The Game (4 page)

Candice kept rehashing what the caller said. Who would ask for any of this? She certainly didn’t ask for this. She wasn’t a mean person, she didn’t harbor hate for people. She wasn’t a perfect angel, but she tried to be nice to everyone. She didn’t do drugs, or get drunk and stupid and put herself into bad situations. Playing life on the right side of the coin was supposed to give you some sort of karmic payback. And this is how fate repaid her?

Now a part of her wished she’d been a bitch all her life. At least then, this would make some sense. Her mind was starting to play tricks on her, but that was probably their game. This was some sort of psychological terrorization. They’d almost convinced her the calls were in her head, and now they were trying to suggest she asked for this in some way.

The bus chugged around the corner and pulled up to her stop. With considerable effort, she stood up and boarded.

Chapter 9

C
aleb pulled the van up to the curb and climbed between the front seats to the back. No one would give the vehicle a second glance. A bright yellow van affixed with a yellow light bar never seemed to attract much attention. People just always assumed a work truck was there to do work.

He read the text from Rena and slipped the rifle barrel through the small hole in the side of the panel van. The trap door resided fully concealed behind ladder racks that ran down both sides of the van. He rested the rifle on the edge of the circle just large enough for the rifle barrel and scope to peer through, and adjusted the camera focus on the scope. Then, he waited.

There was no sign of traffic or movement on the entire block. A kill like this was fast and easy, but no less of a thrill than the up close and personal ones that Angus required of him.

Caleb relished his role in the group. He didn’t fancy himself a serial killer, he was a hit-man. He didn’t kill random people for the thrill, just for money, and Angus Peckham paid very well. But make no mistake, he loved it. He was soulless and had no compassion for his fellow humans. It didn’t bother him, that’s just how he’d been all his life. He used to beat kids up in school just to prove a point.

He killed his first person at sixteen, a local nine-year-old girl. He didn’t know her, but she was playing with her little brother near the abandoned apartment in Newark. He was on the roof looking down at her. He picked up one of the many loose blocks around and dropped one three stories onto her head.

The authorities never suspected it was anything but an accident. The building was decaying, condemned, and known to be dangerous. It was the perfect crime. He became obsessed with dropping things on people from high places. Highway overpasses became his hunting grounds for a solid year. But eventually that became boring because it was so hard to kill anyone that way. He’d managed to hit several vehicles but they never did result in a kill or even a serious injury.

The target passed in front of the window, too quick. He wasn’t in a hurry, but at the same time, he didn’t have all day. The man sat at the table and twisted a top off a beer. He checked the camera focus one last time, it worked seamlessly through the scope. With great patience, Caleb watched the subject carefully. He didn’t miss because he was so patient. Just as the man’s head bobbed into the center of his scope, he pulled the trigger and watched the head snap to the side.

It was a clean kill. He slowly pulled the rifle back inside the van, closed the trap door, and made his way to the driver seat. He drove out of the neighborhood and headed back to the warehouse on Route 24.

That was a boring job. There wasn’t much excitement in killing a man from a hundred feet away. He was really looking forward to another hunt for Angus’ game. Maybe when he got back to the warehouse he’d watch some of the tape from the practice runs. That last girl wasn’t much fun, but the one before that gave him a good workout.

He sent a text to Rena as soon as he pulled into the parking lot and she raised the large door. He drove the van inside.

Chapter 10

Z
ee hadn’t arrived home yet. Candice waited on the front steps, praying that the swelling clouds in the distance weren’t going to lead to an icy rain. Of course, at this stage Murphy’s Law was running crazy like a Tasmanian devil on an acid trip.

Sure enough, as if the Gods hated her for some reason she could only guess, the rain started. She looked up to the sky and shook her head. Religion had always played a conflicted role in her life. But when the rain started mixing with icy sleet pellets, windblown and pelting her face, the feeling God hated her started to sound logical.

Candice did believe in God. Her family went to church when she was young. When her little brother died, her father started going three and four times a week to a church group that met at night. He mother, on the other hand, lost her will to go to church altogether.

That divide only grew bigger each week. Her father was never the same after Anton died. Her parents grew distant from each other, they didn’t communicate at all. Then one day her father came home and told her he had fallen in love with a woman from his church group.

Antonio Laguna packed his bags that night and never returned. He divorced her mother, married his new woman, and moved to Texas. As he was leaving, he stopped, gave Candice a short hug, and said nothing but goodbye. He blamed Candice in part for Anton’s death. She’d kicked the boy out of her room, told him to get lost.

Candice got up from the steps and moved back towards the wall of the house, farther under the cover of the porch. She sat on a bench but the wind still blew some of the icy pellets into her face.

The sleet was now mixing with snow. She dug into her large duffle bag and pulled out a nylon ski jacket, slid into it and pulled up the hood.

Darkness was creeping in. She started to wonder where Zee was, it was well past five and the office was only a ten-minute ride, even with traffic. The cars were thick on Ridgedale Avenue right now, but it was Thanksgiving week, and people were running all over the place preparing for a big meal with family.

Candice didn’t have any family in the area now. Her mother had moved from New Jersey three years ago, retiring away from the snow to Raleigh, North Carolina. With her hectic work schedule, Candice only got down to see her mother twice in three years.

She pulled out her cell again and tried Zee’s number, but there was still no answer. This time she left a voice mail explaining the part about the new phone. She knew there was a spare key in the old days, but not anymore. Since Zee kicked out her last roommate, she took away the hidden spare.

Her phone rang. She hoped it was Zee calling back, but it wasn’t. She stared in disbelief at the caller ID and couldn’t look away. It couldn’t be them, there was no way possible. Maybe the caller identification feature didn’t work on this cheap phone. She answered the call. “Hello?”

“Candice Laguna, you’ve been chosen to receive this call.” The voice was that of an enthusiastic game show announcer. “We’re so glad you’ve answered, we’d like to invite you to see this video.”

A text message bleeped through, with a video attachment. What she saw in the video halted her breathing. She involuntarily moved her hand over her mouth. It was Zee, bound and gagged, tied to a bed in her underwear.

Candice couldn’t breathe. Her heart began beating oddly out of time. Tears came and her hands shook so badly she almost dropped the phone. The three-second clip looped over and over and she couldn’t look away.

The phone rang again, and the overly enthusiastic voice blurted again. “What you’ve seen may be disturbing to you, but you haven’t seen anything yet. If you don’t do exactly as we say, she will die a horrible death. That’s right, a horrible death. You cannot go to the police, or she dies an even more horrible death. That’s right, an even more unimaginably horrible death. This is going to be the best time of your life, Candice Laguna. You’re getting exactly what you asked for, that’s right, exactly what you asked for. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, so don’t delay. Stay tuned for your instructions. And remember, you must do exactly as we say. Thank you for participating. Good night!”

The call ended. The video then erased itself, but she couldn’t stop staring at the empty screen. A completely different level of numbness captured her body. She almost wanted to laugh, and then cry, and then laugh again hysterically until she cried again. But what she really wanted to do was vomit.

This was beyond preposterous. And to think these people claimed she asked for this. It was now not only her problem. Her best friend was paying for whatever crime they thought she deserved to pay for.

The wind had picked up, it was driving hard ice pellets into her face with twice the force of before, but Candice didn’t even notice it until the car pulled up in front of the house. Out of the dark blue sedan climbed one Detective Spencer Webb.

“Ms. Laguna?” He peered at her through the sleet and darkness. She didn’t respond. He walked up the steps and sat next to her on the long bench that rested against the house.

Candice said nothing in greeting. The lump in her throat closed off her vocal cords.

He said, “I tried to call, but you didn’t answer. I stopped by your apartment, figured you might be here. I wanted to ask you a few questions.”

She tried to speak but her voice just came out a thin hiss. She cleared her throat with a few fake coughs and nodded.

“Where were you this afternoon?”

Finally, after a few seconds, her voice returned, but it couldn’t hide the upset so she just ran with it. “Well, let’s see… First I got fired, then my car was repossessed, then I got even more calls from these psychos who don’t exist, so I bought a prepaid cell and guess what? They called me again. But I know, I’m crazy. The calls aren’t real, they’re in my head. So don’t you worry yourself about it. I’m just fine. I’ll probably be dead soon, but I’m fine otherwise.” She couldn’t hide her emotions if she wanted to.

“Did you visit Eddie Ahrens today?”

She looked at him, squinted. “Why would I do that? I told you we broke up. We aren’t friends.”

He nodded, then looked at her closely. “Eddie was murdered today.”

The shock in her face was genuine, and he must’ve believed it. “Murdered?”

“This afternoon, he was shot while sitting at his kitchen table.”

She’d broken up with Eddie, but at one time she’d loved him, or at least liked him a lot. She’d thought she was all cried out for the day, but she wasn’t. More tears welled into her eyes and streamed down her cheeks. “Why is this happening?”

“We hoped you might be able to tell us that.”

“How would I know?”

“You sent Eddie a text today.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“There was a text on his phone, saying he was a dead man, from you.”

Candice laughed, shook her head in disbelief. “Of course I did…” she said to herself.

“So you admit that?” the detective replied.

“No, I most certainly
did
not
!”

“You’re sure?”

Candice couldn’t keep her emotions in check any longer. She started to shudder. Her voice was on the edge of hysterical. “What do you think? Do most murderers send a text message saying they’re going to murder someone? Seriously, you’re a shitty detective if you buy that one.”

He nodded thoughtfully. “Let me see your phone.”

She handed the device over.

“This isn’t the phone you had earlier.”

“That phone is in the toilet at my apartment…feel free to go fish it out.”

He handed the phone back to her. “Where’s your friend, Zyanna?” He motioned towards the house.

She shrugged and looked away from him in case her eyes gave away the pain. “On her way home from work.”

He stood. “When was the last call?”

She thought too long about the answer, a calculated move but a subconscious way to see how close he was paying attention. “A few hours ago, at my apartment.”

He studied her again. “So they haven’t called since you’ve been here?”

She shook her head no in short quick bursts. It was a weak, affirmative gesture, which she hoped he saw through. Most of her brain was screaming at her to tell him about the video, even if he didn’t believe her, since the document seemed to erase itself. Maybe he was starting to put the puzzle together. But a small part of her kept flashing back to Zee on that bed, tied up. Only God knew what they were going to do, or had already done.

After a few long moments, the cop said, “Okay, well, if you think of anything, call me.”

He stepped down off the porch, pausing about midway and turning back. The sound of the sleet popping off his nylon jacket seemed too loud but the noise sucked her in. It was all she could focus on until she realized he was still standing there. He obviously wanted to say something with his long pause, but instead he turned and continued to his car.

Fear rippled through her body. She looked at her blank phone, a symbol for how her mind felt at the moment.

Chapter 11

A
ngus watched the video feed of the girl tied to the bed. He instructed Caleb not to harm her in any way, yet. He would save that in case Candice required more convincing to come and play. He hadn’t wanted to pull this trump card yet, but it presented itself when Zyanna noticed Rena tailing her. So he instructed Caleb to step in and grab her.

It had actually turned out better, this way the game could get underway right when he wanted it to. Instead of watching football people would be crowding around their internet connections watching his show.

Rena entered the room, smoking a cigarette. Angus glowered at her until she extinguished the glowing stick in her can of cola and dumped it into the trash. Angus didn’t like smoking and he’d warned her about it several times. Rena had her faults, but she was exceedingly alluring and manipulative. She could con anyone into anything and he would be loathe to kill her for a few faults.

She sat next to him in the other chair. “You like her, don’t you?” She motioned to the camera feed.

“She’s attractive.”

“But not good enough to play the game. Why not use her instead of Candice? She’s certainly gutsy enough, the way she came right at me was impressive.”

“Zyanna is very pretty, but she’s not special like Candice. We must stick to the script, self control is the key to success in all things we do, Rena.”

“Wish I could exercise more of that.”

He glanced at her through the corner of his eye. “I wish you could, too.”

“Oh, Angus, don’t worry. I would never jeopardize a mission. And besides, Mark’s not the only one around here who could benefit from my considerable assets.” She moved in seductively close.

Angus felt a nervous rush consume him. But he focused back on the screen at Zyanna. It was time to get back to business.

“So what’s the next plan?” Rena asked.

“We keep filming, we put her in play. Either she’ll break to suicide, or she’ll come to us willingly.”

“You think she will? Come in on her own, I mean.”

“She will if she wants to save her friend.”

Rena pursed her lips and combed her fingers through her hair. “I dunno, Angus. I know you’ve got high hopes. But she doesn’t seem like she has the goods to be a star. I think this is going to be a very short show. I say she cracks faster than a patch of thin ice under a fat kid.”

Angus’ normally straight lips curved down slightly. “Well, that’s why you don’t pick the cast. You’re not a visionary, you don’t see what I see. Candice has that x-factor that we need. She has star quality. People want to watch her. She’s the best I’ve seen so far.”

“Even better than me?”

Angus turned to her. “If I thought you could excite people enough to tune in, I’d throw you into the maze and let Caleb hunt you down.”

Rena curled her lip and winced. “Hey, it’s your game.”

Angus nodded. “Don’t forget that. I pay you to do your job. I pay Mark to do his. Caleb would probably do his job for free, but he appreciates the compensation. My point is that you don’t understand what it takes.”

Rena shrugged.