Amber shivered as she was led into the room. A million things were going through her head. She wondered how many men were in the room with her and what they were thinking. The blindfold prevented her from seeing anything and there was an uneasy silence. She was nervous. Nervous and afraid. What were they going to do with her? Her mind raced. She thought of what she must look like being led by a leash into a room wearing only a fishnet body suit and a blindfold. She thought about the events of the past few days. But most of all she thought about her boyfriend. After all, she was doing this for him. She swallowed hard and wondered just how she had gotten herself into this mess.
* * * *
Sunday 2:13 pm
Amber sat lounging on her parents sofa in the cool, air conditioned house reading the latest issue of Cosmo. She felt lazy, but it was her first weekend off since starting college and she wanted to relax and enjoy herself before she started getting too busy. She reached over and took a drink of her lemonade as she glanced at the phone. It had been days since she had heard from Kevin and she was starting to get worried.
'He's probably just busy,' she said to herself. 'He'll call soon'.
Just as she was getting into an article about "twenty ways to please your man", the phone rang. Amber jumped up and snatched it up.
"Hello," she said in her usual chipper, friendly voice.
"Hi. It's me."
"Kevin! Where have you been?!! I've been waiting forever for you to call!"
"Sorry babe. Look, I really need to talk to you."
"Why what's wrong?"
"Can you come over?"
"Yeah, I guess so. But..."
"Just come over right away."
The tone in Kevin's voice worried Amber.
"Okay. I'll be right there."
As she hung up the phone, a million thoughts flew through her head. Was he going to break up with her? The two had been going out for three years now, and the thought of losing him almost brought Amber to tears. He had been her only real boyfriend. The only person she had slept with. To lose him now would be devastating. Amber shook her head trying to rid herself of those thoughts as she put on her shoes. With that, she bolted out the door.
Twenty minutes later Amber stood at Kevin's door nervously knocking. As the door swung open, she gasped. Her boyfriend's face was covered in bruises and his arm was in a cast.
"What happened?!" she asked, rushing up to comfort him.
"I think we'd better sit down," he said reaching over to close the door.
Amber bit her lip as she sat on the couch next to her battered boyfriend. Kevin sat there for a while before speaking.
"I'm in a little bit of trouble."
"What kind of trouble?"
"Well, you know how I've been having money problems lately?"
Amber nodded.
"You see, my friends took me to this private casino downtown a little while ago."
"Those jerks? I told you not to hang around them anymore! They're all...."
Kevin raised his hand silencing his girlfriend.
"At first it was great. I started winning lots of money. That's how I bought you that ring."
Amber looked down at the ring Kevin had given her a few weeks before. she swallowed hard.
"But then things started getting worse. I kept losing. I'd bet more and more just trying to break even, but it never happened."
"So how much do you owe them?" Amber asked.
"Twenty one thousand."
Amber's mouth dropped open. She was speechless.
Kevin looked over at her.
When I couldn't pay, they beat the shit out of me. They said I have three days to get the money or I'm dead."
Tears began to well up in Amber's eyes.
"Why don't you go to the police?"
"I can't. They said if I try anything they'll kill me. And even if they don't I'll still go to jail for illegal gambling."
"So what are you going to do?"
Kevin just looked down at the ground.
"Kevin! "
"I think we should run."
"We?"
"Yes! You and I. We can take what little money we have and go to Mexico or something. It's my only chance."
"But I just started school! I can't just quit. And what would I tell my parents? No! There has to be another way. "
Kevin grabbed her by the shoulders and looked her in the eye.
"There is no other way," he said calmly.
Amber began to sob.
"Where is this place?" she said between sniffles.
"It's in the basement below Blackjack's Bar. The owner of the bar runs the casino too. Why?"
Amber shook her head, then got up to go to the bathroom. After she had dried most of her tears, she came back out.
"I'm going to go see how much money I have left in my bank account," she said. "Maybe we can work something out."
"And if we can't?"
"Then...Then I'll go with you."
Kevin stood up and hugged Amber, kissing her on the forehead.
"Do you want me to come with you?" he asked.
Amber shook her head.
"No. You stay here and try to relax."
As soon as Amber left the apartment she rushed home. She knew she had no money in the bank and had no intentions of going there. She was going to Blackjack's.
Once she was at home, she reapplied her makeup and slipped into a cute little skirt. She fixed up her tangled blonde hair and put on a pair of shoes that at least made her seem a little bit taller than her actual five foot two height. She was going to plead for her boyfriend's life and she did not want to seem like a little girl.
As Amber got off the bus, a wave of nervous tension swept over her. At first she considered turning back, but realized that this was the only option. She made her way down the street until she came to her destination.
Blackjack's was a decent enough looking place with a large neon sign over the front door. Amber swallowed hard and walked in. The place was almost empty, with the exception of a few lone patrons sitting around small tables watching a half naked woman dance on a stage in the middle of the club. Amber was disgusted and tried to avert her eyes as she made her way over to the bar.
"Can I help you?" the bartender said as he eyed up her firm young body.