7. Nathan
My heart pounds as Maria and I sprint down the street, the two strange men gaining on us. I can’t believe this is happening — who would dare to kidnap me? It has to be for reward money; I’m well aware of my own wealth. But involving Maria in this mess? That infuriates me even more.
“Quick, take a left here!” I shout over the sound of my ragged breaths.
“Are you sure?” she pants.
“Trust me!”
We make a sharp turn and dart across traffic, narrowly avoiding a taxi that blares its horn at us.
“Sorry!” Maria yells back, her polite nature not quite suppressed even in this high-stress situation.
“Keep moving!” I urge her, glancing back to see if we’ve lost our pursuers. For the moment, it seems we have.
“Over there.” I point to a recessed doorway. “We can hide there.”
We slip into the narrow space, pressed together, chest to chest. The warmth of her body seeps through my shirt, and I can feel her rapid heartbeat. My protective instincts are on high alert, but I can’t deny the intimacy of our position.
“Are you okay?” I ask softly.
“Y–yeah,” she stammers, her breath warm against my neck. “I never thought I’d be in a situation like this… especially with you.”
“Neither did I,” I admit, my voice tinged with anger. “But I won’t let anything happen to you, Maria. I promise.”
“I know you won’t,” she whispers.
As we stand there, hiding from the unknown danger lurking just beyond our temporary sanctuary, my anger grows. How dare these men? Who do they think they are, trying to kidnap me — and put Maria in harm’s way in the process?
The thought of losing her to something so ridiculous is unbearable.
“Once we’re safe,” I say, determination filling me, “we need to figure out who these people are and why they’re after us.”
Peering cautiously from the doorway, I scan the street for any sign of the men. Maria’s warm breath dances across my cheek as she also leans forward, her body still pressed against mine in this confined space. Her scent, a mixture of lavender and citrus, fills my senses. It’s intoxicating, and for a moment, I forget the danger we’re in.
“Looks like they’re gone,” I whisper, my voice betraying the tension that still knots deep within me.
“Good.” But she doesn’t move away from me just yet.
I glance down at her lips, so close to mine, and feel an overwhelming urge to kiss her. Our eyes lock, and I can see the vulnerability in the brown depths of hers, the fear still lingering there. But before our lips can meet, I pull back, remembering the gravity of our situation.
“Okay,” I mumble, feeling a flush creeping up my cheeks as I try to cover. “We should get ourselves together.”
“Yeah,” she agrees, looking equally flustered. Suddenly she gasps.
“What? What is it?” I throw a protective arm across her, thinking that the men are back.
But she sounds excited. “I forgot to stop recording when all of this started.” She pulls out her phone, the screen displaying an ongoing voice note.
“Why were you recording?”
“I was sending my sister a voice note. I was…” She looks down. “In the coat closet. That’s where I heard the men talking. They were out in the hallway.”
“Why were you in the coat closet?”
As soon as I ask, I know the answer. She was hiding because she was embarrassed.
“You didn’t have to hide,” I say. “No one cares.”
She shrugs, her eyes still downcast.
I want to comfort her, to tell her to forget about impressing anyone at that stuffy gala.
But there are more pressing matters happening right now, and I can’t afford to be distracted.
“Play it back,” I suggest, hoping it might provide some clue about our pursuers. “Maybe we missed something important.”
“Okay, give me a sec.” She fumbles with her phone, attempting to skip past the earlier part of their conversation. However, she isn’t entirely successful, and I catch her telling her sister that she’s on a “date” with her boss.
I bite my bottom lip, trying not to grin. It’s kind of cute that she didn’t mention that the date is fake.
Is it possible Maria has a thing for me?
I wish I could enjoy the brief respite from our serious predicament, but my thoughts return to the danger at hand, and my amusement fades.
It’s hard to hear the men’s voices on the recording, but what I do hear confirms everything Maria has told me. Unfortunately, there isn’t anything else. We still don’t know who the men are.
“Damn it,” I mutter under my breath. “This doesn’t give us much to go on.”
“No, but we’ll figure this out,” Maria says with determination, her earlier vulnerability replaced by a fierce resolve. “We won’t let them win.”
“Absolutely not,” I agree, feeling a surge of gratitude for her unwavering support. In spite of everything going on, Maria always manages to bring out the best in me. And I can’t help but wonder if maybe, just maybe, there’s something more between us than mere professional loyalty.
“What now?” she asks.
I gaze into her eyes. Good question. What now? I enjoy being around her, but I have to ensure things don’t go any further.
With a shock, I realize that wasn’t what she was asking about at all. Of course not. Why would she be asking about our relationship when we just ran for our lives from two goons?
“I should go to the police,” I say, my voice steady despite the pounding of my heart.
“I’ll come with you.”
“No.” I shake my head. “I don’t want you involved in this any more than you already are.”
She frowns, clearly concerned. “But what about you? You’re not going to be safe either.”
“True,” I admit, “but it’s me they’re after, not you. If anything, having you around might put you in even more danger.” The thought of Maria being harmed because of me sends a shiver down my spine.
But I also can’t leave her alone. It would be too easy for whoever is after me to find out where she lives. And then also too easy for them to kidnap her and hold her in my place, expecting me to pay handsomely to have her back.
Which, of course, I would.
“I take it back. You need to come with me. I’m sorry, but it’s not safe for you to go home. We need to stick together.”
She doesn’t look perturbed by this at all, and another wave of gratitude passes through me. Once this is all over, I’ll be giving her a gigantic raise.
We make our way through the dimly lit streets, sticking to the shadows and avoiding the main thoroughfares. Every sound makes me tense, every shadow a potential threat. But when we finally reach a small precinct, a wave of relief washes over me. Surely now we’ll be safe.
“Come on.” I open the door for her into the police department as I survey the street behind us. It doesn’t look like the men have followed us here, but I can’t be too careful.
Once inside, I rush to the front desk. “Officer, we need your help,” I say, trying to keep my voice calm and even. “We were nearly kidnapped tonight.” I briefly explain the situation while Maria pulls out her phone, ready to play the recording for them.
“Here,” she says, handing the officer her phone. “I managed to record part of the conversation between the men who were trying to kidnap Mr.— Nathan.” She nods her head at me.
The officer listens intently, his expression growing more serious as the recording plays. When it ends, he hands the phone back to Maria and puts his hands on his keyboard. “Did you get a look at these men? Can you describe them?”
Maria and I glance at each other.
“The street was dark,” I say, “and when she was in the coat closet she couldn’t see them.”
“So, that’s a no?”
“Correct.”
“And do you have any other information that might be of help? Do you know why anyone might want to kidnap you? Or do you know anyone who would want to cause you harm?”
“It could be anyone,” I say. “Anyone who wants to hold me for ransom.”
Maria speaks up. “He’s very rich and well known.”
The officer doesn’t look impressed — not that I expected him to. If anything, he looks annoyed.
“Look, I understand that this must be very frightening for both of you,” he says, not unkindly. “We’ll do our best to look into it, but with so little information to go off of, there’s not much we can do right now. We don’t even know who these guys are or what they look like.”
“Can’t you at least put out a warning or something?” I ask, frustration mounting in my chest. “I’m not the only one in danger. They saw my assistant here with me as well. They could hurt her. And if they tried to kidnap us once, they might try again.”
“Of course,” the officer replies, jotting down some notes. “We’ll keep an eye out and make sure to patrol the area regularly. But for now, I suggest you both go home and try to get some rest. If anything else happens, call us immediately.”
“Thank you, officer,” Maria says, her voice trembling slightly.
I’m not as easily appeased, though. In fact, I’m furious. How can this cop just brush us off like this? I just told him we were chased and someone is trying to kidnap me!
But what can I do? Obviously, I’ll need to take matters into my own hands.
As we leave the precinct, I feel a cold knot of fear forming in my stomach. The police will do what they can, but it’s clear that we’re mostly on our own. And with Maria at risk, I’ll need to find a way to ensure our safety — before it’s too late.
The sense of dread in my stomach heightens as we step back onto the sidewalk. The city’s bustling nightlife offers no comfort, only a reminder of our vulnerability. I know I need to do something to protect Maria and me — now.
“Maria,” I say, turning to her with determination, “I’m going to hire a security team first thing tomorrow. But for tonight, we can’t stay in the city. It’s not safe.”
“Where would we go?” she asks, her face pale. “I doubt either of us wants to risk taking a cab or the subway.”
“I’ll call my driver,” I say.
She shakes her head. “They’ll be expecting that. I have a car in a garage ten blocks from my apartment. We could take that out of the city.”
“Can you think of any place we could go?” I ask, racking my brain.
“Actually… my family has a place in Montauk,” she says hesitantly. “It’s pretty rustic, but it’s secure and secluded. We could hide out there for as long as we need to.”
“Montauk? That’s perfect.” Relief floods through me. “It’s the last place anyone would expect me to be. Let’s go.”
We hurry to the garage, both of us on high alert for any signs of danger.
“Thank you,” I tell her as we climb into the car, her behind the wheel. “And I’m truly sorry about all of this.”
She offers me a shy smile. “It’s okay. I’m glad that I can help.”
“Tell me more about this place in Montauk,” I say as we wind through traffic.
“It was my grandparents’ house originally,” Maria explains, her voice softening. “My sister and I spent our summers there, growing up. It’s right on the beach, surrounded by trees, and there’s an old lighthouse nearby.”
“I haven’t been to Montauk in years,” I admit, my own memories of the quaint town surfacing. “It sounds like a lovely place to escape to.”
“Under different circumstances, it would be,” Maria agrees, her mouth quirking into a small, sad smile. “I grew up there, in town. My parents don’t live there anymore, so there’s no reason for me to ever go back.”
There’s something sad in her voice. I want to pry further, but now isn’t the right time. I don’t want to bring the mood down any further.
“Once we’re there, we’ll make sure we’re safe and secure,” I say, reaching over to give her hand a gentle squeeze. “And maybe, just maybe, we can find a silver lining in all of this — some time away from the city, away from our hectic lives.”
Her eyes meet mine, and for a moment, the fear in them is replaced by something else — a flicker of hope, perhaps, or even a glimmer of anticipation.
“Maybe we can,” she whispers, her fingers tightening around the steering wheel. And in that instant, I know that no matter what challenges we face together, we are stronger than any threat that dares to come between us.