Danny opened his eyes and looked around the room, trying to figure out where he was. His thoughts were muddled, and he was confused. He felt as if he was coming out of anesthesia. There was a single, dim light bulb hanging from the ceiling. The room was small with only the cot he was laying on and a portable commode. There were no windows, and the walls were made of cement. As he stood up, his head started spinning. He had to stand there for a minute before he walked over to the door. The door was locked and solid. He realized there would be no escaping this room.

“Hey, let me out of here!” he repeatedly shouted as he banged on the door.

A few minutes later the door opened and two men wearing ski masks entered. The one had a pistol aimed at Danny. “What do you want?” The taller one asked.

“Why am I here? What is it you want with me?” Danny asked.

“You’re here because someone wants you here.”

“Who wants me here? How long are you going to keep me?”

“It doesn’t matter who wants you here, and we’ll keep you here until we decide to let you go.”

“Look, if it’s money you want, my boyfriend will pay you to let me go,” Danny said.

“We don’t want money.”

“Then what do you want?”

“That’s not for us to say.”

“My boyfriend will be looking for me. He’s got a lot of resources and pull. He’ll find me,” Danny said.

“He won’t be looking for you. Why do you think we had you text him and break up with him,” the shorter one said, speaking for the first time.

“After that text, he probably hates you.”

Danny tried to remember the text message they were talking about, but it was hazy. He vaguely remembered telling Ian that he and Kevin were in love and not to look for him. There was something he had written in the text that would let Ian know he sent it under duress, but he couldn’t remember what he had said. Apparently, it was coded enough that the abductors didn’t pick up on it. When he remembered he was with Kevin and some guy Kevin knew when they were taken, he asked, “Where’s Kevin and the other guy?”

“Kevin is in the next room and Skipper is on the other side of him.”

“Why are you keeping all three of us?”

“You don’t need to worry about that. Just sit down and relax. We’ll be bringing you lunch soon,” the tall one said.

“Can I have a book to read?” Danny asked.

“We’ll think about that. We’ll be back in a few minutes with your lunch. By the way, we don’t want to hurt you, but if you try to escape or attack either one of us, we won’t hesitate to shoot you. So be a good boy and you’ll be okay,” the short one said. They then left the room, locking Danny inside.

Danny wondered why they had taken him. If it wasn’t for money, what other reason would they have? Maybe their target was Kevin or Skipper. It was interesting that they knew everyone’s name. He didn’t remember talking to them, so they had to know their names before they took them. He couldn’t even clearly remember the abduction. He remembered the three of them leaving the theater and being approached by two men in baseball caps and face masks. He didn’t think much about them at first, after all, a lot of people were still wearing face masks to avoid COVID. It wasn’t until both of them pulled guns on them and told them to get into the car that he knew something was up. He remembered them forcing him to text Ian but couldn’t remember if they forced Kevin or Skipper to text anyone. The last thing he remembered was one of the men taking the keys to Spencer’s car and getting in the driver’s seat. They must have drugged him, because he can’t remember anything else.