“We’re going out this back door. I already have a car waiting for us and when we get where we’re going, we’ll have a nice chat, you and I. I don’t want to hurt a lovely young lady like yourself, but you have something I need. Now nod again if you understand me and you’re going to be a good girl. If not, I can knock you out, but then our talk will likely have to wait hours, and honestly I don’t love it here. I want to go home. You understand, yes?”

She nodded again.

“Good girl. This will all be over soon and we can both go back to our lives.” His voice was deep and it was clear from the thick accent he wasn’t from Texas. He was calm. She didn’t feel any panic from him, as though this was a normal part of his day. Kidnap the bartender. Check. Brush teeth. Check.

He started to walk her out of the office.

There was only a second or two that she was visible from the hallway, and then it was smooth sailing to the back. They were going out one of two entrances to the back of the building. Sean had recently put in this way for management to get into the offices without having to open the kitchen or the front. There was a small private lot he’d bought for parking.

It sucked that most of them took the bus or train because they lived close. As it was late, only Linc’s Jeep was sitting out in the small lot. And a nondescript sedan.

Damn, but they needed to tow people around here.

“I’m going to take my hand from your mouth now. If you scream, I’ll have to put you under.” He kept one hand around her waist. She stayed quiet for the moment. Closing time in the kitchen was always noisy. They would turn the music up and the sounds of pots and pans clanging would fill the air.

She wouldn’t shout if she thought no one would hear her. Not until she absolutely had to.

There was a beep and then the trunk to the sedan opened.

Her feet hit the cement and she realized what he was about to do. She dug her heels in. “No. No. Not the trunk.”

Not a dark cramped space she couldn’t get out of. No. Panic welled inside her and she could feel a scream threatening.

She heard someone shout. Maybe it was her. The sound curdled her blood and she was twelve years old again, being forced into the darkness. She couldn’t feel the concrete anymore. She was barefoot and the peeling linoleum of her “father’s” house poked at her skin. She’d tried so hard, fought so long, and she’d still gotten swallowed up. She couldn’t go in that room.