IT HAD BEEN a few days since her rescue, and Kelsey wondered if that was still the right word for what had happened to her. She began to consider her predicament. Yes, she’d hated the clanging, noisy, smelly jail, and the fear that the other prisoners would discover she’d been a cop and she’d find herself outnumbered somewhere in a horrible situation. But what opportunity had she been given by being pulled out of the frying pan?

She’d slept enough and thought enough to know that maybe she hadn’t been done a favor. She thought about Alyssa and Lowell and the truth she knew about the couple. She knew that Alyssa ordered the killing of Abby Hart’s parents. And that while Lowell had no idea about it at the time, when he found out about it later, his response was “Alyssa always does what’s best for me.”

Kelsey felt sick about what she had done for the couple over the years. What Gavin had done for them over the years. He killed himself in order to avoid implicating them.

Kelsey would never do them that kind of favor.

It began to make her angry. She’d kept her mouth shut about what she knew and made a deal with the prosecutor she could live with, and now that deal was history. Kelsey could never hope to remake it.

She paced and wondered what options she had. There was no phone in this house, no way for her to communicate with the outside world, and she wasn’t even sure exactly where she was. Maybe if she walked into a police station and turned herself in, just maybe she’d find mercy.

She heard a car outside. A few minutes later the door opened and the driver walked in.

“Good, you’re up. It’s time to go.”

“Where to?”

He stared at her as if she had no right to speak. “You’ll see. Now let’s go.”

Kelsey sat in the backseat of the car as Los Angeles gave way to Long Beach. She wondered if he was going to take her to the governor’s house in the Naples area. But he didn’t exit the freeway until he got to the airport off-ramp. He didn’t go to terminal parking; he went around to the private plane portion of the airport. The area was gated, and he stopped to enter the proper code and the gate swung open.

He parked next to a hangar and got out. When he opened the door for Kelsey, she hesitated.

“Come on. I’m not going to carry you.”

She got out, squinting in the bright morning sun.

He pointed to a small jet. The words Micro Solutions with a business logo were painted on the side. She remembered that the company was a big donor to the governor.

“That’s your ride.”

Kelsey looked at him, blinked, and when he got back in his car and closed the door, she walked to the plane and climbed the steps. She ducked to enter the main cabin, and there was Alyssa Rollins.

“Kelsey, how nice to see you, my dear. Orange was never your color.”

She was trying too hard to sound lighthearted, Kelsey thought, as she sensed something was wrong.

Kelsey didn’t know what to say. She wanted to turn and run and be free of this woman forever.

But then from the back of the plane came Lowell Rollins.

“Well, get in here, sit down, and buckle up. We’re taking off.” He was angry —and Kelsey didn’t miss the glare he shot Alyssa. Was there trouble in paradise?

Unable to stop herself, Kelsey sat in the first available seat and put on the seat belt. A few minutes later the jet was airborne and there was no question she was squarely in the center of the fire. The only question was how hot it would get.

“My wife went to a lot of trouble to secure your release, Kelsey. Against my advice and judgment.” His tone was tight and clipped, and Kelsey knew what the problem was. Alyssa had probably acted without his knowledge or consent when she sprang Kelsey from jail. Maybe at one time he thought she always knew what was best for him, but clearly not now.

The governor moved to sit next to Kelsey once the plane reached cruising altitude.

Not knowing what to say, Kelsey simply said, “Thank you.” She found talking to the imposing man difficult. His manner was mesmerizing. Where she might have been able to say no to Alyssa, she couldn’t say no to the governor. But she wanted to. Part of her wanted to scream, “I just want to get off this ride!”

“There is something we’d like you to do for us.”

Here it comes, Kelsey thought, the pound of flesh.

“Alyssa and I have a couple of private fund-raisers to attend in San Francisco and San Jose. We’re going to drop you off in a little place called Paso Robles. Are you familiar with the town?”

Kelsey nodded and found her voice. “It’s near Hearst Castle.”

“Yes, it is. We want you to find someone for us.” He handed her a manila envelope. “Who we want you to find and where to look is in that envelope. There are also instructions on what to do when you find him.”

She took the envelope. Lowell started to get up.

“What then?” she asked.

“What?”

“After I complete this, this, uh . . . mission. What then?”

“This plane will take you wherever you want to go. There are several beautiful places on this planet that have no extradition treaty with this country. You’ve been a good soldier, Kelsey. Your service will be rewarded.”

He bent and patted her shoulder and then went back to where he’d sat when the plane took off.

Several minutes passed before she opened the envelope and poured the contents on the seat next to her. She saw a new California driver’s license with her picture and a new name. She was now Helena Cooper, and her photo had been altered to give her black hair. There was money, keys to a car, black hair dye, and some typed instructions.

The instructions surprised her. It wasn’t what she expected. After she’d read them a couple of times, she put everything back in the envelope and put it on the seat. She didn’t want any of this. She didn’t want to follow the instructions and she didn’t want to spend the rest of her life in exile in some third-world nonextradition country.

There had to be a way out of the fire, and Kelsey pledged to herself that she would find it.