“Dad, wait up. Why are you in such a hurry?” I asked as I caught up to him in the parking lot.

“No reason in particular,” he said, obviously lying through his teeth. “It’s just that if we’re leaving tomorrow, I’ve got a lot of stuff to take care of.”

“All right, well how do you want to do this? Do you want me to pick you up and ride to the airport together?”

“No, just meet me at the airport at 5:30 in the morning. Our flight leaves at 6:30.”

Suddenly, two large men wearing full length coats and leather gloves appeared from the darkness as though they emerged out of thin air.

“The airport, huh?” the biggest of the two asked. “Where exactly are you headed, Robert?”

“Oh, Roman, hey,” my father answered, his eyes wide. His face had lost all color and he looked like he had just seen a ghost. “My daughter here just graduated from college and we’re going on a little trip to celebrate.”

“You’re going on a trip? I can only assume that you have Axel’s money then?”

“Daddy, who is this guy?” I asked, not liking the tone he was using with my father.

“Hannah, stay out of this. This doesn’t concern you.”

“Yes, Hannah. Why don’t you just stay out of this?”

I could feel my face turning red. Who did this guy think he was? He didn’t even know me so he had no right talking to me the way he did. Still, something told me it would be best if I just kept my mouth shut, so that’s what I decided to do. If my dad was in trouble, I didn’t want to do anything to make it worse.

“We’re just taking a short trip to celebrate her graduation and then we’ll be back. I was planning on settling up with Axel once we get back,” my father continued.

“Well, that sounds nice and all, but you’re already a month late and we think that Axel has been more than patient with you.”

“He has, and I appreciate it more than you know. I promise it’ll be taken care of as soon as we get back.”

“Robert, I’m going to need you to come with us. We’re going to take a ride.”

“Where are we going?”

“We need to have a discussion, get in,” the man ordered as he opened the back door of the SUV parked behind my father’s car. My dad shook his head, looked down at the ground and slid into the backseat without saying a word. “You too,” the man said.

Through the shock of the news and everything that was happening, it took me a moment to realize that he was talking to me. “Me too? What do you mean?”

“I mean you’re coming with us as well. Get in.”

“I’m not going anywhere. As a matter of fact, I’m calling the police right now!” I said loudly, pulling my cell phone out of my purse. Almost immediately, the man knocked the phone from my hand, sending it flying across the parking lot.

“Believe me when I say you don’t want to do that. If you ever want to see your father again, you’ll get in and come with us.”

I tried to read his eyes to find out how serious he was, but I couldn’t. They were cold and empty. It was almost as if they were lifeless, which scared the hell out of me. I knew that if I allowed them to drive off with my father, I’d have no idea where they took him. At least if I went with them, I could attempt to be the voice of reason if things started going south.

Against my better judgement, I slid into the seat next to my father and the man pushed himself into the seat as well. It was obvious that he was going to keep a close watch on us.

“I’m going to figure out a way to get you out of this mess,” I whispered into my dad’s ear.

“Hannah, you should never have gotten in the car with me.”

“That’s enough out of you two,” the man said. “What I need from you right now is silence and attention. We need to make some decisions before we get to the casino. The choices you make right now will directly impact how smoothly the rest of this night goes.”

“What is it you want?” my father asked. “I already told you I’d settle up next week.”

“Robert, you know how this shit works. You know there is no way we’re going to let you leave the country while you owe this much money. Do you think we’re fucking stupid?”

“No, but this is a celebration for my daughter.”

Without blinking an eye, the man reached across me and backhanded my dad right across the face.

“Hey!” I yelled out, but he gave me a look that said I needed to shut my mouth or I may be next.

“Robert, you’re not fucking leaving. We both know you’d never be heard from again. We are settling this tonight. Now, the question is, do you have the cash to settle up?”

“No,” my dad said, sounding more defeated than I’d ever heard before.

“So how do you suggest we handle this?”

“I don’t know. Just let me talk to Axel and I’m sure he and I can work something out.”

“Well, the time to work something out with Axel has come and gone. That’s why we’re here. We have come to enforce the debt. We were given three options and since you just told us you don’t have the cash to settle up, so that leaves us with two, and I’m pretty sure you’re not going to like either one of them.”

“Please, we don’t have to do this! Just let me talk to Axel. I’ve known him for years.”

“Do you think this was our decision? These orders are direct from Axel, so I’m going to need you to make a decision right now.”

“What are the options?”

“Option number one is we take you out into the desert and come back without you. Your body will never be found and your daughter can pay off your debt with that fancy life insurance policy that she’s the beneficiary of.”

“And the other option?”

“The other option is that your daughter comes with us tonight. If you choose to go that route, we will drop you off at the casino, you get to live, and your debt will be forgiven.”

“I’ll do it,” I blurted out. It didn’t matter what their plan was for me. Whatever it was had to be better than my father being murdered.

“This isn’t your decision, sweetheart,” the man said with a ton of cockiness in his voice. “Robert, your daughter has offered to come with us to settle your debt. Are you in agreement with this?”

My father nodded his head in agreement without saying a word.

“Wow, you are one fucked up human being,” the man said to my father, leading me to wonder what he meant by that exactly. “You do understand what this means, correct?”

Once again, my dad nodded in agreement.

The SUV pulled up in front of The Bellagio and my dad was ordered out. He looked over at me, but couldn’t look me in the eyes. He exited the vehicle without saying another word and made his way inside the casino.

“I want you to watch what happens next,” the man said to me with far too much pleasure in his voice.

I was expecting my dad to rush inside and try to find some help or at least alert someone to what was going on. Instead, I watched as he went to the cashier and traded cash for chips. He was going to gamble.

Before I could say anything, a hood was placed over my head and all I could see was darkness. The tires squealed as the SUV sped off from the casino towards an undisclosed location.

I don’t know how long we were driving or even in what direction we were headed, but we eventually stopped. The way the car doors echoed when they slammed shut suggested that we were in some sort of parking garage. I was led down some stairs and into a musty smelling room. I was definitely in a basement.

Once the hood was removed from my head, I saw that I was in a room with nine other women, each of them looking frightened and unsure of what was going to happen to them.

“We’ll get some food and water for all of you shortly,” a voice from the door yelled. “Until then, just sit tight. The auction is just a couple days away.”

The auction? What in the hell was about to happen to me?