The Game (10 page)

Chapter 21

A
fter drinking three shots of whiskey and two beers, Candice just about passed out. She didn’t normally drink that much in an entire month, let alone in the span of twenty minutes. She’d only closed her eyes for a moment.

She woke up to the smell of something nasty in the computer-cluttered apartment of Sole, the microchip destroyer. Pulling her body upright on the black leather couch, she put her nose in the air. Nothing was apparent, but the flashbacks of the fire drilled into her brain. The only actual smell was that of sweat, probably her own. The nasty taste on her pallet was residual from the toxic concoction she had in her mouth earlier in the evening. She hoped her taste buds weren’t fried forever.

She worried about Zee. Zee had been her rock for the past several years. Her mother would always be there for her, but she lived too far away for a hug. Her father was busy with his new life and didn’t really have time. Even if he did, she had never been close with him.

Zee was her sister in every sense of the word. There had to be something she could do to get her back, there had to be a way.

“You okay?” Vince startled her. She looked down and saw him on the floor, where the coffee table had been earlier. He was sleeping on a pile of blankets. She shrugged.

He sat up, yawned, and stretched his arms above his head. “Did you get any sleep?”

She nodded while pondering the question. “I did.” The answer almost surprised her. She felt remarkably good.

“I know how you feel,” Vince said as he stood.

“Huh?”

“You’re worried about your friend.”

“Obviously.” She immediately regretted her tone. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that…I’m just…”

“Don’t sweat it, I know. I feel responsible for Alexis, too. She’s feisty and can definitely take care of herself. But these people,” he looked at the ceiling. “They’re just so twisted.”

“So what’s next?” Candice asked as she opened the bottle of water on the end table and took a sip.

“We make an appointment to see the dentist.”

She touched her teeth, and still had to remind herself that instead of filling a cavity, that jerk had implanted a device in her mouth. “I can’t believe that.”

“How could you’ve known? No one expects their doctor or dentist, to do something like that.”

“How could they? I just wonder how many other people he did this to, and why he’s helping these bastards.”

“Maybe he’s one of them.”

“Maybe.”

She could see something indescribable in Vince. He had an air about him that just seemed like he was different in a devious way. Candice knew that wasn’t really an accurate description. He’d given her no reason not to trust him. She wasn’t one to believe in auras and all that jazz. Nevertheless, he had a quality about him she’d never before seen. He was handsome, but not in a pretty-boy way, and not in a rugged way. She liked his eyes, not for their common dark blue color, but for their piercing directness and almond shape. He was too mysterious for her liking, but in a way, that was something that drew her to him.

“Is something wrong?” he asked. She’d been starring too long.

She shook her head and flopped back on the couch.

Although the snowstorm had mostly subsided, dumping seven inches on the New York City area, it was still hanging around with winds and flurries. Candice looked out the window of the Jeep from the edge of the parking lot towards the two-story office building. The office of Jackson Durrante was located on the first floor. They waited for the dentist to appear from the large smoke-colored revolving doors.

The sun had set already, but the gray stucco building and parking areas were bright from the halogen tower lights spread around the parking lot. Meticulous landscaping boxes curved in soft contours around the entire building, but they were just contoured shadows under lumps of snow. Only three cars remained in the large lot after hours. Most of the offices closed at five o’clock.

Jackson appeared and spun out of the turning exit door. He headed towards the silver Lexus sedan. Candice had a good feeling that was his car. It seemed more likely than the bright yellow Hummer or the sky blue Porsche parked near it.

“That’s him,” Candice said.

Vince put the Jeep in gear and followed the Lexus out of the lot and onto Route 10 West towards Morris Plains. The roads were only wet, the snow had been cleared and none of the new snow was sticking.

The silver Lexus turned off the highway and onto a twisting single lane road flanked by trees on both sides. They had gone over the plan several times. When the dentist stopped at his mailbox to empty the contents, Vince sped up next to the Lexus and jumped out of the Jeep, gun drawn.

Candice felt a rush of adrenaline as she watched. Then she acted quickly and slid over the console to the driver seat. In a flash, Vince was in control and the Lexus was speeding away as designed.

She followed Vince back towards the motel in Parsippany.

Candice waited in the parking lot for ten minutes, as Vince instructed. Then she walked into the motel room and saw Jackson sitting on a chair, held at gunpoint.

She walked up to Vince. “What’s with the blindfold?”

Vince moved his head back in question. “I didn’t want him to see you.”

“Screw him.” She walked up to Jackson and ripped off the blindfold. “I want him to see me.”

The dentist blinked his eyes, furled his brow. Perplexity swam into his expression.

“Remember me?” Candice asked, but the man looked at her as if he didn’t.

Jackson looked back and forth from her to Vince. “What is this all about?” he asked in his tenor voice. He was a small man, perhaps five foot five and one-hundred-thirty pounds. His short-cropped hair was dark but balding and his teeth were startlingly white.

“I think you know.” Candice turned away and walked to the other side of the room.

Vince walked over and sat on the bed, facing Jackson. He pulled out a pocketknife and flipped open the blade. Candice suddenly felt a swell of anger rip into her. She marched over to the dentist and punched him square in the nose. She was getting too good at this. She’d never punched anyone in her life, now she’d done it twice in two days.

Jackson cried out in pain, but she didn’t feel bad. She punched him again, not as hard, but still hard enough. “You bastard,” she said. “I’m not playing games here, you’re going to stop this screwing around and acting like you don’t know me. Spill your guts right here, right now, or I’m going to tell that man over there with the knife and the gun to make you wish to God I would punch you again.”

Jackson reeled in pain, his hands bound behind him. Leaning over as far as he could, he lurched with dry heaves. “Why are you doing this to me?”

Candice reached down, pulled him upright by the neck, and forced him to look at her. “You put some tracking device in my mouth. You know it, now you’re going to tell us everything.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the dentist replied, and for a split second, she wanted to believe him. Then something in his eyes gave it away, and she smiled. Then she turned to Vince, who was looking at her wide-eyed. She held out her hand, and he, still looking surprised, handed her the knife.

She turned back to face Jackson. “Fine,” she said. “I guess my punches don’t hurt enough, so I guess we’ll start opening large jagged lines in your face until you’re disfigured enough so little children will run screaming from you for the rest of your life. I’m not a long-term player. I’ll just shoot you in the head. I don’t need you. I’m giving you the opportunity to live. You’ve crossed the wrong bitch this time.”

She held the knife against his face, and started to drag it slowly across his cheek. A tiny slice of blood appeared and she was just about to lose her nerve. She hoped he wouldn’t call her bluff. He didn’t disappoint her.

“Okay, okay. Please stop!” He looked down. “They pay me.”

“Who pays you?”

He dropped his head down. “Her name is Rena, that’s all I know. She works with a group. She said they call themselves TRK Consulting.”

“Who are they?”

“I don’t know.”

She brought the knife up to his face again. “Who are they, Jackson.”

“They’ll kill me.”

“I’ll kill you.”

“They’ll kill my family.”

She looked back to Vince, he turned his head slightly and winced.

“They won’t know you told us anything.”

He looked up at her and laughed. “You think it’s that easy? They’re tracking you.”

“Not anymore.”

He looked to Vince for confirmation. “It’s true,” Vince said. “We deactivated it.”

Jackson looked back to Candice. “But…how? Who are you?”

“Start talking, Mr. Dentist,” Candice demanded.

Jackson looked at Vince, then back at Candice, going back and forth between them. He tightened his lips, then nodded. “Fine, but I need something from you first.”

Vince stood and took a step towards them. “You’re in no position to make demands.”

“I just need you to get my family out of here. You’re probably going to kill me anyway, I’m not an idiot. I just want to make sure my wife and daughter are safe. Please, that’s all I ask. They have nothing to do with this. This is my mess, my mistake. I don’t want them harmed.”

Candice sighed. Then she slid over the small wooden chair from the desk and sat to face Jackson. “Mr. Durrante, I don’t want to kill you. I just want to find out why the hell my life was ruined. They took my job, my money, my car, and my best friend. I have nothing, and I will stop at nothing to get it back. I want to know what you know. And if you tell me, I will let you walk out of here and you can make sure your family is safe.”

He nodded, blew out a long breath. “They pay me fifty thousand dollars to find…subjects…for exactly what, I don’t know.”

“C’mon, Jack,” Candice said playfully. “You’re telling me you implant patients with these trackers, and you don’t know why?”

“All I know is this girl, Rena, real attractive brunette, she comes to me with a personality type and physical description they’re looking for. They asked me for an attractive, strong-minded, athletic female. You told me you played soccer and liked biking and swimming. I gave them your name, among others. They came back a week later and picked you. You came in and I implanted the device. They haven’t contacted me since.”

“How many times have they done this?” Vince asked.

“Maybe seven or so.”

“Who pays you?” Vince asked.

“Rena brings me cash in a small leather case.”

“Where are they?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well,” Vince said. “I guess we have to torture him.”

Candice raised her shoulders and twisted her lips. “Guess so.”

“Okay, okay…they operate out of a warehouse in Fair Lawn. But that’s all I know, and I only know that because I followed Rena once out of pure curiosity…and maybe because I wanted to be able to cover my own ass someday. I saw her meet up with a big guy with tattoos and a pierced face, and a skinny guy with glasses. But I don’t know what they do or why. I swear it.”

Candice believed him. At least it was something to go on.

Chapter 22

V
ince didn’t think the dentist was going to crack the way he did. Now as they sat in the Jeep and watched the small cream-colored steel warehouse, he wished they hadn’t come here. Every instinct he had told him this was the right play, even if he had to put Candice in danger. His instincts were usually right. It was the theme of his life. He had to follow these compulsions.

It wasn’t standard operating procedure to put others in danger, and he was loathe to do it to Candice. But he had to. He didn’t want to use her, but this was as close as he’d ever been. If he played it right, it would work out. If he was wrong, well, he didn’t want to consider it. He looked up at the moon. It was mostly shrouded with clouds, but it looked right.

They wouldn’t be expecting Candice to stroll into their headquarters with an armed guest. That gave them an element of surprise, but none of that mattered. That’s just what he was telling Candice. After all, he couldn’t tell her his real motivation for this reckless move. She would never understand it. Maybe she never would.

“How’re we going to play this?” Candice asked.

Vince took a deep breath and blew it out with an exaggerated gust. “I say we knock on the door.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“Nope.” He pushed open the door of the Jeep.

Another spray of blowing snow flurries was in full swing. Wind swirled out of the sky and caused cyclones of snowflakes in random waves. Vince pulled the Glock out of his pocket and pushed Candice behind him with his free hand as they approached the door. He twisted the knob, but as he had suspected, it was locked.

He glanced around the parking lot, then looked up and saw a camera pan on his face. Much to their surprise, the lock on the door clicked open. A new swell of anticipation bloomed. This was it. He’d been close before but never like this. He hoped this was more than just another step. He was ready to make the big leap. At least he hoped.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Candice said.

“No kidding.”

“Then why are we doing this?”

“The bold approach, they have to respect it,” he lied. Sort of. It was a partial truth.

“Or laugh at us for our stupidity.”

They debated with a shared look and shrug, then finally went inside. The long hallway opened up into a larger open room. A man sat at a computer station in front of two larger monitors.

“Come in, Candice,” the man said. “I must admit I’m at a bit of a loss here. I’ve been searching for you but I didn’t quite expect this.”

Vince approached cautiously with his gun trained on the man.

“No need for that, Mr. Markoe. I’m unarmed. Or should I call you former Detective Markoe?” The man turned to face them, holding his empty palms to the ceiling. “Welcome to my operation center.” He turned the chair next to him around. “Please, Candice, have a seat.”

She walked up to him, flashed a defiant look and sat in the chair.

“You have me at a loss,” Candice said. “You seem to know all about us, but we know nothing about you.”

“My name is Angus. I must admit, as I said, I didn’t expect this type of approach. You’ve caught me off guard, and vulnerable. You’ve proved to be quite a troublesome quarry.”

“Is that what I am, quarry?”

“Oh, no, Candice, you’re so much more than that. You’re my star, my leading lady.”

Her face wrinkled in confusion. “What does that mean? Where’s Zyanna?”

“Ah, I wondered how long you’d take to get there.”

“Where is she?”

“Safe.”

“You’re going to let her go, right now. Or we’re just going to blow your brains out.”

Angus nodded and looked Vince over. “If only it were that simple. But if you kill me, she dies in a really ugly way at the hands of a really ugly man. And it goes out all over the Internet so it haunts you forever.”

“Why did you ruin my life?” Candice looked sad, but Vince saw her quickly buck up. He admired her more all the time. It made this even harder.

“Candice, I had to make sure you were my star. And you not only proved me right, you exceeded expectation. I’ve tried a lot of candidates before you, they all cracked, broke to pieces. I need a strong woman to be my star. This isn’t a role for a shrinking violet.”

“What in the hell are you talking about? Star of what?”

He turned and twisted one of the monitors to face them. Then he pulled up a screen that said
Ultimate Reality
. “This is my baby, and you are my star.” He clicked a small green box on the screen and it brought up a series of CCTV views, one was of Zyanna in a small, gray, depressing cell.

“What is this?” Candice’s face distorted.

“Those are a few of your co-stars. They’re ready for the game, waiting for you.”

“What in the name of God are you talking about? You sick freak!”

Angus smiled, touched his index finger to his lips. “This is the ultimate reality show. And you’re going to be part of it. There are people waiting for the game to start, waiting to see who is going to live and who is going to die.”

“What?” Candice said. She looked at Vince, who still had his gun trained on Angus. He wanted to shoot this man. He’d chased this truth for so long. If it were up to him, he’d pull the trigger and end this forever. But there were complications. He couldn’t do that if he wanted to learn anything. Beyond that, there was some worry in his mind that if he killed Angus like this, he might never get back.

Angus pulled up another screen, showing more people in the same gray rooms. “People want to see drama, sex, and violence. I’m going to give it to them. You’re the leading lady I’ve been seeking. The one I’ve been waiting for to start the game.”

“And you think I’m going to play?”

“I know you will. Why else did you come here? You know if you want to see your friend ever again, you
will
play. If I’ve judged you at all correctly, I know you won’t let your friends die when there’s a chance you can save them.”

Vince felt like smashing this prick in the face. If he could only understand what he needed to right now. “Where’s Alexis?” he asked, moving closed to Angus.

Angus stroked the keyboard again and pulled up a picture of another cell. Alexis was there, sitting cross-legged on the bed, drawing on her sneakers with a pen.

“Satisfied?” Angus asked.

“I’m not,” Candice replied, springing up from her seat. She moved in close to Angus’ face, so close she could smell the coffee on his breath. “You took my life. You took my life for a game. What do I have to lose by killing you?”

Angus showed no fear. If he had any, he was hiding it like a world-class poker player. “If you kill me, you get nothing back. But, if you play my game, and win, you get it all back. Your job, your car, your money, even your friends, you get it all back. And you’ll get the fame and fortune that’s going to come with being the winner of the most amazing television program in history. It’s up to you. You can kill me now, I don’t care. I have nothing to live for if you take this away from me. I’ll pull that trigger for you. But, you give me what I want…and the world is your oyster.”

“What do you mean, if I win? What’s the catch?”

“The catch is, if the viewers don’t like you, and they vote you out, you’ll probably die. Unless you can outwit Caleb, but I have to admit, for all his faults, he is an efficient killing machine. But as long as you stay in charge, you call the shots. The viewers will know you’re the pivotal player, but the other players won’t know. It’s your job to step up and be a leader. Don’t worry, I’ve skewed the game in your favor because I want you to win, Candice. I’m pulling for you.”

She looked at Vince, who shrugged it off with a twist of his head. He had no input.

“Well, what the hell is this…game? I mean, if I agree to this, what am I agreeing to?”

“Candice, no, don’t even,” Vince said. “You can’t.”

“There’s no other choice.”

“There’s always another choice.” But he knew there might not be. If this was the hand fate was going to deal him, then he had to play it.

Candice crossed her arms. “Well, Vince, do you have another idea?”

Vince didn’t reply. It didn’t matter anyway. He had to do what he had to do. But the closer it drew, the more anxiety he felt. For the first time in his life, he worried about the outcome of his compulsion. And it was because of Candice.

She turned to face him. “He’s right, I can’t let them die. And you don’t want me to let Alexis die, either. I have to do this. I have to see if I can save them. Let me at least hear him out and find out what all this is. If I don’t like it, we can walk away.” She turned to face Angus again. “I’m in.”

He smiled and folded his hands. “Well, let the games begin.”