Chapter 3
With her bag over her arm and her keys in her hand, Grace hustled through the restaurant, eyes down. She didn’t even want to think about what she was going to do. She only had this job for two more days. She was supposed to be going with Dylan, but obviously, that plan had changed. As his name crossed her mind, Grace felt the tears rise again.
Just as she pushed through the restaurant’s front door, a large limo pulled into the parking lot. The word spread quickly throughout the restaurant. Those near the windows pressed on the glass to see the men more clearly. Grace looked behind her, seeing all the faces staring out, then she realized the faces weren’t staring at her.
Grace’s immediate worries were forgotten as she watched curiously to see who would get out of the limo. Two men dressed in nice suits stepped out. They were bulky with short hair, and the serious looks on their faces let Grace know that they had business to take care of. They began talking, but they were either too far away or too quiet for Grace to hear them well. However, she couldn’t mistake the looks they sent her way several times.
Fearful, Grace dropped her eyes and began walking toward her car. Who were these men that they came to such a small restaurant in a small town and didn’t go directly into the restaurant? Why were they standing here discussing her? What were they even doing here? The questions flooded Grace’s mind, and she continued walking quickly with her head turned away. Suddenly, she felt a hand grab her arm. Its grip was strong, as Grace tried to wrench herself away from the hand unsuccessfully. She turned and kicked the man in his stomach. She had been aiming a little lower, but she hadn’t quite had time to aim well.
The other man laughed as the first doubled over in pain, and he spoke quickly. It sounded as though he was speaking Spanish. Grace had taken Spanish, but she didn’t recognize any of the words. Then, the second man as he continued laughing, grabbed her other arm. Grace struggled, pulling back and forth from them. They started pulling her forward to the limousine.
Grace realized she wouldn’t be able to shake them, so she just gave up. She started walking with them as they led her toward the limousine. What did it matter? Dylan didn’t care about her. She was almost out of a job. She hadn’t been able to go to college, and she had no idea what she was even going to do with her life. What did it matter? She had given everything to Dylan, and he had left her.
She was pushed into the limo, though not in an extremely rough way. She took a seat on the plush leather cushions, and the two men climbed in after her. One of them tapped on the glass and gave an order, and the limo started moving.
Grace looked out the window as the restaurant faded from view. It didn’t matter anyway. Grace just hoped that whatever they were planning would not be painful.
“Who the hell are you and where are you fucking taking me?” Grace finally asked. The two men looked right at her, but they didn’t seem to understand her. “Don’t you speak English?”
“English?” one said with an accent. “No. No English.”
Grace shook her head. They seemed willing to communicate. They just didn’t have the tools. “Donde?” Grace asked, pulling from the few words she remembered having learned in Spanish class.
The man smiled at her question and began chattering off a long string of Spanish. Grace shook her head. “I don’t understand.”
“No understand,” the man said, shaking his head again. He gave a smile and pat Grace on the knee. “Is okay.” He finally said.
“Yeah, maybe for you,” Grace muttered under her breath. “But if you knew how my heart just had been ripped into a thousand pieces today, then I don’t think you would say that.” As tears fell down her face.
The men didn’t try to communicate with her anymore, and the ride was long. Grace felt as though she should be awed to be riding inside a limousine, but she was too exhausted emotionally. She rested her head back on the seat and eventually fell asleep.
When the man woke her by gently shaking her shoulder, Grace couldn’t make out anything other than that it was dark outside. She didn’t recognize any of her surroundings, and she had a feeling these men did not plan on returning her. Surprisingly, they hadn’t been rude to her or tried to do anything inappropriate. Grace wondered why they were being so kind to her, considering they had just kidnapped her.
“Food,” the men said, leading her into a fast food restaurant. It seemed strange that men who could afford to rent a limousine would choose to eat in a fast food restaurant, but then again, no behavior should surprise her after she had been “kidnapped” if she could even call it that. Grace wondered if their behavior counted as illegal since she hadn’t put up much of a struggle. Did that count as her consent? The thought of being with these strange men who seemed on a mission to reach who knew where, giving her no way to go back, frightened her.
One of the men pointed to a picture on the menu of a hamburger. He pointed at the other man, himself, then Grace and held up three fingers. Grace approached the register carefully and eyed the woman behind it. Perhaps this woman could help her. Then men wouldn’t know what she was saying if she did say something. Did she want to try to explain what had happened? “Three hamburgers and drinks please.”
“What size would you like those drinks?”
“Uh, medium.”
“Can I get you any fries with that?”
“Yes, sure,” Grace agreed. Why shouldn’t she engage in a little fat in her food. She had been working ever since Dylan had started going out with her so that she would have the type of body that she knew Dylan wanted her to have. That didn’t matter anymore. “Can we change those three drinks to three milkshakes?” Grace said. “Sorry about that.”
“No problem,” the woman said, changing the order. “What kind of shake?”
“Peanut butter.” Grace knew that these men would have enough money to pay for whatever she wanted if they had enough to be driving this limousine all around the country.
“Alright, your total is $18.62.”
Grace stepped back and motioned for the men to go forward and pay. They handed the woman a $100 bill. The woman took the bill, giving them a strange look. She examined the bill under a light and began counting out their change.
Grace sat with the two men and enjoyed her milkshake. It had been over a year since she had had one of these. The men were smiling and joking around, and Grace was really starting to wish that she had paid more attention in Spanish class.
When they finished the meal, they got in the taxi again. This time, Grace was awake as she studied her surroundings. They started driving through a big city. Grace looked at signs and finally realized where they were: Chicago. What were they doing in Chicago? That meant they had been going north. For some reason, Grace had had some weird thought that these men were going to take her south and smuggle her over the border to Mexico. Still, Grace wondered what they were doing.
The limo stopped in front of a tall hotel. One man grabbed a bag from the back of the limo, and the other took Grace by the arm. Grace realized that if she was going to make a run for it, this would be the opportunity. There were still plenty of people walking on the city streets despite the dark. But something inside Grace wanted to find out what they were going to do. While she felt scared, she was also intrigued. Besides what did she have to lose?
With one step into the lobby, Grace knew that this hotel must be one of the richest in the area. She literally sank into the carpet that was covering the lobby. There was a fireplace rising tall on one side. The carpet gave way to a hardwood floor that ran down a hallway with dark paneling. The men waited for the elevator and chose the top floor.
The doors opened, and Grace realized they were in the penthouse suite. She couldn’t help it. She was from a small town, and she was completely oblivious to the world of the rich and famous. She entered the penthouse and went directly for the floor-to-ceiling glass windows. She could see the whole city lit up in the night. Grace couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face. This city was beautiful!