Nick listened to the phone ringing on the other end. He tapped his fngers absently on the table top as he waited for an answer.

           “This is Josh. What can I do for you?”

            “Hey, Josh. It’s Nick.”

            “Hey, Nick. What’s up?”

            “Not much,” Nick lied. “Hey, I was wondering if I could crash at your place for a while. You got room?”

            “Sure. I won’t be there though. I have to go out of town for a couple of weeks for work. You’re welcome to stay at the condo though. What’s wrong at the apartment?”

            “Nothing. I’ve just had a couple of break-ins. The manager changed the locks but it didn’t help. I’m looking for a new place but…”

            “Stay as long you need to, buddy.”

            “Thanks man.” The relief in Nick’s voice was audible. Josh laughed as Nick asked, “Can I stop by later and pick up the keys?”

            “Any time. I’m leaving at two for the airport so if you stop by after that I’ll leave them with Angie.”

            “I’ll be there before then,” Nick declared.

            “Whatever works for you,” Josh replied.

            “Thanks, man.”

            Nick disconnected the call and put the cordless phone back on its cradle. He went back to his bedroom and hurriedly packed a small bag. Grabbing the keys to his newly installed lock, he ran out the door locking the apartment as he went and dashed down the stairs. He had thought about taking a cab but decided it would be quicker to just take his own car. Maybe I can talk Josh into trading cars, he thought as he climbed behind the wheel of his thunderbird.

There wasn’t much traffic and the lights seemed to be on his side for once so he made good time to Josh’s office. He parked his car and rushed into the building. He managed to catch an elevator as soon as he ran into the building. He rode up to the fifth floor alone and got off the elevator without incident. Maybe I’m just being paranoid, he thought to himself as he walked into the reception area of Josh’s office.

“Hi, Nick!”

“Hi, Angie. I told Josh I’d stop by.”

“He’s on the phone but you can go on in. I don’t think he’ll mind.” She smiled at him sweetly.

“Thanks.” He smiled and gave her a nod as he turned and strode across the room to the door of Josh’s office.

He knocked lightly then stepped inside the office. Josh waved to him and motioned to a chair in front of his desk as he mumbled into the phone. Nick closed the door and crossed the room to take a seat in the proffered chair. He stared at his feet in silence waiting for Josh to finish his call.

“So what’s up?” Josh asked as he replaced the receiver.

“Not much,” Nick replied noncommittally.

“Break-ins, huh? Much taken?”

“That’s the strange thing. They haven’t really taken anything, just messed stuff up.”

“That’s weird,” Josh replied as he fished around in his desk drawer. He looked up as he found what he was looking for. “Here are the extra keys.”

Nick caught the keys Josh tossed to him.

“Thanks. You wouldn’t want to swap cars for a couple of weeks would you?”

Josh stared at him in surprise.

“What’s going on, Nick?”

Nick glanced around the room then stared at the keys he held before finally looking back at Josh.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“Try me.”

Nick took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he stared at the keys in his hands. He spoke without looking up.

“There are these women –”

“There’s always a woman when you’re involved,” Josh laughed.

“I’m serious, Josh.” Nick looked up through his long, dark lashes at his friend.

Josh quieted when he saw the serious look on Nick’s face.

“Okay, I’m sorry. What’s wrong?”

“Like I said, there are these women…apparently they belong to some kind of club or something. I don’t know the whole story but they’re – They have this bet.”

“What bet?” Josh asked, prompting Nick when he hesitated.

“They’re all supposed to have sex with me by the end of the week.”

“What?” Josh burst out, unable to contain his laughter.

“It isn’t funny, Josh. The first one knocked me out at the gym after I changed her tire for her. Then, this morning, I came back to my apartment to find someone changing the lock on my door and when I turned my back on her she put a gun to my head.”

“Jesus, Nick.”

Nick jumped to his feet and stalked to the window. He stared out it, not really seeing anything. He heard Josh get up from his desk then felt his presence when he joined Nick at the window.

“Have you reported this?”

“Reported what? To who?” Nick asked wryly.

“They abducted you, held you against your will and…”

“And what? Raped me?” Nick asked as he turned to stare at Josh.

“You can’t just crawl into a hole and hide.”

“I just have to stay out of their reach for the rest of the week and then it’s over. I can’t go to the cops. What am I supposed to tell them? It’s better this way.”

“Nick –”

Nick turned back to stare out the window.

“Josh, you don’t know what it’s like. They blindfold you, tie you down, cut your clothes off and manipulate your body. You have no choice, no say. It’s humiliating.”

Josh sighed heavily as he stared at his friend. He put his hand on Nick’s shoulder and squeezed.

“Give me your car keys.”

Nick swiveled his head to stare at Josh.

“Give me your car keys. You can take the Mustang.”

Nick nodded and reached into his jeans pocket. He pulled out his car keys and handed them to Josh.

“Be careful, Josh.”

“You be careful,” Josh replied as he went back to his desk. He fished another set of keys out of the drawer and returned to stand next to Nick. He handed the keys over. “Watch you back, buddy.”

“Always. Thanks, man.”

Nick left Josh’s office and went back to the parking garage. He grabbed his bag from his car and headed straight to Josh’s deep blue Mustang convertible. He tossed the bag in the back and climbed in behind the wheel. He pulled out of the parking space and carefully guided the car through the garage onto the street. He had an appointment to look at an apartment so he headed there first. He figured he could look at the apartment then head over to Josh’s condo and get settled.

Traffic had picked up a bit so it took a little longer to get to the apartment building than Nick had planned. He quickly found a place to park and rushed inside to find the manager. They spent twenty minutes going through the small apartment while talking about rent and other details. Even though he wasn’t impressed he promised to get back to the man then quickly left the building. He climbed into the mustang and slowly pulled into traffic. He was easing up to speed when he heard a movement behind him and stiffened.

“Hi, sweetie.”

Nick sucked air and fought to control the car. He almost stomped on the brake at the sudden realization that he wasn’t alone. The car behind him blew a warning on their horn so he stepped on the gas and managed not wreck. When he was confident a few seconds later that he had the car under control he glanced in the rear view mirror to see a woman sitting behind him, her face hidden by a scarf and a hat pulled low.

“Who the hell are you and why are you in my car?”

“Actually, it’s not your car. But I managed to find you anyway.” Her hands slid up and over his shoulders as she leaned forward. “You know why I’m here, sweetie.”

He maneuvered through traffic to pull over next to a parking meter.

“Get out,” he said insistently.

“No. You’re taking me to a special place where we can spend a little time together.”

“No, I’m not. Now get out.”

“If you don’t we’ll blow up at least half a block,” she said quietly, staring at him in the rear view mirror.

He turned in his seat trying to face her.

“What?”

She held up a small remote.

“It’s a detonator. This car is rigged with several pounds of plastic. If you don’t do exactly what I say I’ll blow us up.”

“No way,” Nick said in a hushed whisper.

“Open the glove box.”

He stared at her for a moment then slowly leaned over and popped open the glove box. His eyes widened at the small package he found there. When he started to reach out to touch it her voice stopped him.

“Don’t. If you try to remove it you could detonate it.”

“Shit,” he whispered, sitting back up.

They sat in silence for several minutes. Nick stared alternately at the package in the glove box and his passenger in the back seat. Finally, she became bored with the game and broke the silence.

“Are you ready to go now?”

“Do I have a choice?” Nick asked wryly.

“Not really,” she replied with a smile he couldn’t see.

Nick reached over and closed the glove box then sat back up behind the wheel.

“Where to?” he asked without looking at her.

“Turn left at