Chapter Seven

Kidnapped

Silver took a sweep of her room once more, checking for clues other than the missing drive that there had been another person in her room. And not a single thing looked out of place, even her laptop sat in the exact spot that she left it.

Tears pricked at her eyes and her plump lips wobbled in utter desolation as she it dawned on her, just how much of her little world was falling apart in the space of one day. Had it been the flash drive all along? Was it the Russian men after her? The man at the mall, was he a part of their group? She didn’t recognize him as one of the men she had seen a night before though, so maybe he was sent by them?

She picked her favorite teddy from the bed, it was a small bear that had once been white but had faded with wash and time, it had being a gift from a special person in her past.

The little brown eyes of her bear brought back memories that she didn’t want to indulge at the moment, not with the chaos happening around her. It helped to comfort her though, just like it always did. Stuffing her bear into her bag, she zipped it shut and walked out of the room. Taking one last look of her place.

She was back to the buzzing building, only this time, it wasn’t just her dislike for loud music and people that kept her from going inside. It was thoughts about all the things that could go wrong if she stepped a foot into the building. Everything had been normal for her, until she stepped in here last night and then it all changed. Her life felt confusing. Different from what it used to be. What if the Russian men were back here?

They probably already knew at this point that she had been the one to take the Drive. And although she had not been able to go through the content on the drive, she doubted that piece of information would do much to help her out of the situation, but it was all she had.

She contemplated turning back around and just calling in sick, but running away from the problems tonight wouldn’t take them away. Taking several deep breaths of air, to help relieve the burning in her lungs, she took timid steps towards the entrance, waving shyly to Erik at the door, who acknowledged her greeting with a nod of his head. Erik hardly wore an expression outside of the frown that coated his features. The big man was built to intimidate and Silver felt like sometimes he took the job too seriously.

Making a beeline for the employee’s room, she did her best to ignore the bustling crowds of people, drinking and chatting. Just in case the Russian men were amongst them, she was grateful Jenna was back to working today, she would do her best to avoid moving towards the back of the bar where the men had been sitting the previous day. In fact, she would do everything to avoid any intimidating presence.

“Hey Short!” Ethan called in his usual playful voice but Silver wasn’t expecting to be spoken to, especially as she had her head down and had been lost in her thoughts, so she jumped a little, placing her small hands over her chest as if to prevent her heart from falling out. Eyes blown wide in shock.

“Hey, Hey, are you okay? I wasn’t that loud was I?” Ethan asked, brows furrowed in confusion.

“No, not at all. I just wasn’t expecting to see you or anyone back here.” She replied, forcing a smile to her face for Ethan’s sake.

“Oh okay, some men came looking for you earlier. They wanted to know if you found anything while you were clearing the tables yesterday.” Silver’s heart starts to beat erratically in her chest, at Ethan’s next words and beads of sweat start to form on her forehead. The realization of just how important the drive must be for the whole group of them to come asking about it, settled like a heavy weight on her chest. She cleared her throat and tried to avert her eyes from Ethan’s piercing ones.

“No I didn’t. There was n-nothing on the table but the glasses when I cleared it.” She stuttered, doing her best to avoid Ethan’s stare.

“Short? Are you okay? You’re stuttering and you look like a child that was caught stealing candy. If you saw something, you know you could just give it back right? No one is going to think you tried to steal it and keep it for your use. You do realize that don’t you?” Silver was shaking her head even before Ethan could finish his words.

He didn’t see the man at the diner and mall, or hear his voice over the phone. If he really was one of the men, then she was truly done for. He looked furious and like he wanted to hurt her.

Silver hated lying, in fact she usually did everything to avoid doing it, but she knew it was the only option she had now, telling the truth was no longer an option for her, because the Drive was missing, and if the men were at her work to ask her about it, then it meant they weren’t the ones to take it. Someone else that knew about the drive and knew about her had taken it and that just made it even messier for her.

This realization scared Silver even more. Just what had she gotten herself into? What was in the drive that could be so important? She knew for sure that whoever had come into her home was there for a specific thing. The Drive.

They had taken nothing else, not even her expensive watch that she had gotten as a gift from Elina on her Twenty first birthday, it had being laying on the dresser before she left and it was laying in the exact same spot when she got back. It means someone had been watching her since the previous night!

“Short? Silver!” Worry was plastered on Ethan’s face as he regarded Silver with caution.

“What’s the problem? I lost you for a while.” He asked.

“Nothing, I’m just tired. It’s been a busy day for me.”

“Maybe you should just head home. Tom would understand, I’ll tell him you came in sick. You look like you could use more rest.” Ethan advised. Silver nodded her head gratefully. She needed a break, maybe if she was able to hide out the next couple of days, this would go away.

Turning back around, she gave a small wave to Ethan, thanking him for helping her and made her way towards the bar again. Praying that the men had left and were not going to try to approach her. With her head bowed to avoid all sort of eye contact she made her way through the tables cursing the bar for being so big, the exit felt like it was miles away.

“Hi beautiful!” A cheery voice said to her. Silver raised her head up and a smile lit up her face when she saw one of her favorite customers. Dante. He was always really polite and friendly to her and she secretly had a crush on him.

He was a strikingly handsome man, over six feet tall, a sexy muscular physique, nicely close cropped hair cut. Dante could easily pass for a movie star, he was every girl’s dream guy and that included Silver.

“Hi.” She replied, blushing slightly.

“Where are you headed? I thought I saw you just come in?” He asked curiously.

“Yeah, I don’t feel so good so I’m taking the night off.”

“Oh, I hope you feel better soon, do you want me to walk you out?” He asked. Worry seeping through his voice. Causing Silver to smile even more, it made her happy that he cared about her.

“No it’s okay, I’m staying at my best friend’s for a couple days. I’ll just call her to come pick me.”

“Alright, be careful out there.” The words made Silver’s heart beat faster even when she knew Dante was just coming from a place of concern. Nodding slightly, she gave him a shy wave.

Walking further down the street, she pulls out her phone and dials Elina. Kicking a small stone while she waits for her to pick up.

It all happened so fast, one minute she’s staring at her phone waiting for her best friend to pick up and the next she’s feeling a searing pain in her head, causing her to slump forward and fall.

The last thing she heard, Elina’s “Hello?”