“And so, in conclusion, it gives me great pride to offer my congratulations to you, the graduating class of 2014!”

Along with the other 200 college students seated around her, Katlyn Jacobs cheered, throwing her mortarboard hat into the air to join the others flying through the air of the large stadium. Around them, the friends and family members seated in the stands cheered and applauded.

As the applause died down, Katlyn grabbed the hat she thought was hers and put it on again, moving the tassel over to the left as she did. The 22-year old college student glanced over her shoulder to the row behind her. A few seats down, Katlyn’s close friend, Jennifer Duris was picking up her own hat. She saw Katlyn looking over at her. “We did it!” She said, smiling.

Katlyn nodded, returning the grin. Four years ago, the two high school friends had packed up Jennifer’s car, said goodbye to their parents and gone off to college. Now, after all the classes and exams, they had graduated!

Behind the speaker’s podium and the professors in their robes and cords, the school band struck up ‘Pomp and Circumstance’. The students began to file out, row by row. Katlyn walked out in a line, feeling like she was walking on air. Outside the stadium, the graduates were breaking up, heading off to meet friends and family, or take one more look around the campus, Katlyn paused at the doors, looking around at the buildings that had been her world for most of the past four years. She could hardly believe tomorrow she’d be leaving all this behind…

Jennifer met her at the door, followed a moment later by the two girls’ third friend, Ellen Fischer. She was the youngest of the three, since her 22th birthday would be in July. They’d met Ellen during their freshman year and the three had become close friends since then.

“So how does it feel to be finished?” Ellen said, placing her arms around the other girls’ shoulders.

“Pretty good!” Katlyn replied.

The area around them was getting more crowded now, as the audience began to leave. “Come on.” Jennifer said. “We were going to meet our parents by the library.” Together, the three crossed campus towards the large building where the three had spent many late nights, finishing homework or papers.

Standing near the front entrance, the three girls were far enough from the main crowds, so their parents had little trouble finding them. Jennifer’s family was the first to arrive. Jennifer’s mother threw her arms around the young woman, gleefully, while Mr. Duris shook his daughter’s hand. “I’m proud of you, Jenni.” He said.

Jennifer’s younger brother Hank hung back while their parents fawned over his big sisters. “Just wait till it’s your turn.” Jennifer teased the High School junior.

Standing together, one could see the close resemblance between Jennifer and her family. She had the same dark, curly hair as the rest of her family, which she wore long, down below her shoulders, and while she had her mother’s green eyes, she also had her father’s tall, thin build.

By contrast, Ellen looked nothing like her father, who was the next to arrive. Mr. Fischer was tall and stocky, with dark brown hair, though the only example he had left was his full, bushy mustache. Ellen took after her mother, who had died when Ellen was still in Junior High. Her short, slender build, pale skin and blonde hair so fine as to almost be white, which Ellen wore in a short pixie cut with ice blue highlights that matched her eyes, gave the young woman a thin, almost fey look.

Katlyn’s parents were only a few minutes behind Mr. Fischer. While Fischer was congratulating his daughter, the couple emerged from the crowd and ran over to Katlyn. Mrs. Jacobs had a round face with high cheeks, dappled with freckles, like her daughter, but her hair was brown, while Katlyn had her father’s red hair.

The group spent the next half hour walking around campus, pausing from time to time to say goodbye to fellow students and professors. The parents insisted on taking picture after picture of their three girls, individually, all together, with their parents…

“Da-ad!” Katlyn cried as her father told Jennifer to scoot slightly further to the left. “We need to hurry up and get changed to catch our reservation at the restaurant.”

“Of course!” Her father said, hurriedly snapping one last picture with his camera. “I completely forgot.” The group split up, the girls back to their dorm to change; their parents to their cars. “See you at the restaurant!” Mr. Jacobs called.

The three girls walked back across campus. By now, most of the graduates and their families had left, though a few were still running around, taking pictures. Near the dorms, more people were helping the graduates move out of the dorms. The girls’ dorm was empty, save for a few boxes that still needed to be loaded into the cars and the things they’d need tonight, like their dresses.

Jennifer had on a ruffled, off-the-shoulder dress of bright red silk, long, with a slit up one side, with matching heels. Katlyn picked a green dress, cut at the knee, with black stockings and flats and Ellen changed into a white button-down blouse, black dress pants, shoes and a black vest. After changing and touching up their makeup, the young women piled into Katlyn’s car…Jennifer and Ellen’s were packed with boxes…and they drove to the fancy Italian restaurant they’d picked out.

Dinner passed very enjoyably. They ordered several bottles of white wine to go with a wonderful seafood pasta. The parents mostly told each other stories about their little girls before they’d gone to college, the girls mostly shared stories of memories from their college experience.

After the main meal, the parents ordered champagne and dessert. At the wait staff handed each of them, except for Jennifer’s brother, a tall thin flute filled with bubbling golden liquid, Mr. Fischer, who had evidently chosen to speak for all of them, got up. “Girls,” he said, “We all want you to know how proud we all are with the three of you and how much we’ve enjoyed watching you all grow up and mature into fine young ladies these past four years, so we decided to all chip in and give you girls a present, to show how much we appreciate all you’ve done completing college.”

The three friends glanced at each other excitedly, wondering what sort of present he was talking about.

“…we know you all have plans for after college, so we thought it might be special to give the three of you a last opportunity to do something together, as friends, so we’ve decided to pool some money together and send the three of you on a vacation together. Just let us know where you want to go, and we’ll make all the arrangements.”

The girls looked at each other, excitedly, as Mr. Fischer led the group in a toast. Where should they go?

***
The next several days passed in a blur of activity. The three got back late to the now mostly empty dorm. The next morning, when they finally got up, the three finished packing everything and loaded the cars. The whole time, the girls discussed where they’d like to go. They tossed around places like Paris, Hawaii, Beijing, before settling on Rome. They told their parents, who agreed to arrange flights and hotels for the three.

It took a few days to hammer out the details and for the three to pack and plan out the sights they wanted to see, but finally, the day arrived. Katlyn and Jennifer said goodbye to their hometown friends and family, loaded up Mr. Jacobs’ car so he could drive them to the airport. After heading through security, they boarded their plane to begin the long flight to Rome’s Ciampino Airport.

“Hey gals!” Ellen said waving as Katlyn and Jennifer disembarked. The younger woman had taken a separate flight from her home town. The three hugged, then went to get Katlyn and Jennifer’s luggage.

“How long have you been here?” Katlyn asked as they left the airport.

“Not long, maybe twenty minutes.” Ellen replied. “Dad told me your flight would get in not long after mine, so I decided to wait around for you two…”

They followed the signs towards the taxis. Jennifer had taken a couple semesters of Italian in High School, so she could read the directions well enough to lead the other two. Outside the airport, they found a waiting taxi. While the driver, a short dark haired man with a thin mustache loaded their bags, Katlyn gave him the address for their hotel.

“Are you on holiday? Will you be in Rome long?” the man asked, as he started the car and pulled away from the curb.

“A couple weeks sightseeing.” Katlyn replied. “We just graduated from college, so this trip was a gift from out parents.”

“Ah bravissimo! Congratulations!” the man said, smiling. “Well, I hope you will find Rome a wonderful city!” He dropped them off in front of their hotel and Ellen paid him with some Euros she’d converted while waiting for the other two. He unloaded their luggage and got in the car. As he slowly drove away, down the narrow street, the taxi driver watched in the rearview mirror as the three girls carried their bags into the hotel.

He drove a few blocks away, found a corner to park at and got out. He opened the back door and reached up to open a small panel. From inside, he pulled out a micro SD card and pocketed it. On foot, he walked another couple of blocks, before coming to a small shop. It was a souvenir shop for tourists, identical to the dozens of other ones like it, peddling cheap gifts to the tourists who thronged the city every year.

The taxi driver opened the door and waited while an American couple and their two children ran out. A middle aged Italian woman was running the counter. “I need to see Angelo.” He told her. She nodded to a door near the back with a sign on it reading “No Entrance-Employees Only” in English. He walked past the shelves of tiny plastic Coliseums, Roman Centurions and Michelangelo’s David to the door, opened it and went in.

On the other side, there was a narrow, winding staircase going down underground. He walked down, to a narrow hallway with several doors spaced along it, dimly lit by several naked light bulbs on the walls. Standing near the bottom of the stairs was a tall burly man in a wife-beater and sweat-pants. The hilt of a pistol was sticking out of the waistband of his pants.

“What do you want, Gino?” he growled in a rough voice.

“I need to see Angelo.” The taxi driver replied, a little nervously. “I’ve got something to show him.”

The guard shrugged. “Go on in.” He nodded his head towards the first door on the right. Relieved, Gino walked past the taller man. Inside, Angelo was seated at a desk with a laptop, lighting a cigarette. A filing cabinet was set up against the wall behind the desk, beside a tall floor lamp. The only other feature in the room was another door, on the wall to the left of the desk.

Angelo was a tall man, in his mid-forties. He’d started to put weight on, but underneath the fat he was still hard muscle. He was balding, and had a scar across one cheek from a knife fight years ago. “Gino!” he said, looking up from his computer. “Always good to see you. Do you have some new merchandise for me?”

Gino nodded. He walked up to the desk and slid the SD card across the surface. Angelo picked it up and slid it into the port on his laptop. The tiny webcam Gino had hidden in his taxi cab wasn’t the best and the angle was bad, but it still showed off the three passengers who’d ridden in the taxi well enough. A smile slowly crept across Angelo’s scarred face as he scrolled through the images.

“American?” He asked.

Gino nodded. “Here for two weeks on vacation. He licked his lips, eager and afraid.

“Yes.” Angelo said, “I think these three will do nicely. Patricio!” He called, towards the door. A moment later, the door opened and a man who might have been the twin of the guard outside, stepped through. As he closed the door behind him, Gino caught a glimpse of the room on the other side: bare concrete walls, lit by a single bar bulb. Lying on a pallet on the floor in the center of the room was a young woman. She was completely nude, save for the tape binding her hands and feet. More strips of tape covered her mouth and eyes. The door closed, cutting off the sound of her terrified sobbing.

Gino turned his attention back to the other two men. Angelo was showing Patricio. The other man nodded, grinning. “Now,” Angelo said, looking over at Gino, “Where will we find these three charming girls?”

***
Katlyn was in the common room of their hotel suit, drinking a cup of coffee and looking over a map of the city. She had a list of hotspots taken from a guidebook and was marking them on the larger map, trying to plot a path that would let them see the most things today.

The young woman smiled. Yesterday, after they’d checked into their hotel, the three friends had dropped their things in the room and grabbed another taxi to the Coliseum. They’d spent that afternoon touring the roman ruins at the Coliseum, the Hippodrome and the roman Forums. In the evening, they had had a lovely Italian dinner and then gone to a club to go dancing. All in all, a wonderful way to begin their vacation.

The door to one of the suit’s two bedrooms opened and Jennifer came out, yawning. She was still in her pajamas, her hair tangled up. “Morning…” she said sleepily, yawning as she walked over and poured herself a cup of coffee from the pot. Jet lag had caught up with her.

“Good morning.” Katlyn replied. She’d managed to catch a long nap on the plane. “I was thinking,” she continued, turning the map to show Jennifer who sat down beside her. “If we take a taxi…here, it’s not a far walk to the Campo de Fiori. From there, we can walk along this road to…” Jennifer nodded, sipping her coffee, not really paying attention. “…which will bring us to the Spanish steps…”

“Isn’t that where Shelly lived while he was in Rome?” While Katlyn was showing her friend the plans she’d made, the other bedroom door opened up and Ellen came out. She had on a white cotton nightshirt. The young woman got herself a cup and sat down across from the other two. “That’s neat.” She said, looking at the map.

The girls discussed their plans for the day while finishing their coffee. A few suggestions were offered, a few changes were made. “Our tour of the Vatican is scheduled for tomorrow, right?” Jennifer asked. Katlyn nodded.

“I was thinking, day after that; we might take a day trip out to Venice or Florence by train.” Ellen suggested. The other nodded.

“That sounds fun.” Jennifer replied.

With the planning taken care of, Jennifer and Ellen went back to their rooms to change out of their nightclothes and into their outfits for today. Katlyn had already changed into her outfit: white shorts, a light green t-shirt, ball cap and tennis shoes. Instead, she checked her bag, making sure she had the map, guidebooks, camera with spare batteries, Euros for the taxi and souvenirs, and a large bottle of water. Rome in summer was hot and muggy.

Ellen came out of her room first. She had on blue green shorts, a tank top and walking shoes. She put on a broad brimmed hat and quickly applied sunscreen to her arms and legs and shoulders against the hot Mediterranean sun. Jennifer emerged a moment later. The young woman was wearing a cotton sundress, in a floral pattern, with a sun hat. As she walked over to them, the other two girls noted she had on a pair of sandals. The day before, Jennifer had picked a pair of stylish heels, not realizing how much walking they’d be doing. The blisters she’d gotten had convinced the young woman to favor practicality over fashion today.        

After the other two had packed, the girls headed out of the hotel. Katlyn locked the door behind them and stuck the key in her bag. They took the elevator down to the ground floor and got out. As they walked across the lobby, none of them noticed a man sitting in a corner, watching them over the top of his newspaper. “They’re coming out.” The man whispered softly, seemingly to himself. “Get moving.”

On the street outside, Katlyn began looking around for a taxi. A moment later, one drove down the street. It stopped in front of the hotel. “Do you need a ride?” the driver asked.

“Yes we do.” Katlyn said. As she walked over to the taxi, she recognized the man as the driver that had picked them up at the airport. “Hello again!” She said, smiling. An odd expression crossed the drivers face, so she added, “You picked us up as the airport yesterday.”

He quickly changed his expression to a friendly grin. “Of…of course. Yes. How could I possibly forget three lovely ladies like you?”

Katlyn gave him the address and climbed into the front passenger seat while the other two girls got into the seats behind her. When they were buckled in, the driver accelerated away from the curb. He drove quickly down the narrow, winding streets, employing his horn and occasional phrases in Italian to the other cars and mopeds around him, getting honks and curses in return.

“I’ll take a short cut here.” The driver said, pointing up ahead. “It’s a little faster.” He turned down a narrow alley, just big enough for the car with only a few feet of space on either side. The alley was dark, the sun blocked by the tall buildings on either side, and empty except for a delivery van, which was stopped about halfway down the alley. The driver braked abruptly, giving a curse. He honked his horn.

Suddenly, Katlyn heard a cry of fright from behind her. She turned to look over. Ellen was looking out the window. A man had stepped out of a doorway beside the taxi; a man wearing a black ski mask over his face. She opened her mouth to say something, but before Katlyn could speak, Jennifer let out a scream as well. Turning back, Katlyn’s eyes widened with fright as she saw two more tall, burly men wearing black masks, approaching the doors on the passenger side as well.

One of them opened Katlyn’s door. The young woman tried to get up, but the seatbelt kept her pinned to the seat. She fumbled for the release. Before she could, the man reached down at her. Katlyn raised her hands to and try and fight him off, but he was stronger than her and had little trouble overpowering the young woman. She cried out as the man pressed a cloth over her mouth and nose. A sharp chemical scent flooded her senses. She shook her head, trying to shake him off, but he held firm, keeping the drugged cloth pressed firmly over her face. Desperately, she held her breath while trying to pull his hands away.

Behind her, Katlyn could hear Ellen and Jennifer struggling as well, with no more success than she had. Their struggles grew weaker as the drugs took hold. Katlyn was finding it hard to keep from breathing. Her lungs were burning for oxygen. Finally, she had no choice but to give in. She sucked in the badly needed air, taking with it the chemical fumes. Instantly, she felt the drugs take hold of her. She went numb. Her arms fell to her sides, useless. Her eyelids fluttered as she struggles to stay conscious. It was a fight she was doomed to lose. A moment later she gave in and slumped over, falling into unconsciousness…

Her attacker kept the chloroform soaked cloth pressed to the young woman’s face a moment longer, making sure she was totally out. He glanced over at his two comrades. Neither of them had had trouble knocking out of their victims either. The two girls were slumped over, still held in their seat restraints.

The kidnappers unbuckled the limp young women and pulled them out of the taxi. Throwing the unconscious Katlyn over his shoulder, the kidnapper carried her the short distance to the delivery van. He glanced around, but no one seemed to have heard the girls’ cries. The other two kidnappers were close behind, carrying her friends. Angelo opened the back door and set his captive on the floor of the van. She moaned, softly, but did not stir. While the other girls were laid beside her, Angelo pulled out a small case. He carried it back to Gino.

“Your usual finder’s fee.” Angelo said, handing the case through the window. “Plus a bonus for delivering them to us.” Gino’s eyes widened with glee, seeing the stacks of crisp Euros inside. “You got the fake plates on?” Gino nodded. “Good.” Angelo said, “With any luck, no one will trace these three to your taxi then, but if anyone asks about them…”

“…I picked them up, dropped them off and never saw them again.” Gino replied. He closed the briefcase of money and set it down in the seat beside him. Angelo gathered the girls’ bags from the taxi and carried them back to the van. As he climbed into the van, Gino caught one last look at the three young women, lying unconscious in the kidnappers’ vehicle, before the door slammed shut. A moment later, the van started up and slowly drove away, carrying the three American coeds with it. “Well, too bad for you three…” Gino thought, as he started his own car and backed out of the alley, already thinking about what he’d spend his new windfall of cash on…