Trigger
A Long Day
The din of traffic was grating on Mira Holden as she walked down the sidewalk in Queens. She was heading home to her apartment after a long day of work. At twenty-eight years old, Mira was one of the youngest officers on the police force. She had reached the upper echelons of the force and was a director of the organized crime investigations unit in downtown Manhattan. Mira dressed formally, wearing black suit pants, a white shirt and a black suit jacket as she journeyed home. It was a warm September day in New York, and she couldn't wait to get back to her apartment and get some much needed rest.
Eventually, Mira reached her apartment building and entered the lobby. She greeted the doorman and made her way to the elevator. She selected the fifty-fourth floor, and the elevator brought her to the intended destination.
Mira was thinking of taking a long, hot shower when she noticed something was wrong. Her apartment door was ever so slightly askew, as if someone had shimmied the door open. Mira immediately retrieved the pistol that was holstered against her hip and slowly moved forward towards her door. She blew her long, black hair out of her deep brown eyes.
Mira nuzzled the door open and entered the hallway and switched on the light. There was no evidence to suggest that her apartment had been robbed. All of her items and valuables were where she had left them that morning. Mira continued down the corridor, gun raised in defense. She entered the kitchen area and flicked on the light and she did a quick sweep of the area. Her kitchen was quaint and simple, average for the location in the city.
She then proceeded to her bedroom and opened the door, and went to reach for the light switch when suddenly she grabbed her arms and wrestled the gun out of her possession. Mira quickly recovered and punched her attacker in their face and tried to get the pistol once again. They grappled over the gun, each of them trying to gain an advantage over the other. Unfortunately for Mira, she realized her assailant had to be a fully grown man because of the overwhelming strength that she was now faced with.
Mira gasped as the man slapped her across the face, drawing blood that she could taste in her mouth. Her attacker then picked up the Italian-American police officer and threw her onto her bed. Mira rolled twice on the bed before she stopped. She stood up to continue the fight, but she realized it was all over as she heard the man click the pistol, turning off the safety and pointing the gun in her direction. Mira, who was trained for this sort of scenario, immediately tried to diffuse the situation.
"Okay, okay, looks like you win, buddy," said Mira as she placed her hands behind her head. "If you are looking for jewelery and money, there is a safe in the kitchen. I can give you the combination." Mira still could not see her attacker, as the light was still turned off. She strained her vision to discern any features that may help her identify him.
Her assailant switched on the lights, and Mira saw that the man who had attacked her was wearing blue jeans, a black t-shirt and a black balaclava. There was blood seeping through the mask where Mira had landed a punch on the man. She took pleasure because she had inflicted some sort of pain on him.
"Mira Holden?" asked the man gruffly. Mira was confused about how the man knew her name. That certainly wasn't typical of a routine apartment robbery in the city. She bit her lip before confirming that she was indeed Mira. She decided she had to play along until she could call for help. The man retrieved a phone from his pocket, took a picture of Mira and, once satisfied that it was her, spoke once again.
"Put these on," instructed the man as he threw a pair of handcuffs to her. Mira picked them up and handcuffed her hands behind her back. Mira was becoming increasingly nervous about the man's intentions as time passed.
"Listen, buddy," started Mira. "Why are you doing this? There is money in the kitchen. Just take it and go! I don't care how you know who I am or where I live," said Mira, which was an obvious lie. She desperately wanted to unravel this mystery.
"Shut the fuck up, bitch," said the man as he continued to train the gun on Mira. He picked up his phone again and dialed a number with one hand. Mira eavesdropped on the brief call that was had.
"Boss, I got her. Yes. I'm sure. Bring the van around the back of the building now, in the alleyway," instructed the man to his accomplice. Mira realized she was being kidnapped, and to preempt what was coming, she rushed her attacker and lunged forward at him despite her hands being bound behind her back. She knocked into her captor and momentarily surprised him. He lost his balance and fell to the floor, clearly surprised.
Mira capitalized on this and ran out of the room with her captor hot on her tail. She made it as far as the hallway before he intercepted her, as she felt a muscular arm around her waist.
"Fucking bitch," spat her captor as he placed another arm around her neck. He then produced a ball gag and forced it into her mouth. Despite Mira screaming at the top of her lungs, all that came out was an indecipherable moan.
The man then placed a bag over her head, and everything went dark. Then she felt herself being marched out of her apartment and towards the elevator of the building. She hoped that one of her neighbors would pass and see what was happening and call the police.
Mira felt someone pushing her into the elevator she recognized and heard the doors slide closed. She stood in fear as the elevator made its journey down. After a minute, she heard the door open, and someone pushed her out of the elevator, and she felt herself being walked along a corridor that she figured must be the basement area of the building because of the heat. If they truly were in the basement, then there was no hope of anyone seeing her being abducted. Eventually, Mira heard a door open and felt a breeze against her body and she heard the doors of a van open. A person forced Mira into the back of the van with roughness, and she heard the doors close.
Mira knew it was imperative that she remained calm and wait for an opportunity to escape. That was what her police training had taught her. She sucked on her ball gag in the dark as she felt the van lunge forward, as she figured they were leaving the area now that they had their target. Her.