Henley Reeves was handcuffed and gagged in the backseat of a moving car, with a large, burly, man seated next to her to make sure that she didn't try anything.

Amateurs. She worked quickly and discreetly, pulling a bobby pin from her hair with small movements. After that, it wasn't difficult to unlock the handcuffs. She screamed and cried underneath her gag, hiding the click that the cuffs made when they unlocked.

"Please, stop shouting, Ms. Reeves. Nobody will be able to hear you," Bradley stated calmly, as if he had the upper hand. Please. "It's not showman like for you to scream while captured." Henley screamed and cried more, just to keep up the act.

"Shut up, bitch," the man in the back seat said, fetting annoyed. She continued to cry, however, and he slapped her.

That was enough for Henley. She unlocked the car door, opened it, and expertly jumped out into a somersault. She rolled on the cement, which scratched her face, but besides that, she was unharmed. Henley then got up and ran, as quickly as she could, in the general direction of the building where they were supposed to meet up. Knowing she couldn't stay on the sidewalk, right next to the street that her captors were on, she turned right, and ran through an alleyway, to the other side of an apartment building, which she entered.

A young man was just leaving the very same building. Henley ran into him, grabbed his phone without him realizing it, and apologized for being so clumsy. She then ran up to the elevator, picked a random level, and pulled out the phone. She dialed Daniel's most recent cell phone number, hoping that he'd pick up.

The elevator doors opened, and she ran down the hall of the building, made a sharp right, and sat against the wall, panting. This would have to do as a hiding spot for now. Henley pressed the phone against he ear, whispering things like "pick up, Daniel," under her breath.

"Hello?" came a familiar voice. It made her feel slightly more at ease.
"Daniel, this is Henley," she whispered frantically.

"Henley, where the hell are you?" he sounded mad at her. She wasn't surprised, the stakes were too high for her to just go missing, but she was still somewhat angry. It wasn't her fault Bradley was crazy. "We've been waiting for you. What about the plan? Don't tell me you're backing out on us, because-"

She cut him off. "Daniel, I need you to listen right now, so shut up. I've been kidnapped by-"

"What?" Fear rose up in his voice, but he pushed it down. His tone was suddenly stern and serious. "Who kidnapped you? The FBI wouldn't do that, because that's illegal, right? Are you ok?"

"I'm fine, Danny. I escaped. Escape artist, remember? Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to call you."

Atlas seemed to have let out a breath he was holding. "That's my girl. Do you know who did it?"

"Bradley. I don't know why, yet. But he's looking for me."

"Where are you? We'll pick you up." Henley's heart involuntarily skipped a beat. Daniel would save her. She felt safe just talking to him.

"I'm not really sure. Not too far. I'm about a four minute drive North from where you are. In some apartment building, sixth floor, I think. You have to hurry, Danny. They're coming, and they will find me, if you don't, first. So grab Merritt and go!"

"Okay, I'm coming. I'll see you soon, Henley." Daniel swallowed, and ended the call. This was bad. He had to find Henley soon, or else who knows what Bradley would do. Would he even see her again? She had walked out on him once, and he hadn't done anything to stop it. But this time, it was different. This time, he loved her. He didn't know what changed that made him so attracted to her this past year, but he somehow knew that he was undoubtedly in love with Henley Reeves. But there wasn't any time for that now. Now, he had to put on a show, the fearless magician, pretending he didn't care as much as he really did.

"Merritt!" he shouted upstairs to his older companion.

"Yeah? Did you find Henley?" He yelled back.

"Kind of! I'll describe it to you on the way there. Just get into the car! And hurry up!"

"Which car?" he yelled back, but Daniel didn't hear him. He was already out the door. Any second he wasted yelling at Merritt was one more second Thaddeus Bradley had to find Henley. And he could not let that happen.

As soon as Merritt was in the car, too, Daniel sped North.

"Woah, hey, slow down, there, Danny. What's going on?"

"Henley was kidnapped."

"What? By whom?" Merritt asked anxiously, his own concern for showing.

"Thaddeus Bradley. But she escaped, and is hiding in apartment building four minutes North of us on the sixth floor, and we are going to find her." He hid the rising anxiousness in his voice. He was internally hysterical, but he wouldn't let that seep through. He was a showman, and he was now putting on a show.

"You're worried about her."

"Of course I am, Merritt!" He snapped, "it doesn't take mentalism to know that. We can't pull the last show off with two. You should be worried, too."

"I am, but Henley doesn't need a knight in shining armor. She's already escaped, all she needs is to get picked up. Don't be too upset, Danny. Henley's a big girl."

"Who said that big girls don't get hurt, too?" was Daniel's quiet reply, and that was the end of that. They spent the next three minutes in silence.

"This should be about where Henley is," Daniel said. "She said she was hiding in an apartment building, on the sixth floor. There are three apartment buildings here, so we'll split up. You take that one," Danny said, pointing at one building, "I'll start with that one," he pointed at another, "And if she's not in either, we'll take that one," Daniel pointed at the last apartment building and sprinted off before Merritt could respond.

J. Daniel Atlas ran into the building and raced into the elevator, pushing the sixth floor button ten times before the door closed. He hoped against hope that she would be here, in this building. He hoped that Bradley hadn't taken her, obviously, but he secretly hoped that she wasn't in Merritt's building. He wanted to be the one to rescue her, not Merritt and his meaningless sex proposition.

The doors to the elevator opened and Daniel burst out, his eyes darting around, searching for Henley. She wasn't in plain sight. "Henley?" he called to the empty hall. "Henley, it's Daniel, where are you?" No response. "Henley! Henley, are you here?" he felt ridiculous, yelling at a hall, but he had to try. He didn't know what to do. It didn't seem like Henley was here, but what if she was? What if she was well hidden? But he didn't have time to search, he had to move on, so he sprinted into the elevator.

As he ran through the doors of the building, he felt butterflies in his stomach. What If she wasn't here? What if Bradley had gotten to her? He was no longer concerned about Merritt, but Henley's safety instead. Just please, please let her be ok.

Daniel stepped our of the elevator on the sixth floor, searching for anything. A wisp of red hair, heeled footprints, her gloves...

Her gloves.

They were sitting on the floor, near a corner. Daniel ran up to them, hoping against hope to find Henley, but there was no one. A broken phone lay a couple feet away from the gloves, the screen flickering between blackness and a number. His number. Henley had tried to call him. And now she was gone. Again. He grabbed his phone and called his older companion.

"Merritt. She's gone."

That's all for this week. As promised, I will upload every Sunday. Please please please review, it will help me become a better writer. And thank you so much for the people who have reviewed, it means the world to me. See you next week!

-iwishiwereabrit