Kara

 

Thirty minutes earlier …

 

Wearing nothing but a pair of black lace underwear, Kara stood in front of the full-length mirror in the larger of the hotel’s two bedrooms. She turned around and looked at her ass from behind, taking more than a little pride in just how good her booty looked in the skimpy thong.

 

I can’t believe I’m doing this, she thought, taking another sip of her wine. I don’t know if it’s the booze or what, but all I want is Ryder naked and in bed with me.

 

A tingle spread out from her pussy, and she felt herself get wetter at the mere thought of Ryder between her legs, his face tight with pleasure as he filled her up over and over again.

 

Down, girl, she thought, lifting up her hair and letting it fall onto her bare shoulders. Let the tension build a little bit.

 

She stepped into a pair of obsidian-black heels that she’d packed for the occasion and turned the stereo on to a channel that played the sultry music she was looking for. The sun had long set, and the city outside of the window glittered with evening lights, the moon a bright porcelain disc hanging in the sky. The lights of the hotel room were down low, and she sprayed the bed down with a spritz or two of her perfume.

 

Ugh, she thought, is this too corny? I feel like a damn teenager about to lose her virginity and desperate to make the night absolutely perfect.

 

But she wanted something romantic. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had an intimate evening like this. And she figured that with all Ryder was worried about, a night of lovemaking would be just the thing to take the pressure off all that he was dealing with.

 

“Okay,” she said out loud. “I think this is as good as it’s going to get.”

 

Falling backward onto the bed, Kara reached for her phone. But before she could take it, a knock sounded at the door. Kara gasped, the sound a total shock.

 

“Um, hello?” she asked.

 

“Hi, this is Anthony with Winthrop Hotel management. Sorry to disturb you, but I have a very important matter to discuss regarding your room. Do you have a moment to chat?”

 

“Now’s not a very good time,” said Kara, covering herself with a pillow.

 

“I wouldn’t be asking if it weren’t an extremely important matter.”

 

Kara harrumphed and heaved herself out of bed. Feeling very exposed in nothing but her underwear, she grabbed a light hotel robe and tossed it over her body before starting towards the door. Just before she placed her hand on the knob, however, a tight feeling took hold of her stomach. She suddenly became very suspicious, feeling as though something just wasn’t right.

 

“One sec!” she called out.

 

Carefully, she leaned in close to the door and peered through the peephole. On the other side she spotted a stocky, broad-shouldered man dressed in a gray suit, his head topped with slicked-back jet-black hair. A strange smile was on his face as he stood in front of the door with his hands clasped behind his back. On his chest was a small name tag with the official hotel logo, the name “Anthony” written in swooping, cursive letters.

 

Kara’s anxiety diminished a bit at seeing that he looked legit, but she still couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.

 

You’re being paranoid, she thought. Hotel management coming to rooms for one reason for another isn’t that weird—get a grip.

 

Kara opened the door, revealing the smiling man in the suit.

 

“Good evening!” he said.

 

“Hi,” said Kara, hesitantly.

 

His voice was gritty and low—something about it struck Kara as not what she’d expect for a man working a customer-service position like this.

 

“Sorry to bother you, but like I said, my name is Anthony and I’m with the Winthrop. Could I come in for a moment? There’s a possible issue with your room that I’d like to discuss with you.”

 

“Is it going to take long?” she asked. “I’m … kind of expecting company.”

 

Another fake-looking smile formed on the man’s face.

 

“Not long at all,” he said. “Just some security matters.”

 

“Then, um, come in.”

 

He nodded and crossed the threshold. As he shut the door behind him, Kara spotted something on his wrist—it was a tattoo. Her eyes locked onto it for a brief moment before she averted her gaze as not to appear suspicious.

 

“A security matter?” asked Kara, wrapping her arms around her body. “What kind of security matter?”

 

The man stepped into the room and began looking around.

 

“We just got done modifying some of the keycards to the doors and changing the locks to the windows … had some problems with them not working properly before.”

 

Just as he finished, the hotel door shut on its own, a heavy thud followed by a click of the lock sounding through the room. Kara’s eyes shot to the door, a sense of something being very, very wrong dawning on her. The man’s back to Kara, he spoke.

 

“Now, what I’m gonna need you to do, Kara, is to take a seat on the bed.”

 

“What?”

 

Turning around, the man pulled a black pistol out from the inside of his suit jacket. Holding the gun in one hand, he raised it towards Kara’s head.

 

“I said, take a seat on the fuckin’ bed, bitch.”

 

Kara’s heart felt as though it had dropped through the floor of her stomach. The man’s voice seemed far away and strange, almost ghostly. She felt the blood drain out of her body and her limbs went weak and limp under her. She fell back onto the bed, her legs barely able to support her weight.

 

“Good,” the man said. “Smart fuckin’ move. I was worried about what kinda shit I might have to do if you ended up being a stubborn asshole like Ryder.”

 

“What … what are you going? Who are you?”

 

But she already knew the answer—this was Franco, the man responsible for everything that had happened to her and Ryder in recent days, the man who had been stalking her in Milwaukee, the man who had tried to kill Ryder.

 

“I’m a friend of Ryder’s. Name’s Franco. And you and I are about to get very, very well-acquainted.”

 

Now that the façade had been dropped, Franco let a sinister shark-smile spread across his ugly features. His slicked-back hairstyle was beginning to come undone, and he undid the tie of his suit. He looked more and more like a biker thug by the moment.

 

Kara’s eyes shot to the white phone on the nightstand.

 

“Ah, ah, ah—don’t even fucking think about it,” he said, pointing his gun at her hand. “I’d like to keep a pretty thing like you in one piece, but that doesn’t mean I won’t blow off a finger or two if that means keeping that little ass of yours in line.”

 

“Ryder’s going to be back soon,” Kara said, finding something of a will to resist. “And when he does, he’s gonna wipe the floor with you.”

 

Franco laughed.

 

“Are you kidding? I’d have a bullet in the back of his brain before he even had a chance to know what happened. You ever seen Goodfellas? You know the part when Joe Pesci gets a split-second of fuckin’ awareness before he realizes that he’s walked into a trap? Ryder’d be lucky if he even had time to say ‘oh shit’ before I dropped his ass.”

 

Kara looked around the room and realized that he was right—Ryder wouldn’t have a chance if Franco wanted to kill him.

 

“Then … what do you want?”

 

“Now we’re talkin’,” he said. “Plan is to use you as a little bargaining chip in some … let’s call ’em ‘ongoing negotiations’. And here’s what’s going to happen—you’re going to get dressed, right fuckin’ now, and you’re gonna leave out the back entrance with me. You make a noise –even the smallest fuckin’ peep—and I’ll make sure that you suffer so much that you’ll be begging for a bullet. And you don’t even want to know what I’ll do to Ryder.”

 

“You’re kidnapping me?”

 

“Smart girl,” said Franco. “And if you play your cards right, you’ll get out if this shit lickety-split. Maybe even your boy Ryder, too. But just know that I’m not shy about doing whatever the fuck I need to make sure I get what I want.”

 

He pointed the gun back at Kara.

 

“Now, get dressed.”

 

Kara nodded and got out of the bed.

 

“Stay in the room; I want to make sure you don’t try any funny shit.”

 

Kara stood up, snatched her clothes from where they were piled, and took a deep breath as she realized that she was going to have to drop her robe. Closing her eyes, she let it fall to the ground.

 

“Very, very nice,” said Franco, Kara’s skin crawling as she felt his eyes move over her body. “You know, maybe me and the boys can have a little fun with you before Ryder comes to pick you up. Piece of ass like you’s too perfect to let go to waste.”

 

Kara felt hot tears form in her eyes as she pulled on her shirt, wanting to be unexposed as fast as possible. As she squatted down to pick up her jeans, however, she felt the familiar shape of her phone in her pocket. Her eyes going wide, she realized that if she kept it with her, Ryder might be able to track her down. But she knew she needed to throw Franco off the scent.

 

“Let me just get my phone,” she said, moving towards the nightstand and placing her hand on the handle for the drawer.

 

“Not a fuckin’ chance,” said Ryder. “You think I’m gonna let you bring your goddamn phone with you? Hurry and get your shoes on so we can get the fuck out of here.”

 

Hopefully, that did it, thought Kara.

 

“Come on.”

 

Moments later the two of them were out in the hallway. Franco had placed his gun back into his suit jacket, pressing it against Kara’s back as they stepped into the elevator, just so she knew that he was still as serious as it got. Kara scanned the lobby for any sign of Ryder, but Franco was careful to lead her out the back and out of the sight of anyone in the hotel bar. Soon, the two of them arrived at a parked motorcycle in a back alley behind the hotel. Kara recognized it immediately as the bike that had been stalking her, and a sick feeling formed in her gut.

 

“Good girl,” said Franco. “Now, you’re gonna get on the back of this bike, wrap your arms around me, and … ”

 

He picked up a helmet with a dark visor.

 

“ … wear this. I see you signal to any driver about what’s going on and your punishment will be so fucking severe, you’ll wish you’d just done what I’d said. Got it?”

 

Kara nodded, tears trickling down her face.

 

“Now,” said Ryder. “Let’s move.”