The Privilege

Elizabeth

Elizabeth Crane had just finished writing another article on the abductions. She had uncovered new information after speaking with her contact down at the police station. So far, she was only covering stories at the local level, but she knew it went far deeper than that. Women all over the country, no, the globe, were being reported missing.

At first, lots of internet sleuths and conspiracy theorists had proposed the kidnappings were part of an elaborate underground sex trafficking ring. However, there was no evidence to support this claim. In fact, there was little evidence to support any of the public's theories. Whoever was behind it knew how to cover their tracks enough that no one theory fit the crimes.

Elizabeth had read the police reports and had interviewed several people over the past four months. All the cases were extremely similar in nature: young women between the ages of 18-30, lived alone, had little or no contact with family and few friends, worked entry to mid-level jobs, were unmarried and childless. In each case, there was no evidence of a breaking in, a struggle, or even DNA evidence that the victim was taken.

It was as if they would simply vanish into thin air. The similarities were no coincidence and Elizabeth knew it could only mean one thing: whoever was taking them was targeting women nobody would miss; women who were unattached and would not leave any loose ends to tie up.

She shivered at the thought and remembered she was one of those women. In fact, she checked off every requirement. Perhaps this was why she had taken such an interest in their cases in the first place. Her boss had been worried about having her cover the cases, but was pleased with her work. Most traditional media outlets were not covering the story and the government was definitely trying to avoid the subject completely.

In fact, just last week at a White House press conference, another journalist had asked a question about the missing women and the President had simply stated they were working hard to find them, but the volume of cases was overwhelming police departments. Most of what was known about the cases had been leaked on the internet and it was even rumored that police were not taking the cases seriously anymore.

Women were being taken and it was like everyone who had any power wanted to sweep it under the rug and pull the wool over their eyes. Elizabeth was determined to get to the bottom of it, and she had just published a story that would blow up. She knew if the media did not start picking up on it now, they would lose a lot views and their ratings would go down.

Elizabeth had been surprised when her boss approved the story, since there was almost an unspoken gag order on the case. However, Timothy had never been one to back down and constantly liked to push boundaries and tell the truths they uncovered.

She breathed a heavy sigh and closed her laptop, knowing the story was now safely posted on their website. She shuffled some papers around on her desk which was mostly hidden under several stacks of files. The clock on the wall displayed the time in bright, bold, red characters: 12:45 am. She had stayed in the office late again. She grabbed her coat and her satchel which carried her laptop and walked toward the exit. It was eerily quiet and dark. Even the janitorial staff that came late in the evenings had long since left the premises. She preferred working in the office alone, truthfully. This way nobody bothered or interrupted her, but she always felt a hidden, primal fear when she was leaving the deserted office.

Making her way to the parking lot, she saw her car was the only one in the garage. This should have made her feel calmer since there were no visible threats in the vicinity, but somehow she still had a slightly panicked feeling in her gut. She slowly pulled her keychain out of her satchel which had a miniature canister of pepper spray. Empty parking lots were one of the top places where women were taken.

Pepper spray in hand and keys ready, she bolted across the parking lot and reached her car. She looked around before getting in the driver's seat and did the usual sweep of the backseat. She locked the doors and turned on the ignition and sighed. This had been her ritual every time she was alone in a parking lot. She did not want to admit it to herself, but Elizabeth knew that eventually they might come for her too if she wasn't careful.

XXX

Back at her apartment, she made herself a quick pasta dinner. It was beyond late for dinner, but her stomach was growling and she had been running on coffee and the granola bars she stuffed in her office desk. She quickly ate her food and poured herself a large glass of wine. After tonight's story she felt like she needed to take a break from the research and these particular cases.

She opened up her laptop and started drafting an email to her boss Timothy, telling him she would be taking the day off tomorrow. With a loud yawn, she hit send and went to check if her story had garnered any attention yet. Sure, it was late, but plenty of night owls kept up with her posts. Her story was picking up some traction already and people on twitter were talking about it with the hashtag #JusticeForTheMissing. It was the second twitter hashtag that had been created in response to one of her articles and Elizabeth had to say she was pretty proud of herself. It was only a matter of time before everyone would become alert and start looking for these women.

She closed her laptop and left it on the counter, taking the bottle of wine with her to her room. She set it down on the nightstand with the glass next to it and got into the shower to wash away the day's anxiety. That was the last thing she remembered.