Tina awoke with a start, her heart racing. Dull sunlight streamed through a small window high above her. She checked the bioluminescent implant on the inside of her wrist for the time. It was three in the afternoon. She groaned as her body protested even that much motion, but overall, she felt a thousand times better than she had the night before.

The treatment had worked its magic once again.

But how much of it had that stingy bastard given her?

Her stomach growled, and her throat felt parched to the point of aching. Her body was screaming for calories, nourishment. Now that her stomach wasn’t trying to eat itself anymore, it was ready to go to work. She knew there was no food in the club, though. And that meant she would have to risk going outside. But could she? Who knew what stories Raul had spread about what happened last night? At least Marcos seemed to have trusted her enough to leave her here alone. That was a good sign.

And probably a mistake on his part.

Tina checked the bullet wound in her side to find it had already scabbed over. The cut on her arm and hand didn’t look so bad either. It felt good to be back to normal. She performed a quick sweep of the club and found the place deserted. Even the rooms where Marcos housed—or rather, imprisoned—his girls lay empty. She had half a mind to ransack the place, find where he hid those ampules. But if the girls had been cleared out, there was a good chance he had up and moved his whole operation last night. Besides, she had already tried that once. She never found the stuff, and all Marcos did was laugh in her face, adding the damages to her million and a half debt.

Another stomach growl reset her priorities. Tina checked the street outside from the front window. It looked quiet, but there was no way she could risk being seen right now. She headed to the back of the club instead. When she opened the back door, she found a rickshaw parked in the alleyway, the same kid from last night lounging in it.

He sat up quickly and smiled. “Ha! I knew you would try to come out the back way, grande senhora.”

Tina stooped down to lean against the side of the doorframe as she poked her head outside. “Sério?” she said in Portuguese. “So you’re my guard, then. You working for Marcos now, too?”

The boy shook his head as he jumped out of the rickshaw. “Nope. I work for you. I thought you were probably gonna need my rickshaw again.”

“And did you bring your friends to help you? Or were you planning to pull me all by yourself this time?”

The kid grinned and laughed. He obviously hadn’t thought it through that far. How much money had she thrown at him last night? Enough that here he was, apparently. He could be useful for information at least. “Where is everyone?”

The kid shrugged. “I saw a whole bunch of vans and trucks come through earlier, picking people up.”

So Marcos had relocated. She’d been wrong. Leaving her here alone wasn’t a sign of trust at all. It was more like leaving wounded prey out in the open to see what kind of predator it would attract. That was the Marcos she knew. But Marcos was area boss of the favela, and controlled most of Baixo Augusta as well. What kind of predator would be big enough to scare off someone like him? 

Her stomach grumbled.

Tina reached back into her hidden pocket and withdrew some more reais. She tossed the kid two rolls of bills. “One of those is yours. Go down to the market and spend the other on as much meat and rice as it will buy.”

He looked at the money. “You sure you want me to spend all of this?”

“Yes. And hurry up.”