The Vault

Nita is an ex-prostitute. The vault is the place where her past meets her future. The action takes place almost exclusively within her. If she could expect her husband to believe her, things would be easier. But the life she aspires to hinges on too many unknowns, desires and secrets to be able to decide, in a cool and rational manner, whether to betray him to the criminals who hold them captive, or to risk her life to maintain his respect. To complicate matters further, Nita's...
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Nita is an ex-prostitute. The vault is the place where her past meets her future. The action takes place almost exclusively within her. If she could expect her husband to believe her, things would be easier. But the life she aspires to hinges on too many unknowns, desires and secrets to be able to decide, in a cool and rational manner, whether to betray him to the criminals who hold them captive, or to risk her life to maintain his respect. To complicate matters further, Nita's instincts drive her inexorably towards Roman, the gang leader. This is not the Stockholm syndrome. This is an experienced young woman who, at 23, knows exactly what she needs in a man. And Roman represents exactly that. He has the strength and will-power that the love of her life lacked. He is the alpha male she feels she deserves. He's attractive, and, with her help, he could be rich. We meet Nita as the victim. In the first page we realize that she controls the dynamics that drive the four males with whom she shares the vault. Her husband, albeit tied to a chair and overcome by events, is central to the money the criminals are after. He represents the wealth and information that so often controls the brute force the criminals oppose to him. Just not, apparently, in this case. The other two, mere pawns, have complicated life-stories which explain their presence there, and Nita's natural appeal to them. The author, witness to part of the plot, prefers to protect his identity behind an anagram. The story itself unfolds in the last three hours of an enterprise that is meant to change their lives. Enterprise that would have proceeded smoothly but for the pivotal presence of Nita. She, by combining the primitive fashion in which the men respond to her with her own changing aspirations and needs, manages to confound their goals, cohesion and priorities. The unexpected dénouement has more to do with timing than any re-arrangement of everyone's priorities, including Nita's.