Portal

by Fred Alvrez

  Her abductors only want one thing…and just what has her father got to do with it?

  Excerpt of Driven

  Chapter 1

  Mia Serenity Turner wasn’t ordinarily violent, but right now, she felt like stabbing the woman in the eye. Both eyes if she could get away with it.

  Judy’s gaze never left the computer screen while she spoke. “I’m sorry, Mia, but your father has had to fly out to Miami this morning for an important meeting.” She spoke as if she were reading the news from a teleprompter.

  “But…but…we had a lunch date all set—he promised he’d make this one. I haven’t seen him in two months.” She hated how pathetic her voice sounded but couldn’t seem to help it.

  Her father’s middle-aged PA rolled her eyes—for the second time in two minutes. She continued scrolling through her emails, occasionally clicking her mouse with a finger that wasn’t to be argued with. “He is aware of that, but this was unavoidable, some sort of trouble only he could fix. He told me to tell you to go shopping, and he’ll cover your credit card bills for it.”

  With a burst of confidence, Mia leaned against the enormous desk, putting her hands down on the dark wood, the coolness of the timber helping to lower her internal temperature. “Well, of course, Dad will cover my credit card. He always does.”

  Finally, Judy moved her gaze from her screen and looked her in the eye. “Well, yes, he does. But he said that it’d make him happy if you went shopping instead.” With a sigh, she rose from behind her desk and moved to Mia’s side. Judy took her arm, bustling her toward the elevators as if she were a child—not a six-foot-tall, twenty-year-old woman.

  “Go on. Go shopping. He’ll have lunch with you when he gets back.”

  It was her dad’s standard response when he was too busy to spend time with her—yet again: go shopping.

  Mia spied the ‘Stairs Out of Order’ sign as they walked past the stairwell. Why today, of all days, did workmen have to be working on the stairs? Normally it was an elevator out of order, and that was fine by her. Her high heels tapped a slow, rhythmic beat on the porcelain floor tiles as she resisted their progress toward the elevator. The harsh clicks slowed, faltered, then came to an abrupt halt as they stopped at the wood-paneled doors.

  Judy hit the Down button, continuing to grip her arm like a security guard escorting a shoplifter from the premises. “Most young women would love to be in your position, not having to work, and going shopping while someone else pays.”

  It was Mia’s turn to roll her eyes at that comment—she’d heard it far too many times before. “Can you please put something in Dad’s calendar, so he doesn’t forget?”

  The elevator dinged and the doors opened; Judy almost pushed Mia into the elevator, then leaned in and hit the first-floor button for her. “Of course I will. Now, you go and shop hard. It’s your thing.”

  The doors shut. Mia felt her stomach knot, and her bottom lip quivered. As the elevator descended, she closed her eyes—as she always did.

  No point in feeding the wolves.

  The ride eighteen levels down felt like forever until, at last, an automated voice announced with indifference that she had made it to the ground floor. As she stepped out of the elevator, Mia opened the large handbag hanging off her shoulder and patted her Pomeranian concealed inside, slowly stroking his soft fur, finding comfort in the contact.

  “It’s okay, Peanut, we can do this. Let’s go shopping. It’s what Daddy wants us to do.”

  She opened the Autocab app on her phone and requested one to take her to Rodeo Drive.

  As she walked to the curb, a hot Los Angeles summer breeze enveloped her, wrapping around her calves and gently ruffling the hem of her designer dress. In less than sixty seconds, a blue autocab pulled up, the curb-side rear door opening automatically for her. Mia spied the blacked-out windows—a new security and privacy feature required by law.

  She didn’t like it, but there was no other choice. If she canceled this cab, the next one would likely be the same. She’d seen too many like this to assume she’d be lucky enough to get one with ‘normal’ windows.

  The open rear door beckoned, like a hooded man in a non-descript van with a sign that said, ‘free candy inside.’ Dragging her feet, she walked hesitantly toward the cab, the blacked-out windows taunting her. As she crouched down to climb in, Mia felt the welcome cool air conditioning drift from the cab’s open doors. Sitting back in the seat, she sighed as she put her seat belt on. At least she could see out of the windows just fine.

  Shopping. Again.

  She didn’t really need any more clothes, but a new skirt may be on the list for today. And a new summer hat too; what the hell—it wasn’t like it was her money.

  Not that she had her own money.

  She patted down her skirt, smoothing a crease that had formed, then flicked a piece of lint off her sleeve.

  Perfect.

  The large screen in the front of the autocab showed her destination—Versace, Rodeo Drive, along with the outside temperature—eighty-five degrees. Another hot Los Angeles day.

  As the doors closed, a soothing female voice greeted her: “Thank you for choosing Autocabs today, Mia, we value your business. Please note, the doors lock automatically as a security precaution. Your safety is our priority.”

  She’d been in so many autocabs, she could recite this word for word. The doors locked audibly as they pulled away from the curb.

  Mia opened her bag and looked down at Peanut. “And let’s not forget the V.E.T. for you. I’m not sure how much longer I can put up with those smells coming out of your rear end.”

  She could swear her dog was smiling right back at her.

  After placing her bag on the seat next to her, she undid her seatbelt and moved forward through the open cabin to where the driver would normally sit.

  The automated voice kicked in again: “Please remain seated at all times and keep your seatbelt fastened, Mia. Your safety is our priority.”

  “Yes, yes. I won’t be long.”

  An annoying chiming sound started, repeating every few seconds.

  In place of the driver’s seat was a minibar; It was mainly for the front seat passenger to use, but a thirst called her forward. Mia opened it and took out a chilled bottle of water. The charge would go straight to her credit card.

  “Please remain seated at all times and keep your seatbelt fastened, Mia. Your safety is our priority.”

  She returned to her seat and put her seatbelt back on. The chiming and voice alert stopped.

  Taking a refreshing sip of water, Mia thought about what she’d do after shopping and taking Peanut to the vet. She hoped her dad might even want to go out to dinner with her tonight, but in her heart, she knew that was just a dream. Since her mom had died four years ago, she barely saw him anymore. Birthdays, sure, but casual catch-ups? Not often. Mia chewed her bottom lip.

  What was so urgent that Dad had to fly to Miami? He hates having to leave LA.

  Mia opened her bag and took out her makeup kit. With well-practiced skill, she balanced her makeup mirror on her leg and applied some powder and then mascara as the cab rolled over LA’s notoriously bumpy streets.

  “Perfect, as usual.” Mia gave herself a little smile in the mirror. “Always got to look my best, Peanut.” She put her makeup away and stared out the window at the people as they passed, having to work to make money.

  Her phone rang to the tune of an old Beyoncé song, “Single Ladies.” The thought that it might be her dad boosted her spirits. She looked at the screen, and her heart fell. It wasn’t her dad.

  She swiped to answer the call. “Hi, Candy. How’s your day going?”

  “Good so far. Your dad with you?”

  “No. He had to fly to Miami for some business thing.”

  Candy paused. “Sorry, babe. Next time, huh? I’m sure you’ll catch up with him soon. Where are you now?”

  “I’m off to Versace in an autocab, then to the V.E.T for Peanut. You?”


  “At the gym, just going to hit the showers and then head home. Hey, how about dinner later, since we’re both boyfriendless right now?”

  “Oh, that’d be lovely, thanks.”

  Mia sniffed the air. Peanut had just let another one go. Screwing up her nose, she pushed her handbag farther away from her.

  She caught Candy mid-sentence. “—and I’ll make a booking somewhere nice. Hey, I’ve seen a lot more of those new autocabs with the blacked-out windows driving around. Are you in one?”

  She looked down at her free hand, mentally trying to control the trembling. “Yes.” That didn’t work, so she jammed it between her thighs. “My first.”

  “How are you coping?”

  “So far so good. I’m trying not to think about it.”

  “Proud of you, babe. I read the glass is bulletproof, so try to think of it as a security feature instead of something…uh, else. Talk later about dinner.”

  Mia hung up. She had the vet on speed dial and made a booking for three thirty. Plenty of time to go shopping and then go to the vet, as long as the LA traffic didn’t crash her plans.

  She lifted Peanut out of her handbag and placed him on the seat next to her, then fished around for an energy bar. She found one and opened it, then sat back as she took a bite. As she closed her eyes and leaned her head against the headrest, she breathed out, emptying her lungs completely.

  Too many people envied her lifestyle. One guy had even convinced her to have her own YouTube channel, where he followed her around every day as she went shopping, spending her dad’s money like it was air to breathe. Mia still couldn’t believe she’d gone through with it, but common sense had eventually prevailed, and she dropped the idea after only a few episodes.

  She was annoyed that the guy still hadn’t taken the videos off YouTube. Maybe it was time to call in her dad’s lawyers to make that happen.

  Some people could be so difficult.

  As the doorman stood holding her bags of shopping, Mia stayed inside the air-conditioned luxury of Versace, waiting for another autocab. She had already punched in the address of the vet. It was farther to travel, but after she had a bad experience at the one closest to her Santa Monica apartment, she had returned to her favorite vet near her old apartment.

  In less than thirty seconds, a blue autocab pulled up outside, the rear door opening by itself.

  “Come on, Peanut, your turn for some attention now.” The doorman carried her shopping, following her to the autocab. She grabbed her bags from him and climbed into the back.

  They left Versace and headed east from Rodeo Drive.

  The autocab continued onto the I-10, still heading east.

  Like a bad seafood dinner trying to make its way back up, fear rose in her stomach. “We’ve missed the 110 turnpike, Peanut. I guess there’s a crash or something down that way.”

  Just a crash, just a crash…

  She looked out to see the signs for the I-5 turnpike. “Here comes the I-5. I’m sure we’ll head that way now.”

  The turnpike came, but the autocab headed north instead of south.

  Her heart rate continued to climb. “It’s okay, Peanut. No need to worry. Must be a bad crash or something. We’ll be fine.”

  Mia started picking at her fingernails, which sometimes helped stop her hands trembling.

  It didn’t work this time.

  The cab turned east onto the I-10 on the San Bernardino Freeway, driving past suburbs as people went about their daily lives, with Mia’s cab going the wrong way. She sat, frozen in her seat, her heart pounding as the 605 approached. Here, the cab would have to turn south to take her to the vet.

  She reached over and patted Peanut. “Here it comes, baby, here’s our turn.”

  Mia looked to her right at the turnpike to take them south.

  The cab went left and headed north.

  She stared at the southern turnpike as it got smaller and smaller. Struggling to rein in her anxiety, she leaned forward and pressed the bright red emergency-call button on the cab’s roof console. There was no answer; not even any ringing tone.

  Just nothing.

  Mia looked at the display in the front of the cab; it still showed the address of the vet. As she stared at it, it flickered, then changed.

  It showed no actual address.

  It merely said, New York.

  Purchase your copy of Driven now!

  About the Author

  One day while sitting in yet another airport with yet another delayed flight, Fred Alvrez thought to himself, “I’m going to write a novel”. And so he did. For the next three months when he was in airport lounges and on flights, he wrote.

  No stranger to writing non-fiction, having been the editor of two monthly magazines, accepted into the New Zealand Motoring Writers’ Guild, and releasing a motoring book, his first foray into fiction is the reason he has even less hair and more empathy for his writing wife. IT guy and tech geek by day, Fred now sweats under Alexa’s watchful eye every night creating fast-paced reads.

  To hear only when he has a new book out, sign up to his new release alert: http://eepurl.com/gcOSWD

  Acknowledgments

  I'd like to thank my wife first for HUGELY helping me with this novel, my first work of fiction. There were times when I was stuck with some plot line, and every time she came back with a "what about...". And it worked.

  A second round of thanks for the Trauma Fiction group on Facebook. The time that is given by the people who help in this group is incredible, not to mention that it means I can sit comfortably that anything related to gunshots or other body part damage should be true, or at least believable.

  One Last Thing

  I hope you enjoyed reading Portal. Please share your thoughts by leaving a short, honest review of this book on the retailer site you purchased it from. Reviews are so important to authors. Thank you!

  Fred Alvrez.