no one who even suspected they were in danger! These guys had hacked the card reader to get access to a secured floor, and -
Wait. Card reader. Rhaven looked back at the man holding her. "Who trashed my room in Denver?"
It was the tall guy who answered. "I had some friends help. You were supposed to have stayed away, Ethan. We don't want your kind of trash here."
Riley glanced over, meeting Rhaven's eyes. Not a word was said, but the woman's look spoke volumes. The tall guy was in charge. His mask looked just like the voodoo doll used in the Deviant logo. Probably some attempt to frame the game company for this, but it wouldn't work. Sadly, his little plan meant all the developers were accounted for.
"Walk!" The tall man ordered. "Elevator down to forty-three."
The guy with Zara had to pull her to her feet, and Crysis whined. "Stay," she told the dog. "Lay down, Crysis. Stay."
The dog obeyed. It was clear he didn't want to, and his whining only got louder, but he did stay. For a dog who looked a lot like a pit bull, he sucked at protecting. If only he'd lunged at someone and bit the shit out of them! Sadly, Crysis was a good boy. As Rhaven was shoved through the door, all she could think was that at least the dog would be ok. If these guys shot him, Rhaven was sure she wouldn't be the only one fighting back.
But there were too many guns to try that, and each man had one pointed at a different woman. If Rhaven struggled, it might be Kate getting shot. If Riley punched someone, Dez could end up dying. They couldn't struggle without risking everyone, but there had to be a way out of this. Somehow, if she just thought a little harder, Rhaven was sure she could figure it out.
Skull mask jammed his gun into the middle of Rhaven's back, making it impossible to forget it was there. "Press the button," he ordered.
She didn't want to, but she did it. Almost immediately, the door to the elevator dinged and opened. One by one, Dez, Riley, Zara, and Kate were walked into the car with their captor pressed up behind them, and then Rhaven was told to move last.
Once they were inside, Kate was told to press the button for the forty-third floor, but she did nothing. Her captor wore a red and black striped mask which muffled his voice as he told her to do it again. Still Kate did nothing, so the man grabbed the back of her head and shoved it into the control panel.
"How about now, cunt?" he asked, pressing his gun into the back of her neck.
Kate said nothing, but she pressed the button. Then she looked over, meeting Rhaven's eyes. Something was wrong. Rhaven didn't know what, but something about that floor made Kate want to resist. Considering that she knew the layout of this hotel, Rhaven had a sinking feeling that they were running out of time.
Then Zara spoke up. "Why are you doing this?"
"Shut up," her captor snapped.
"I just don't know why you want us! We're just gamers. That's it. Nothing even special."
Riley huffed in forced amusement. "They're scared of us, babe. Seriously, this guy holding me? He's so freaked out that his dick's basically gone. Every time he shoves me forward, feels like a woman behind - "
The man punched her in the back of the head. Riley surged forward, but the man grabbed a fistful of her dreads and pulled her back up against him. "It's because I think your nigger ass is fucking disgusting."
And Riley smiled. "My mom was white. Half-disgusting? Or maybe you need a pill to make it work."
"Stop," Zara begged. "Please? Just do what they say, ok?"
"That's a good girl," the tall man praised. "Your little military boyfriend teach you that?"
Zara jiggled her head in a nod just as the elevators opened. "He said that if I'm ever captured to always do what I'm told and obey."
Rhaven heard something else hanging there. Something Zara wasn't adding at the end, but she could guess. They'd all heard about Zara and Murder getting caught in a shooting at their university. They also knew how that had ended - because of Jason. They'd taken her away from him, and he'd come back to get her. Just one big - fucking massive - problem with that. Jason didn't know they were being abducted.