowed, and Hannah realized she’d been terse. She felt a bead of sweat form on her forehead. “I mean, in the villages they use wells, but in Chişinău we have running water.”
    â€œI forgot you were from Chişinău. Wasn’t your father from a village in Transnistria?”
    â€œYes, he was,” she said. “How did you know that?”
    â€œSergey told me.”
    But Olga hadn’t known, and therefore Sergey couldn’t know either. Hannah specifically remembered that Olga had assumed that her father was from Gura Bicului, just like her mother, and Hannah hadn’t corrected her.
    The pouch slid lower. Hannah held her breath.
    Lillian backed out of the room. “Don’t take too long.”
    When the door closed behind her, Hannah locked the door and checked the pouch. It had come untied. That was close. If it had fallen, Lillian would probably have gotten rid of her on the spot, and then what would she do? She’d be in a strange place with no friends, no money, and nowhere to go.
    She wondered what else they knew about her and how they knew it. Paavo had implied that Sergey had picked her out. But how? Olga had approached her with the job. She’d never applied for one, and she’d had her photo taken only to get her documents after she’d already been offered the job. It didn’t make sense. Perhaps she’d misunderstood.
    She put the pouch on the counter and glanced at the door, worried that Lillian had a way to unlock the door and that she’d burst in and see it, but then told herself she was paranoid. Still, when she took off her clothes, she put them on top of the pouch, just in case.
    She got into the shower, and hot water pelted down on her skin like a massage in one of those European spas. The last thing she wanted to do was get out, but after a few minutes, she made herself turn off the water, get dressed, and put on some light makeup. She looked at her reflection and smiled. At last, she looked like a normal human being.
    In the kitchen, she found Lillian sitting alone at the table, holding a single sheet of paper. “Better?” Lillian asked, with a kind smile.
    â€œI was dirty after all that traveling.”
    â€œYou have very wavy hair,” Lillian said.
    Hannah touched her wet hair. “I always wanted straight hair, like yours.”
    Lillian waved her hand. “Oh, it takes forever to blow-dry so it doesn’t look limp. Wavy hair, you can let it dry by itself and it looks beautiful.”
    It sounded like this stunning woman had just complimented her, but perhaps she wasn’t referring to her hair, just wavy hair