Open up

Sadie Vale stepped out onto the busy West 50th Street, it was past midnight and she had just finished work. Being a junior associate at a private equity firm was starting to take it's toll on her. Long days, late nights, she was starting to feel like a shell of her former self.

As she turned towards Broadway a white vans peeled round the corner and stopped across the street. Out jumped five men wearing black ski masks, they grabbed this man walking down the street, bundled him into the van and disappeared. Less than a minute is all it took and that man was gone. Sadie stood completely still, the world passing her by like an outer body experience.

Fumbling to grab her phone inside her purse she dialled 911.

"911, what's your emergency?"

"I've just witnessed a man be kidnapped," Sadie mumbled.

"Ok Ma'am, the police are on the way. Stay on the line with me until they arrive."

As the police car arrived Sadie hung up the call. She stared coldly into the flashing blue lights.

"Ma'am are you okay?" The officer approached her. He was an older man, probably mid fifties and reminded Sadie of her dad.

"Miss, can we take your statement, it's vital we get what you saw written down as soon as possible."

"Sure." Sadie looked at him and tried to compose herself. "Four men, white van, all in black ski masks, jumped out and grabbed this man walking down the street. They were gone in less than a minute." She sat down on the sidewalk.

The office looked at her and took notes. "Ok miss, can I take you home?" He gestured her a hand to help her up. Sadie jumped up and followed him to his cruiser.

"So what do you do Sadie?" The officer glances at her in the rear view mirror.

"I work at Newby Partners. Junior Associate."

"Private Equity?"

"Yes."

"Must be a crazy world." He says with a tone to his voice.

They arrive outside Sadie's apartment and she jumpers out the police car and heads upstairs. Crashes on her bed and passes out. The next morning she's woken up by.

"Miss Vale!" Are you in there? The banging on her door intensifies.

"Sadie! Open up!" Booms the voice from the other side of the door. Sadie jumps up, grabs her gun from under the bed. This is the only time she's glad her dad bought her that Springfield Prodigy. She slowly approached the door where the banging continued and looked through the peephole. It was the CEO of her company, Hugh Tallentire. She slowly lowered her gun and opened the door.

"Christ. Sadie was you going to shoot me?" He gestures at the gun in her hand.

"You were banging down my door like a robber Hugh!" She snaps back at him.

"Ok, I'm sorry. But we need to talk urgently."

She stares into his eyes, she notices something isn't right. She enters the living room and sits down with the gun on her lap.

"What is it Hugh?"

"You saw something last night, a man being kidnapped. Didn't you?"

"How do you know?" Gripping her gun tighter.

"That was planned by our CFO, James." Gulping at his confession.

She slowly stands up, and points the gun at Hugh.

"Let me guess, you're hear to cover it up?" She aims at his head.

Trembling at the gun he says, "no I need your help."

"There's so much going on that you don't know about Sadie and I need your help to unravel it and take James down." He shuffled in his seat, still uncomfortable at her gun.

"Go ahead, tell me all." Said Sadie as she sits back down, gun still firmly gripped in her hand.

"James has been running a side hustle of basically extorting companies into selling to us on the cheap."

Sadie was speechless as she was trying to process what Hugh had just said about James, who she believed was his best friend. Placing the gun next to her she asked.

"Why haven't you said anything?"

"I don't know how to Sadie. He's threatening me and my family and I don't know how to stop him or report him to the police. But the past 18 acquisitions we've made have all been because of this extortion." Hugh buried his head in his hands as the weight of his confession left him.

"We need to go to the FBI or someone with authority." Jumping out of her chair when someone knocks on the door. They both freeze in place as a rain of bullets fire through the door. The windows on the other side of Sadie's apartment smash as the bullets travel all the way through. She dives on the floor and crawls into the kitchen following Hugh.

"I guess this is James?" Looking at Hugh with an anger that her apartment is being by his firing squad.