by Gina Finley
I dial the three numbers on the safe and the lock clicks. I turn the handle and the door opens. Inside, I find several stacks of hundred dollar bills, a Patek watch, and a small card with long numeric codes on it. I leave the money and watch and take the card. I slide it into my pocket, close up the safe, and re-hang the portrait. I check my watch.
Two minutes left.
I check the portrait again and return to the atrium near the front door. Fox is already there. I nod at him.
Tyler comes down the stairs and gives us a thumbs up.
If they’ve done their jobs, Fox has pulled a diamond bracelet from the master bedroom worth over a hundred grand and Tyler should have banking numbers that lead to an offshore account that Edwin keeps in the Caymans. He’s told my father several times that he keeps the account numbers in his nightstand because he likes to check them in the middle of the night when he can’t sleep.
I check my watch again.
Ninety seconds left.
We’re coming in under the scheduled time.
This is good.
We’re going to walk out with a fortune.
Because fuck Edwin Taylor.
Don’t fuck with my father.
You’ll lose every time.
I’ll make sure of it.
I look at both of them and nod. Fox goes to the alarm panel and punches in a code. This time, there’s a slow beeping sound. I open the front door and smile.
Piece of cake.
Just like it should be.
NINE
Cara
Jesus Christ.
I sit up just as they close the doors in the SUV and see them outside. They all have those black things pulled on over their heads and I swear one of them is carrying a gun.
I lay back down, my heart racing again.
What the hell is happening?
I listen for voices and footsteps.
I don’t hear anything.
I roll over and lift my head just over the backseat.
I can see them through the windshield in the distance. They’re in the driveway of some mansion, heading for the front door.
I lay back down and try to get my breathing under control.
I have to get out of here before they come back.
But that means getting out of the car and running home in my underwear.
Not exactly subtle.
But I have no idea what these guys are doing and I don’t want any part of it. I knew they seemed sort of scary in school, but I thought it was all posturing and the normal kind of bullshit that goes on in every high school. Guys competing to see who is the biggest alpha.
This feels different, though.
This feels dangerous.
I’m scared of what they’ll do to me if they find me back here.
So I have to get out.
I push the blankets off of me and I’m not cold any longer. I’m sweating, probably because I can’t get my heart to slow down. I reach over and hit the unlock button, which sounds like I’ve just set off a grenade it's so loud inside the car. I pause for just a second, then push the tailgate open.
I listen.
I don’t hear anything.
It’s now or never.
I slide out of the rear of the SUV, then turn back around to lower the tailgate as quietly as I can. It sounds just as loud as the door locks when it clicks into place, but I know that’s just my imagination.
I take a deep breath and turn around.
And one of them is pointing a gun at my face.
TEN
Dash
When we are halfway across the cul-de-sac, I know something’s wrong because Shane is standing near the driver’s door. He should already be behind the wheel. He never goes in. He always stays outside as a lookout and to make sure we’re clear. But he’s always back behind the wheel as soon as he sees us coming.
So something’s wrong.
“What’s up?” I ask when we reach him.
He pivots and walks to the back of the Explorer, then hits the remote to lift the tailgate.
It takes a few seconds for me to realize what I’m seeing.
Or, who I’m seeing.
“What the fuck?” Tyler asks.
I laugh. “Yeah. What the fuck?”
She’s laying on top of the blankets in the back. Her wrists are bound together with a plastic zip tie and there’s a cloth gag in her mouth. And she’s in her underwear.
“How the fuck did you end up here, Cara?” I say, smiling at her. “That wasn’t very smart.”
Her eyes are filled with fear.
Good.
“The fuck are we gonna do?” Tyler asks.
I look at Shane. “Was she in the car when you found her?”
Shane nods.
I look at Cara. “So you got into our car at the party and came for a ride. Interesting.”
Her eyes are wide.
I pull my balaclava off.
“Dude,” Fox says. “You sure you wanna do that?”
I stare at Cara. “She already knew it was us if she rode over with us.” I reach out and pull the gag out of her mouth. “Didn’t you?”
She coughs for a second and her eyes water.
“And if you scream, you’ll regret it,” I tell her. “So think very carefully before you make a sound.”
She coughs again and stares at me for a long moment. “Just let me go.”
“What are you doing in the car?”
“I was hiding,” she says. “That’s all. Just let me go. I won’t say anything. I swear.”
I laugh. “Oh, I know you’re not going to say anything.”
“Hey,” Tyler says. “We need to get moving. We’ve already been here too long.”
I glance at my watch.
Yeah, we’re late.
I lean down over Cara. “Listen to me. I’m going to put the gag back on you–”
“No, no,” she says, trying to move backward. “I won’t say anything. Just let me–”
I shove the gag back in her mouth. “Just relax. Not gonna hurt you.” I smile at her. “Yet.”
Her eyes go wide again as I push the button and the tailgate closes.
“Yo, Dash,” Tyler says. “What are we doing here?”
I push against the tailgate to make sure it’s closed. “Taking her with us.”
ELEVEN
Cara
They don’t say a word while we drive.
And that somehow makes it scarier.
When I got out of the SUV the first time, one of them was waiting right there for me. He never said a word, either. He sat me down in the back of the car, put the cuff things around my wrist, then put the gag in my mouth. I started to panic when he closed the door, but I managed to remind myself to breathe and to stay as calm as possible.
Now, they are taking me with them.
And I have no idea where we are going.
Tears cloud my eyes as the tires hum over the road. The panic wells up in my stomach and for a moment, I feel like I’m going to vomit. I manage to hold it off because it would be disastrous with the gag in my mouth.
I take a couple of long, slow breaths through my nose, trying to steady myself and to clear my head. Being scared won’t do anything for me. I need to keep calm in order to think clearly and to process what’s happening.
I look at the button that opens the trunk. I think about slamming my foot against it and then trying to roll out of the car. It feels like we’re moving too fast, though, and I’m afraid of getting hurt or getting run over by a car that might be following.
So I’m going wherever they’re going.
I try to focus on what I have going in my favor.
I know who they are.
People saw me at the party.
My dad knows I went to a party.
There are phone calls from Lucy.
If I can stay alive, those things work in my favor.
I remember reading once about a girl who was kidnapped. She managed to escape her cap
tors after a couple of weeks because she held onto one single thought.
Don’t be a victim.
I don’t know anything about these guys, but they’re high school students, just like me. I can’t let my own fear dictate how I act with them.
I can’t be a victim.
The SUV slows and it feels like we’re going down a hill. Then it stops and I hear a window sliding down, then several faint beeps. The window goes back up and we start moving again, but it’s slow. Then the light changes on the other side of the window and I realize we are inside of a garage. They all get out and the doors echo in my ears when they slam them.
Stay calm.
Don’t be a victim.
I hear muffled voices outside the car, then footsteps. My heart thumps against my chest.
More footsteps.
Then the tailgate opens.
Dash stands there, staring at me, his hair ruffled, a bemused grin on his stupid, gorgeous face.
But I don’t see any of the others.
He reaches in and scoops me up, like I weigh nothing at all. He carries me like a baby and I turn my face away so I don’t have to look at him.
“I’ll take the gag out in just a minute,” he says.
I look around. We are definitely in a garage. It’s pristine. Concrete floor. White walls. Fluorescent lights on the ceilings. Not much else. It’s missing the tools and oil-stained flooring of most garages. Like it’s brand new.
He carries me to the front of the garage and he pushes open a door. We walk through a long hallway, then down a short flight of steps. He pushes open another door and we’re outside again. An aquamarine pool shimmers beneath the night sky and I can see the ocean in the distance.
He carries me around the pool to what looks like a small guesthouse, all glass and white stucco. He nudges the door open with his shoulder, then closes it with his foot.
We’re in a living room. White leather sofa. Flat screen TV. Glass coffee table. Wood floor. There’s an open kitchen behind it, separated by a bar and some stools. I’m trying to take in as much detail as possible, committing it to memory.
He takes me past the bar and kitchen, down another hallway, then into a massive bedroom. There’s a king sized bed with a black comforter. Another flat screen. A dresser that matches the wood bed frame. A small sofa. I see a bathroom at the backside of the room. And there are floor to ceiling windows that showcase an angry, black Pacific Ocean down below.
He sits me down on the edge of the bed and kneels in front of me. He’s still smiling at me, like he’s amused by the entire situation. “I’m going to take the gag out now. Don’t make a sound. Do you understand?”
I hesitate, then nod.
He pulls the gag from my mouth and lays it on the bed next to me. He looks me up and down, licks his lips. “Not that I want to cover up this body of yours, but are you cold? You want a sweatshirt or something?”
“What I want is to go home,” I tell him.
He chuckles. “I’m sure you do. But that’s not happening just yet. So do you want a sweatshirt or a jacket or something?”
“I don’t want shit from you.” I look around the room. “Where are the others?”
“Not your concern,” he says, laying his hands on my thighs. “Cara. You need to listen to me right now.”
I look at him. “I’m not afraid of you.”
He laughs again. “No?”
I force myself to shake my head. “No.”
He slides his hand between my legs. “You sure about that?”
I squirm back on the bed.
He stands and pushes me onto my back. He pins my wrists down over my head and leans down over me and pushes my legs apart, wedging himself between them. He drops his hips against mine and pushes into me. He looks down at me. “You’re not afraid of me? Not afraid I won’t just rip these panties off of you and use you until I’m done? Really, Cara?”
He pushes into me again and he’s hard.
“Because I can do it, Cara,” he says. “I can do it right now. And I hate to tell you, but you’d like it.”
He smells like salt and sweat.
I turn away and don’t look at him.
He lets go of my hands and pushes off the bed. “But I’m not going to do that.”
A wave of relief sweeps over me.
He sits next to me on the bed and helps get me into a sitting position. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small pocket knife. He cuts the cuffs loose from my wrists. He drops the now cut cuffs on the bed and puts the knife back in his pocket. “Look at me, Cara.”
I refuse.
He puts his hand under my jaw and guides my face until I have no choice but to look at him.
“Listen to me,” he says. “I’m not going to hurt you. Not my style. But you need to talk to me for a second before we get you home. You do that, I’ll get you out of here. Deal?”
I want to tell him to fuck off, but I also want to go home and I think he’s offering me a way to get out of here.
Unless he’s lying.
But what other choice do I have?”
“Okay,” I say.
He nods. “Good girl. What were you doing in the back of the Explorer?”
I feel the heat rush to my face. “I was at the party.”
“I know that. How did you end up in the car?”
“That fucking bitch Whitney,” I say. “And her friends. They stripped me and took my clothes. I was looking to go home. Then I saw you and your goons in the parking lot and I panicked. I didn’t want anyone to see me. So I jumped in the closest car.”
He laughs. “Bad fucking luck for you.”
“No shit.”
“And I told Whitney to just mess with you, not take your clothes,” he says. “That’s not cool.”
I look at him for a long moment, trying to understand. “You told her to do it?”
“You talked shit to me in class,” he says. “Can’t have that. Needed some payback.”
I look away, both embarrassed and pissed off.
“All in good fun,” he says.
“Fuck you.”
“If that’s what you want...” His voice trails off and I can tell he’s smiling.
I think about taking a swing at him and running, but he’s bigger and stronger than I am and it would take a miracle to catch him just right to allow me to get out of there.
“So,” he says. “You were in the car. Unlucky for you. But it happened. And now we need to talk about keeping your mouth shut.”
“I said I won’t tell anyone,” I tell him.
“I know you did, but I’m going to need some assurances,” he tells me.
“Who the fuck do you think you are?” I say, suddenly just furious that he’s controlling me like this. “Some sort of villain out of a bad movie?”
He smiles. “You wish. I’m worse than that, Cara.”
“You know what? Fuck this. I’m going to tell everyone about what I saw tonight. And what you told Whitney to do to me. I don’t give a shit what you’re threatening me with.”
“Oh, I’m not threatening you,” he says.
Now I’m confused.
Dash smiles at me. “I’m threatening your father.”
TWELVE
Dash
There’s confusion on her face as soon as I say it.
Perfect.
“My father?” she asks. “What are you even talking about?”
I stand up and walk over to the window. “You guys moved here for a job right? He’s in construction?”
She doesn’t say anything.
She doesn’t need to because I already know it’s true.
“Who does he work for?” I ask, looking out at the ocean.
She doesn’t answer again.
I turn around.
She’s on the edge of the bed, staring at me. I’ll give her this. She says she’s not scared and she’s sure as shit not acting like it. She’s pissed. She’s mad.
I like that.
; A lot.
“He works for my father,” I tell her. “DH Construction, right?”
She looks down at her lap.
“It’s a good job,” I say. “Great, really. My father pays well. At the high end of the market. Probably why your father took the job in the first place. And I believe we helped him find the rental home you’re in? Does that sound right?”
She looks at me. “So this is blackmail then? That’s what this is?”
I laugh. “That’s exactly what this is. You will keep your mouth shut about tonight and your father will keep his job and you guys can keep the house. It’s pretty simple.”
She looks like she wants to stab me. “What even were you doing tonight? All I saw was the four of you dressed up like it was Halloween or something, pretending to play ninjas.”
I sit down next to her. I like the anger. I like the attitude.
But she needs to know who’s in charge.
“You sure you want to know that?” I ask, laying my hand on her thigh. “The more you know, the more you’re in.”
She pushes my hand away. “Good point.”
“It doesn’t have to be like this, Cara,” I tell her. “We don’t have to be enemies.”
“What does it have to be like then?”
“We can be friends,” I inform her. “More than friends. But whatever we end up being, you will keep your mouth shut or I’ll ruin your life. Trust me on that. No matter what questions you have about me, trust me on that.” I stare at her for a long moment. “I will ruin your life if you force me to.”
I can see the wheels in her head spinning. She’s looking for a way around this. But there isn’t one. She had the bad luck of crawling in the wrong car.
And now she’s mine.
“Alright,” she finally says. “I won’t say anything.”
“How do I know that?” I ask. “Maybe I should just get it all over with now. Talk to my father, have him fire yours, and kick you out of the house. Maybe that’s the safer play here.”
“I won’t say anything,” she repeats. “You have my word.”
“But what’s that worth?” I ask. “I don’t really know you. I don’t know that I can trust you.”
