Chapter 1

I used to be a food delivery driver in a sleepy Texas border town.

No matter how hard I worked, my fiancée, Chloe, called off our engagement because I couldn't afford the fifty-thousand-dollar wedding and the house down payment her family demanded.

That was when Victoria, a mysterious woman who ran an overnight courier service, came to me. She told me a man needed to have some pride, and asked if I wanted to make some real money with her.

So, I followed her to her warehouse. Every night at midnight, I would drive a beat-up, modified cargo van to a remote, private estate on a hill we called Copper Ridge.

My beautiful boss set three strict rules for me:

First, never open the cargo doors.

Second, pretend to be deaf no matter what kind of noise you hear.

Third, do not say a single word to anyone at Copper Ridge, unless they ask, "Is the cargo here?" Then, and only then, you answer, "Yes."

I once asked her what would happen if I broke the rules.

Victoria just gave me a cold look. "We're all adults here, Ethan. You get paid to do a job. Don't ask questions you don't want the answers to."

Until one stormy night, due to an unexpected breakdown, I broke the second rule...