“Come on, come on,” Nick muttered to himself anxiously, finger resting against the key in the ignition of the van while his eyes scanned for movement in the dark. 

In a flash he saw three men barrelling towards him and he started the van. The back door flew open and everyone jumped in, throwing a black lump to the floor just as Nick tore down the street, tires squealing. 

“What took you guys so long?” he demanded to know, looking at them all in the rear-view mirror. 

The smallest pulled off his ski mask and sighed, “We had a bit of a struggle but nothing to worry about.” 

“What do you mean Brian? Did anyone in the house hear you?” Nick turned right around in his seat to look at his friend.

“Will you watch the road?” Brian asked calmly, reaching out to physically turn Nick’s head in the direction of the windshield, “When Howie walked into the bedroom the dog was there!”

“I thought the dog stayed in the dog house every night! AJ you said the dog was always in the dog house!” Nick exclaimed with an exasperated sigh.

“Not tonight apparently,” AJ shrugged from the back where he was putting away some lock picking equipment. 

“So what happened?” 

Brian ran a hand through his hair then sat down on the floor of the van beside the black lump, “It was growling and stuff, so Howie hit on the head. We think he’s probably unconscious.”

“Most likely dead though,” AJ muttered from the back.

“Wow, we killed the dog, that’s fantastic,” Nick said sarcastically as he turned right off the main road onto a secluded side road. 

Nick had been friends with Brian, Howie, and AJ for years. They’d always run small time scams together (over the phone pyramid scams, email scams, and the sort) and were very good at doing it.

The money came rolling in, and they spent it willingly. But, the old adage that some things were just too good to be true really was true. Over time, the money started rolling out, and they started encountering in the same people multiple times, who were quick to go to the police.

That led to a serious reassessment of their careers and a consideration of going into legitimate business.

A hot tub store was what they all decided on. The only problem with that was that hot tub stores required merchandise, a wholesaler, and a showroom. In order to get all of those things they needed money. Sure they’d made lots of money before but it was pretty much gone. It was all spent on useless things like game consoles, cars, pinball machines, and the occasional escort. 

It all came down to one conclusion: they would have to do one more job before the hot tub store could be in business. 

Keeping in mind that pyramid scams took time and planning (and they needed money now) they all brainstormed as to what they could do to make some serious cash fast. It was Brian who ultimately came up with the idea they went with. What better way to make fast cash then a kidnapping?

Brian had a part time job mowing the lawn and weeding for some big shot music producer, and when he found out that the guy had a daughter (who was a serious daddy’s girl) they chose her as their candidate. He would pay a lot to get her back; they would take the cash, give her back and open up the hot tub store. Everything would work out in the end. 

Nick stopped the car and got out, moving around to the side to open the sliding back door. The girl wrapped in the black sheets was starting to move slightly so they hurriedly got her out of the van and into the house. They’d made a room to keep her in with boarded up windows and locks on the outside of the door. They only hoped that her father would pay up quickly so they didn’t have to keep her around long. 

“Home sweet home,” Nick heard AJ say as the other guys walked into the house, heading straight for the kitchen. 

“Look, you got the short straw so you got to drive the van. I think that because of that she should be your responsibility,” Brian said as he helped Nick get the girl onto a mattress on the floor. 

“What?” Nick asked wide eyed, “You’re not going to help me at all?”

“I didn’t say that,” Brian rolled his eyes; “I just mean you can be the one to bring her food and see if she has to use the bathroom. You’ll be the liaison officer,” he joked.

“Fine,” Nick sighed, not surprised that they would give him everything else to do once the majority of the work was over. That’s how it had always been. 

Brian left the room and Nick was left alone with their captor. He removed her from the blanket, hearing her groan as the drugs they’d given her started to wear off. 

“Shhh,” he soothed, brushing her blonde hair back. He could only imagine how scary it was going to be to wake up in a strange room, in completely darkness, and not know what was going on. Once he’d freed her from the sheet he put it over top of her then quickly left in case she woke up. The last thing he needed was for her to see his face. 

Nick closed the door and locked all of the locks so she wouldn’t be able to get out, “I think this is the stupidest thing we’ve ever done,” he muttered to himself before going out to the kitchen to get some breakfast.