The Game (3 page)

Chapter 5

S
pencer Webb pulled all the strings he could to hasten the phone records on the Candice Laguna investigation, but he didn’t expect to see what he did. According to the phone company, there were no calls to the girl’s house at the times she claimed. Worse yet, her cell phone provider didn’t confirm the calls, either.

He folded his hands and placed his steeple fingers to his lips. The girl seemed honest, and she appeared legitimately scared. It didn’t seem like she was touched in the head at all. It didn’t make sense that no records were showing up.

The background check on Candice came up clean as a whistle. There was no history of anything on her. She was a recent college graduate, had held down the same job Altruistic Innovations in Morristown since her internship. She didn’t have as much as a single speeding ticket. In fact, the only thing he could find on her at all was that she was a regular participant in an annual charity bicycle ride for the American Cancer Society.

He picked up her cell phone again, and paged through all her data. Her text messages were typical. Most of her calls were to contacts, her friend Zyanna, there were a few to Eddie and a few to Mom. But nothing of the unknown variety.

The pictures on the cell showed no lewd behavior or drunken stupidity. There was nothing in the phone, or her history, that would cause him to doubt her story. Yet, there was no evidence to back her up.

He picked up the phone on his desk to make a call to his friend Walter Stewart at the FBI. Even though it was the weekend, he knew Walt would be working, just as he was.

“Walt, it’s Spence. How are you?”

“Hey, Spence. It’s been a long time, old buddy. You’re working on the weekend again?” Walter had a thick southern accent but he didn’t talk slowly like some southern drawlers. His diction was concise and direct.

“You, too.”

“Yeah, well, I guess some old horses refuse to go to pasture. I gotta stay busy or else I go off my rocker. What can I do you for, Spence?”

“I just caught this case. Woman says she’s getting harassing calls but there’s no record of them from either the cell phone carrier or landline provider. What do you make of that?”

“I’d say she’s pulling your leg.”

“I thought that, but she seems solid.”

“There should be some record.”

“You’d think so. But is there a way to mask a call?”

“Sure, you can mask who’s calling, and from where, with a good software program. But I don’t know how someone would completely erase that the call took place.”

“So it would show up under a different number.”

“That’s right.”

“What about unknown calls?”

“They’d still show on the records. Unknown calls are only unknown to the person answering the calls, not to the phone company.”

“Makes sense.”

“I think she’s jerking your tail, Spence. Some folks, who seem solid, go ‘round the bend for some reason. Find out if she’s had a stressor recently and maybe there’s your answer.”

“She just broke up with her boyfriend.”

“There you go.”

Spence nodded, Walt was probably right. Just because the girl seemed solid didn’t necessarily mean she was. And no record of any calls during those time frames could only mean two things. She was wrong about the times, or she was playing him. He picked up his key and headed out to the car.

Chapter 6

C
andice was thankful Zee had a pullout couch in her living room, even if she had to share it with a cat. It wasn’t the most comfortable night, but she slept soundly for the first time in days. There were no calls from little girls, old men, or perverts.

She picked up her new phone and dialed her mother. There was no need to spend time explaining everything that was going on, so she told her mother the cell phone got lost and she had to get a new number.

She didn’t want to include anyone else in the new phone update, just to eliminate everyone as a suspect. If this was someone from the past, it was better to eliminate all the obvious suspects.

Zee walked out of her bedroom, yawning off her sleep. “G’morning, roomie. You want coffee?”

“I do,” Candice replied as she fitted the tan leather cushions back in place.

“I hope Little Nikita didn’t bother you too much,” Zee said, referring to the cat. “She usually sleeps with me, but someone new to bother was probably fun.”

“She’s bigger than she looks.”

Zee laughed. “Yup.”

“So when are your parents coming back from Moscow?”

“They’re not in Moscow, they’re in Togliotti.”

“You mean there are places in Russia besides Moscow?” Candice joked.

“They should be back in a few hours, actually. Alex is going to pick them up at JFK.” Zee filled the coffee maker with water.

“We should go over to Europe.”

“You’d love it. It’s so beautiful.”

“What’s your favorite part?”

“Of course I love Moscow, but Prague is also amazing. There are so many places. I’d love to move there.”

Candice crossed her arms and leaned into the doorsill. “Why don’t you?”

“Why don’t I move there? Most of my family is here. You’re here.”

“Awww, you’re the sweetest.”

“I might just be.”

“I’d love to go to Italy and Spain, get a look at the Mother Lands.” Candice was exactly one-half Spanish and one-half Italian. Her olive skin and chestnut-brown hair fit into that, but she always wondered where her amber eyes came from. They didn’t seem to fit either heritage, although some Italians did have light skin and eyes, maybe she had one in her family somewhere.

The doorbell rang.

“Could you get that?” Zee had just started sponging off some dirty dishes.

Candice went to the door. She was a little surprised to see Detective Webb, but not shocked. She’d told him where she planned on staying.

“Ms. Laguna, do you have a few minutes?”

She motioned for him to come inside. “What’s up?”

“Well, we have a bit of a problem. I can’t corroborate your story.”

“I don’t follow.”

He scratched his chin. “There are no records of those calls, at the times you stated.”

Candice moved her head back in confusion. “No record?”

Webb didn’t respond.

“What does that mean?”

“Are you sure about the times?” He pulled out a small pad and flipped it open. “I have down that you said the calls started between two and three in the morning for the first three nights and then you had several on Friday morning. Is that accurate?”

Candice nodded, reflexively running her fingers through her hair to move it behind her shoulder. “Yeah, that’s what happened.”

The Detective nodded. “Okay. But there’s no record on your cell phone. Your carrier has no record of those calls, either.”

Candice was at a loss.

“Was there another witness to the calls?” He asked as he glanced at Zee standing in the doorway to the kitchen.

“No, I was alone.”

He nodded. “Okay, well, unfortunately, without any evidence, there’s nothing more I can do.”

“Look, I’m not making this up.”

His face was stoic. “Be that as it may, without anything to corroborate your experience, I have nowhere to go with this. There’s simply nothing to pursue. I still have the tech team scheduled to sweep your apartment for bugs and cameras first thing Monday morning. If they turn up something, I’ll let you know. Otherwise, continue with the order to change your home phone number and we’ll go from there.”

“So that’s it. If some stalker kills me, you’ll have done all you could?” Candice rolled her eyes and turned away.

Detective Webb clicked his pen closed. “We’ll be in touch.” He showed himself out.

“I can’t believe this,” Candice said. “What if this psycho—” She choked up and couldn’t finish the thought.

Zee walked over and gave her a hug. “It’s okay, honey. I believe you, and we’ll just be smart about this. You can stay here as long as you need to. I’ll get those boxes out of the second bedroom and you can sleep in there tonight.”

“Thanks, Zee. I don’t know where I’d be without you.”

Chapter 7

A
ngus clicked away on the keys of his small laptop, occasionally looking up at the bustling morning crowd of coffee shop automatons. He had no pity for these corporate mules, even though they probably deserved it. They were so out of touch with reality.

If he wanted to, he could activate the radial scanner in his bag and steal every one of their credit card numbers. He could hack every one of their cell phones and steal their entire identities, post porn on their social media sites and just screw up their lives. It was so easy it was laughable. Lucky for them, he didn’t need their money, and he cared not one lick about any of them.

Rena, a fine-haired brunette, with jade eyes and perfect features, walked up to his table and sat. “Do you want anything to drink?” she asked.

He shook his head.

“So what’s the plan for today?” Rena asked, leaning in closer. “Hello, Angus, anyone home?”

Angus finally looked up from his laptop. “I’m really close here. Can you shut your mouth for three minutes?”

She turned a whatever-expression and glanced at her phone.

Angus Peckham didn’t have patience for anyone while he was working and he had to do some final edits to this video before he could upload it for viewing. He only worked with these people because they were the best at what they did, not because he liked them.

Rena was smart, fetching, and could con anyone into anything. She handled the logistics of everything Angus needed done. She was without a doubt the pivotal part of his operation. Without her, he would struggle. He needed people with social skills.

The two other members of his team strolled up to the table and sat down. Angus didn’t look up at them. He was almost there, almost had what he needed and didn’t want to stop his train of thought.

Finally, he finished and looked up at the group. He leaned back into his chair, and closed the lid on his laptop.

“All done?” Rena flashed a smile with her wide mouth.

Caleb Brown wiped his nose on the back of his hand. “I’d say he’s done, that’s his done face.” Caleb was a heavyset man with a series of dangerous looking piercings in his lip, eyebrow, and ears. His head was shaven clean and the scowl that was permanently on his face could scare the most grizzled Marine. He had no social skills, but he had a thrill for the kill.

Angus nodded. “We go to stage-two.”

“Yee-haw,” Caleb said sarcastically and then he bit into a huge bagel, thick with cream cheese.

Angus looked to the fourth member of his team. Mark Lewis was quiet, confident and dashingly handsome. He had sand colored shaggy hair and soft blue eyes that could easily disarm most people. “What about you, Mark? Are you on schedule? We’re going to need good video.”

Mark nodded, and continued twirling the honey stick in his teeth.

Angus looked back to Rena. She was the type of girl who would never give him the time of day if he wasn’t paying her. But she did her job well. “I assume you, too, are on schedule?”

Rena nodded, tipped her cup of java in salute. “Party on.”

Angus glanced around the coffee house. “Then we’re a go for stage two. This one should play out very well. We’ve already got some great footage, well done.”

Rena swallowed her sip of coffee. “Yeah, but is she going to last? I’m itching to see some bloodshed.” Rena had a glint of joy in her eyes.

Angus nodded slowly, marveling at Rena’s malice. She was truly insane. “Yes,” he said. “I think she’s going to be quite the fireworks show.”

Caleb said, “As long as she’s better than the last two. You fucked up those picks, wasted weeks of work.” He took another gag inducing bite from his heart-attack biscuit. The man turned Angus’ stomach, but he was so very good at what he did that it was worth dealing with.

“She’s already better.” Mark stood. “She has a stronger personality. I think you’ve made the right choice this round.” He buttoned his jacket and softly brushed Rena’s hair behind her ear, touching her face long enough to make her blush. He walked out the door.

Angus hated Mark for his confidence with women. He hated Rena for how beautiful she was, Caleb for how much of a glutton he was. He hated everyone on this entire worthless planet. Since he doesn’t have the ability to erase all of humanity, he just screwed with them instead.

He’s spent his life playing games with people, but he’d never done anything on the scale of what they were about to do. This would be an amazing show. It would be something the entire world would talk about for years to come. It would be the ultimate measure of revenge against the world for putting him in that place.

Chapter 8

M
idway through Monday, Candice didn’t feel much like eating lunch, but she was hungry. Detective Webb had called her with good news, or bad news, depending on how you looked at it. They didn’t find any bugs or cameras in her apartment, so she could return if she wanted. Of course, that news also practically closed her case.

After much debating in her brain, she decided to go out and get something to eat. She picked up her gray multi-line office phone and dialed Zee’s extension.

“Hey, you wanna go to lunch?”

“Can’t, I’m on this deadline for Optix and they want the page done end of the day.”

“Booo…you want me to get you anything?”

“Where’re you going?”

Candice straightened some papers on her desk. “Umm, just down to the deli I guess.”

“Get me one of those chicken wraps, no mayo.”

“You got it.”

Candice hung up the phone and took hold of her purse and keys. When she got outside, she dropped the keys in her purse and decided to walk the half mile because of the nice weather. It was cool but sunny, and with winter fast approaching, these days were going to become rare.

Her phone sang the default song. When she turned the screen to see who it was, she froze mid-stride on the sidewalk. The NAME UNKNOWN was ominous, but this was a new cell, it couldn’t be anything strange. She answered the call. “Hello?”

“Candy?”

Her heart skipped a beat.

“Candy, are you there?”

She froze in confusion.

“C’mon, Candy. Why are you ignoring me? Are you mad?”

Candice was stupefied. She had no idea what to say or think. She wanted to end the call, but again that same morbid curiosity dug at her spine. No one had this number except for her mother and Zee.

“Please, Candy. Please talk to me.”

“What do you want from me?”

“Candy, I just want to be your friend again, like old times. Remember that time we went to Six Flags Great Adventure? Remember you lost your top on the waterslide and all the boys were whistling?”

Candice squeezed her eyes shut. She had been to Great Adventure, but she’d never lost her top on a waterslide.

“Candy, are you go—” Mid-way though the word, the voice morphed into that of an old woman. “—ing to ignore me until I’m old? I’ll just be a decrepit old hag, all alone, wondering why my good friend Candy never talked to me again.”

This was off the crazy-train crazy now. She hung up the call and turned back towards work. Whatever little appetite she had was now gone. The phone rang again, but she didn’t pick it up. It rang until it went to voice mail.

A text message bleeped through, she opened the message and it just said NAME UNKNOWN in the message field. She wanted to throw the phone across the parking lot. Then another text came through, it described her outfit perfectly. Jesus, they were watching her again.

She picked up her pace back to the office. Her heels clicked on the white sidewalk as she hurried between green hedgerows and other taller trees.

She got back to the office, threw open the doors and plunged inside to the safety of her building. She rounded the corner towards her cube and was surprised to see her boss, Dave Paternostro, waiting for her.

“Dave, what’s up?”

He took off his glasses and rubbed his thin nose. “Candice, can we talk for a moment, in my office?”

She followed him to his office just down the hallway. He closed the door behind them. Dave never closed his office door.

“Please, have a seat.” He motioned with his hand and sat in the chair behind his desk.

“What’s going on?” She wondered if it had to do with the logo design she’d been struggling with for Allentech on and off for two weeks. They kept sending back every mock-up she threw at them.

“Candice, I like you. You’re a great designer, a great employee. You’ve been very good at your job. I’ve never had a reasonable complaint about you. Which makes what I’m about to say even harder.”

“Dave, you’re starting to scare me.”

He rolled his lips inward, closed his eyes and let out an unnerving long breath through flapping lips. “Candice, there’s no easy way to say this, so I’m just going to say it. We have to let you go.”

She felt as if she got punched in the gut by a prizefighter. “I don’t understand.”

“Well, this comes from above me. It’s not my choice, and I stood up for you probably more than I should have. All I can tell you is that there was a very serious security breach into the bank records at Allentech on Friday, and it traces back to your PC.”

“Dave, I’ve never—” She shook her head. “This is a huge mistake, I swear to you. I didn’t go anywhere near those records.”

“Candice, our cyber security and their cyber security both confirmed the path back to your workstation. I’m sorry.”

“C’mon, Dave, you know me. Have I ever once done anything weird in all the years I’ve been here? Maybe someone got on my PC.”

“I’m sorry. It’s out of my hands. Even if someone did get on your PC, they’ll say it’s your fault for not having a secure password. You know how that goes. The final finger gets pointed at you. I wish I could do something, but this comes straight from the top. It’s company policy to dismiss the employee immediately.”

She could see the wetness in Dave’s eyes. This was obviously a struggle for him, he was not a confrontational person and she’d always found him to be totally open and honest.

The office door opened and two security guards came into the room. “These men will watch you gather your things, and escort you off the premises. You’ll receive the usual Altruistic Innovations severance package. Your vacation time will also be paid to you. The company has agreed not to press charges against you because it seems no money was stolen yet. But if anything turns up, they will pursue it.”

Her head was swimming. This was impossible to believe, she’d never done anything illegal while uploading and downloading files from any of the servers she’d ever worked on. Outside of speeding, and that can of soda she’d accidentally stolen when she was fourteen, she’d never done anything illegal in her entire life. Obviously, no one was going to believe that. They’d made up their minds.

After what felt like a long time, she finally stood. Her knees were weak, she felt a little faint, a little light-headed. But she managed to stagger back into the office to gather her things from her desk. The security men gave her a white box and she piled her memories into the cardboard container.

Leaving the parking lot and driving back to her apartment took no time at all because she didn’t do any of it consciously. It all felt like a dream.

She’d never been fired. It was the most helpless feeling she’d ever experienced. She tried again to reach Zee, but she must’ve been away from her desk and her cell was just going to voice mail.

Candice parked her car and stared at herself in the rearview mirror. It took a while to work up the willpower to move and walk inside the six-story brick building, but she finally did it.

Her first floor apartment felt creepy now. Even though the cops said there were no bugs, no cameras, she felt vulnerable. The phone company completed her number change already but when the phone rang and the caller ID once again said the same NAME UNKNOWN, she began to freak out.

After letting it ring about twenty times she finally picked it up via the speakerphone.

“Ms. Laguna?” the man said.

“Who is this?” she asked.

“It’s me.” The voice was one she did not recognize. It was a man’s voice, deep and mature.

“Who are you?”

“I told you, it’s me. Are you not getting this by now? How did things go at work today? Not too well, I assume.”

She felt like her whole world was rushing away from her, as if she was standing on the edge of the Earth and the land was breaking away, piece by piece around her feet. Although she was not prone to tears, they came.

“Ms. Laguna? What have you learned so far?”

“Why are you doing this?”

“Why do you think?”

“I don’t know. How the hell should I know?”

“This is the beginning of the end, sweet Candy. First I break you, then I take you, then I put you into the game.”

Her tears had turned into long sobs that had her on the edge of complete breakdown. But she sucked a deep breath. “Why are you doing this to me?” she sobbed out.

“Because you asked for this.”

For some reason that made her stop feeling sorry for herself, and made her mad. “What are you talking about? I asked you to ruin my life?”

“Yes, you did. You asked for this and I’m only doing what you asked.”

Her anger had taken over. The fear was gone. “What the hell are talking about, you friggin’ lunatic—”

“Now, Candice, that’s not nice. You’ve played the game well so far, now we’re going to have to move to stage-three.”

Candice threw the phone so hard against the wall it shattered into pieces and punched a small hole in the sheetrock. She then went over to the phone system and ripped it out of the wall. She ran into the bathroom and dropped her new cell phone into the toilet. Then she went to her bedroom to pack. Getting the hell out of this apartment was her first priority. She would go stay with Zee permanently until she figured out what to do next.

After throwing her things into the back of her Subaru, she stopped at the store to pick up a cheap disposable cell phone. Obviously going to her carrier and getting a new number wasn’t enough. Whoever was doing this had access to her cell records and the ability to erase calls and convince the police she was the crazy one.

For a second, she thought, perhaps she was crazy. Maybe none of the calls were even real. After all, no one had ever been around when she answered one. Maybe she was going crazy and imagining the entire thing.

No, she didn’t imagine losing her job. This was happening.

She activated the disposable phone and tried to reach Zee again, but she didn’t pick up. Of course, not recognizing the number, Zee might not pick it up. Candice didn’t leave a message.

Pulling into the lot at her bank, she decided to stop at the ATM to get some cash. Maybe paranoia was setting in, but part of her worried they might go after her bank account next.

Even though she expected it, the shock of her debit card not working still hit her hard. She tried her other two credit cards, but nothing worked. She refused to believe.

Without hesitation, she stormed into the bank and told the teller her debit card wouldn’t work. The teller happily agreed to check the account.

“I’m sorry, Ms. Laguna, but your account has been frozen for insufficient funds.”

“That’s not possible. I have almost five thousand dollars in that account.”

“I’m sorry, but it says you only have three dollars, and anything under five we put a temporary freeze on the account until a deposit is made.”

“This is nuts, I didn’t withdraw any money. That account is in good standing. When was the money withdrawn?”

The teller did some typing. “Hmm, that’s strange, but I can’t see any of your history. My access has been denied by corporate.”

“Where’s your manager?”

The teller handed her a card. “This is our main customer service line. If there’s a dispute, you can call them. Unfortunately, we can’t handle it at this branch.”

Candice wanted to scream and yell and get to the bottom of this. But somehow she knew there was no point. She gathered her purse and stormed out of the bank.

Just as she turned the corner back to her car, another astonishing thing was happening. A flatbed tow truck was hooking up her car and dragging it onto the platform.

“Hey, stop! What’re you doing?” she yelled to the driver.

“Sorry, I have an order of repossession for this car.” The scruffy driver with a bright orange vest flipped a lever and with a loud whine, her car began to crawl up the steel hill.

“No way, this is a mistake. I’ve never missed a single payment. What are you talking about?”

The driver held out a folded piece of paper and handed it to her. She looked at the document and it had all the correct information: her name, a pine green Subaru Legacy, her plate number, everything looked legal.

“If there’s stuff in the car you want, get it now.” The driver motioned to the car with a head nod.

She hurried to the back and gathered her gym bag, backpack, and large double sized overnight bag.

She stood there, unable to think. Her brain had finally betrayed her. The numbness just washed over her in waves until time slowed to a crawl and the universe floated away. The void was her new reality. Nothing in life made sense anymore.

Finally, it all came screaming back as the sight of her car going down the street on the back of the truck became real. Her arms felt heavy, hung lifeless at her side. She was alone in the middle of a parking lot. All she had was the few hundred dollars in her purse and a prepaid cell phone. She gathered her things and headed to the bus stop. There was another stop only about two miles from Zee’s house.

As she sat on the bench waiting for the bus, she’d never felt so helpless. Her head was pounding, she felt weak. The realization that she hadn’t eaten since breakfast explained some of the problem.

She reached into her purse and took out a granola bar. She broke off a piece in her mouth. The usually tasty peanut butter wafers had no flavor. Her mind just couldn’t process everything that had just transpired in the span of an afternoon.

A new numbness pumped into her body. Her mind couldn’t even work well enough to focus her eyes. It was all she could do to remember to chew and swallow the food in her mouth.