First message
She was never supposed to be on that parking lot.
She had not even planned to come to this city. Friends there, work somewhere else. She only wanted to drive home.
She had just reached her car when she heard noise nearby and froze.
A man was being dragged toward a vehicle.
A minivan. Rear doors open. A bag over his head.
Before she could fully understand what she was seeing, the world went black.
The next endless stretch of hours became heat, shaking roads, a bag over her face and pain burning through her restrained hands.
When she finally woke up, she was sitting upright, pressed against something soft behind her.
The bag was removed.
A bedroom. Low light.
A man sitting across from her in an armchair.
“Untie her,” he said quietly, emotionless, lighting a cigarette.
“Boss, we should get rid of her,” one of the men replied immediately.
Kian turned his head slightly without answering.
They untied her.
“You saw something you were not supposed to see,” he said with the same calm tone. “You stay here until I decide what to do with you.”
She looked around again.
A bedroom. Private bathroom. Comfortable furniture.
In another life, it could have looked safe.
Not this one.
“Name.”