I roll my eyes. “Of course you are.”
The hallway is narrow, dimly lit compared to the bright café. There’s a small three stall bathroom on the left, storage closet on the right, and at the far end, a door marked EMPLOYEES ONLY which I assume leads to their locker room.
The bathroom is empty except for one occupied stall. I take the one furthest from the door, do my business, and I’m washing my hands when the other woman emerges.
She’s young—mid-twenties maybe, wearing a sundress and a Stoneheart Farmers Market tote bag. She gives me a polite smile as she moves to the sink beside me.
“Hell of a rally, huh?” she says. “I’ve never seen the square this packed.”
“Duck’s got a lot of supporters.”
She flashes me a smile. “Well, have a nice day.”
“You too.”
She pushes through the bathroom door ahead of me, and the lights go out.
I hear a scuffle. A muffled cry, cut short.
My blood goes cold.
Through the crack of the still-closing door, I can see shapes moving in the darkened hallway. The woman’s tote bag hits the floor. Someone’s dragging her toward the EMPLOYEES ONLY door at the end of the hall.
Get out. Get to Stone. Now.
I shove through the bathroom door?—
And walk straight into a wall of muscle.
“Ms. Bright.” The voice is calm. Professional. “We’ve been waiting for you.”
A hard object presses into my ribs before I can scream.
“Don’t,” he says quietly. “The woman we just took? We’ll let her go if you come with me. But if you make a sound, if you try to run, she dies. Understand?”
I nod, my throat too tight for words.
“Good. Walk.”
The EMPLOYEES ONLY door opens onto a back alley where a black SUV idles at the mouth of it, engine running. Two men have propped the unconscious woman against the wall of thealley—I see her chest rise and fall,alive, thank God—before they turn their attention to me.
The alley swallows me whole. Two men in front, one behind, the gun never leaving my side. All I can hear is the pounding of my heart.
Stone must have heard the commotion. He’ll save me. He’ll come get me.
The door behind us remains firmly shut.
“She’s secure.” One of the men speaks into a phone. “Moving to secondary location. Dump the bait.”
She crumples to the ground, as they push me into the vehicle.
“Get in.Now.”
I get in.
The door slams behind me, and the SUV pulls away.
20
