“How could this happen to me?” Mary wondered. She’d always been so careful. Unlike the rest of her friends, she was never going out drinking in seedy clubs or going home with strange guys. She locked her doors at night and always wore her seat belt on the road.  

 Of course, she wasn’t wearing a seat belt at the moment, given most car trunks didn’t come equipped with them. Every turn the car made sent the young woman sliding around wildly inside of her cramped prison.  

 A little over forty minutes ago, Mary had just returned from her morning job. She’s always been careful with that to: she never went jogging in the dark, always had at least someone else out with her and mixed up her route every so often. Of course, all of her precautions when out jogging hadn’t meant much when the kidnappers were waiting for her when she got home.

 The instant the young woman had stepped through the door, she’d been grabbed by what she took to be the 900-lb gorilla hiding just in the entry way, out of sight and pushed to the floor. While he sat on her, a second, maybe 700-lb gorilla had grabbed her hands and feet, swiftly binding them with rope.

 Any thoughts she might have had on this developing situation were quickly curtailed when the first thug had jammed a massive ballgag between her teeth and buckled it on tight. He’d finished up her bondage by pulling a hood of thin, stretchy, but opaque cloth over her head, leaving her completely in the dark as she was carried to the garage and tossed in the trunk of her car by one of the men while the other, having found her purse and the car keys, got the engine going.

 Eventually, the car pulled to a halt. Mary heard the trunk lid opening above her. A second later she was grabbed by someone who was either one of her kidnappers or their identical twin. Lifting her out of the trunk, the man threw the struggling captive over his shoulder.

 Out of the confines of the trunk, Mary could hear the sound of surf and gulls overhead, muffled slightly by the hood over her head. Even through the fabric, she could smell the sharp smell of sea brine on the air.

 “Careful now…” Another man called to Mary’s captor as he walked forward, carrying her like she weighed nothing. “We’re getting a lot of money for her.” Mary could only sob quietly as she was carried up the gangplank onto the waiting ship...