Sammie had never been in a cab before. She had always had a car, so she never had the need for a cab, but now she was in a strange city on vacation, and didn't have a ride. She was a little nervous, but didn't want to walk because it was getting dark. She gave the driver the address of her destination and sat back, trying to relax. As the cab began to move, Sammie's unease grew. The driver was a maniac behind the wheel. He swerved in and out of traffic at breakneck speeds, he ran through yellow lights that were turning red, and he didn't even break when turning corners.

“Is there any way we could slow down a little,” she asked.

“No, no. Can't slow down. Busy, busy. Many customers. Always many customers,” the cabbie replied.

Sammie tried to look at the buildings and street signs to see where they were, but they were flying by too fast for her to read anything. Her destination had only been about a half hour drive from the hotel, and she began to panic when she looked at her watch and saw that, even with him driving so erratically, they hadn't reached where she was going and she had been in this death trap for an hour.

“I'm sorry, Sir, but I think you may have passed up my destination. It shouldn't be taking this long to get there.”

“No, no. Didn't miss it at all. Not at all. Know where to go. Getting there soon. No worries. No worries at all,” he responded.

Sammie began to wonder if she was being kidnapped. Finally, the cab screeched to a stop. They were on a dark road. There were no street lights. The buildings were dilapidated and looked abandoned. There was trash everywhere.

“You are her. Here you are. You get out now. Walk through there, just through there. You will be where you need to be. Definitely where you need to be,” the cabbie said, motioning her to get out of the cab.

Sammie looked around.

“This isn't where I asked to go,” she stammered, starting to tremble. “Just take me back to the hotel, please,” she pleaded.

“No, no. No more ride for you. No more. You get out here. Here is where you need to be. Right here. No hotel, no party place. Here. Get out, please. You must hurry. Quickly, quickly. You go NOW!”

The cabbie was yelling at her now. She began fumbling in her wallet for money to pay the fare, and more to try and bribe him into bringing her back to the hotel.

“You no pay. No pay. Forget money. GET OUT NOW! GO NOW!”

Crying, Sammie stepped out of the cab. The driver sped away before she had even finished closing the door. She began heading down the alley that he had pointed her towards. She was hoping that maybe, just maybe, there would be a better neighborhood on the other side. She turned on the flashlight on her phone, and rested her hand on the gun in her purse.

“Help, somebody help, please,” Sammie heard someone cry from down the alley.

Sammie yanked her gun from her purse and took it off safety. She shone her light around, but couldn't see anything.

“Where are you,” she called out.

She heard a man's voice telling the girl to shut up and keep still. Then she heard what sounded like a slap, and then crying. She began to walk again, more afraid now for whoever was calling out than for herself. Suddenly, she saw a foot sticking out. She recognized the shoe! It was her roommate and best friend. She had left to go shopping earlier in the day and was supposed to meet Sammie at the party later. However, she knew that her friend had a tendency to drink on vacation, and to flirt a lot. She rushed forward, and saw a man on top of her friend. She yelled for him to get off of Brenda.

“Shut up, Bitch, you're next!”

Those were the last words he said as the bullet went through his head. Brenda screamed, then shoved him off of her, wiping the blood from her face with her blouse.

“Oh my God, Sammie, how did you ever find me? He offered me a ride to the party, then he asked to see a picture on my phone and threw it out the window. I thought I was going to die. I can't believe you found me,” she said, all in a rush.

Brenda grabbed Sammie and hugged her so tightly that she could barely breathe.

“Brenda, do you have any idea where we are? I would call the police, but I have no idea where to tell them to find us.”

“No, sorry, I wasn't paying that much attention at first, and when I did, I couldn't see any numbers or street signs.”

The two girls began walking towards the end of the alley. Suddenly, they saw headlights. A police car pulled in, followed by an ambulance. The officers got out, as did the paramedics. Sammie told them about shooting the man. The officers identified him as a rapist and murderer that they had been trying to catch for months. As the paramedics were examining the girls, a familiar voice spoke up.

“Okay, okay. You both okay? Yes, we make it in time, you both okay. Friend roughed up a bit, but okay. Okay.”

Sammie was shocked to look up and see the cab driver from earlier. The officers came over to the ambulance and told Sammie that they were able to find them due to an anonymous phone call telling them where they were. She looked up to thank the cab driver, but he was gone. When she asked Brenda where he had disappeared to, Brenda looked confused and asked who she was talking about.

“The cab driver,” she replied. “The man that was just right here asking if we were okay.”

“Do you mean the paramedic? He went up front to radio ahead to the hospital,” Brenda replied.

“No, not him. The cab driver. He was right there next to you, asking if we were okay,” Sammie replied.

Brenda placed a hand gently on Sammie's shoulder.

“Sam, sweetie, I think your in shock. There was no one else here.”