Craig involuntarily gasped and the man whirled to face him. "Get out of there," the man instructed in a gruff voice.
Craig immediately complied stepping out of the office with his hands up, his mind racing. He had no idea what to do and a quick glance at Paige's white face told him she didn't know what to do either.
The man backed up quickly to the window and pulled down the shade, hiding them from the view of passers-by.
"I want you to open up the cash drawer and put all the money into this bag," the man said, throwing a plastic bag at Paige. "You," he pointed the gun at Craig, "don't try anything heroic and no one will get hurt. Help her."
Craig slowly edged around behind the counter. Paige's hands were trembling so much she couldn't even press the button to open the cash register. Craig reached over and pressed it for her. He and Paige quickly filled it then handed it back to the man who snatched it up.
"That's all you've got?" he snarled, glancing at the contents.
Craig nodded. "S-sorry."
The man stood apparently thinking for a little while then motioned to Paige. "Get over here."
Paige looked at Craig and hesitated.
"Get over here!" the man shouted angrily. Paige immediately hurried out from behind the counter and the man grabbed her roughly by the arm. "Is there a back room?" Paige's eyes widened and Craig realized what the man's intentions were.
"No, get off of her," he said in a tremulous voice.
"Excuse me, I'm the one who's dealing out the commands. Is this an office?" he started to pull Paige over to the office door.
Craig moved to block their way. He couldn't believe what he was doing but he couldn't stop thinking about what he had read in Paige's profile. There were tears streaming down her face now and she struggled weakly.
"Boy, you'd better get out of my way or—"
"P-please," Paige begged. "We gave you all the money we have. We won't call the cops I sweat just let us—" She was cut off when the man harshly slapped her across the face.
Something inside Craig snapped and he lunged, his hand closing around the gun. The man swore and started struggling with Craig, letting Paige go. For a few moments that seemed like an eternity they fought to gain control of the gun. Then a loud shot rang out and Craig felt a horrible pain in his shoulder. Paige screamed his name and it took him a second to realize he had been hit.
The man looked just as shocked as Craig but he quickly regained his senses. "Get in here," he commanded, opening the door to the dark room. He shoved Paige roughly inside then Craig.
The door slammed shut and Craig heard the padlock click into place with an eerie finality.
That was the last sound he heard for a while as he sank to the floor unconscious.