Game of Fear

by Robin Perini

  She stared at the wall, but instead of a nondescript print, a cloud of dust from her helicopter’s rotors appeared in her mind. Tension vibrated around her. A warning from her commanding officer rang in her ears.

  “We almost didn’t sit down. The landing area wasn’t secure. They were close to scrubbing the mission.”

  Gabe moved over to her, but she shrank away. He didn’t press.

  “I checked out the site. What a mess. A half dozen injured friendlies lined up on the ground. Three US soldiers. There were two choppers, but we couldn’t take everyone. I got the two double amputees and fit in everyone else I could. The extra load was dangerous.”

  She blinked, her eyes blurring. “I’d just started to lift off when this soldier staggered out of the desert, begging us to stop. He lunged for the helicopter. The lieutenant radioed me to take off. We had to get the patients to base. The soldier fell to his knees.” She shook her head. “God. He raised his hands up to me, his eyes pleading for me to come back, and then someone blew his head off.”

  Gabe let out a low curse.

  “I found out later he’d been followed. The insurgents took out everyone there. His name was Tate Tinsley.”

  “You saved the other soldiers’ lives.”

  “Yes, but it’s not their thanks that I remember from that day. It’s his eyes. They haunt me. His family haunts me.”

  “If you’d waited, no one might have made it.”

  “Maybe. But now, I don’t leave anyone behind. Not unless I know they’ll be safe,” Deb said. “Not ever.”

  Gabe pulled her into his arms. “The guys talk about you in the bar, you know,” he murmured, kissing her temple.

  Deb gave him a cautious look. “Oh, yeah? What do they say?”

  He tucked a strand of auburn hair behind her ear. “Several of the cops have been at locations where you’ve flown. Or they’ve heard Search and Rescue talk. You intimidate the hell out of most of the guys who have seen you in that chopper. They say you can make that bird sing and maneuver in ways no human being should. They say you’ll take the jobs other pilots won’t.” He hesitated. “They say you take risks that are crazy.”

  “Maybe I do,” she whispered.

  He cupped her cheek. “Take it from someone who knows. Dying won’t make the past go away.”

  He leaned forward to take her lips, but his cell phone rang. He reached over and snagged it off the table, his muscles rippling in a most enticing way.

  Deb longed to explore his body again. This time more slowly.

  “Hi, Luke. What’s up?” Gabe’s brow furrowed, then he shut his eyes. “Damn. Thanks for letting me know.”

  Eyes bleak, he turned to Deb. “Ernie’s dead. They found his body in the landfill outside of town. He was missing one of his hands.”

  “Oh my God. How?”

  “Someone blew his brains out, execution style, and carved snitch across his chest.”

  Ashley fell to her knees. “No. Please. Not my brother.”

  The Warden grabbed her by the arm and yanked her to her feet. “Come with me.”

  She couldn’t think, couldn’t feel. Her entire body had gone numb. She looked back at Justin. He sagged in his chair, then he bent over and vomited on the floor.

  The Warden yelled to a guard. “Get Floyd to clean it up.”

  He dragged Ashley back to his office and locked them in. “Listen to me, Ms. Lansing. One more step out of line, and I hand you over to my guards. I guarantee you won’t like what they do to you.”

  Someone from outside yelled for the Warden, panic in his voice.

  “Don’t move. I’ll be right back.” He stalked out.

  Ashley blinked back the tears. Ben would hate for her to give in. Maybe it would be okay. Maybe they were lying. Everything else they did was a lie.

  Except she knew it was the truth. She knew the game worked. She even knew how.

  She glanced up at the clock, barely able to read the time through her blurred vision. She wanted to curl up and cry for her brother. She wanted to call Deb or her father or Rick. Someone. They had to find Ben.

  Except she couldn’t do anything. She was a prisoner. With only one way out.

  She forced herself to try to read the clock again. This time the numbers stopped dancing. Almost time. Would Justin pull it together enough so he could escape, unseen, from the crowd of kids going to dinner?

  Floyd planned to create a diversion by spilling his mop bucket. She hadn’t figured out what she could do yet, but this was their only shot.

  Justin and Dave had to be in place when those timed locks released.

  She listened at the door. Nothing. No sound.

  Would the Warden be gone long enough for her to access anything in here? She dreaded what he might do to her if he found her messing with his things.

  Actually, she wondered why she was still alive after the trouble she’d caused already. There was only one possibility. They needed her. That’s why Floyd was still alive. Did he realize getting to the bonus round of Point of Entry meant the game became real? He must. He was brilliant. He had to know every time a kid beat Level 88 they were, in reality, breaking into banking systems, private computer systems, the IRS, Justice Department, Secret Service, FBI, CIA. Even the NSA.

  A shudder went through Ashley. The right program could identify the country’s nuclear launch codes. God knew what they were planning to do with all this information.

  She scanned the room, then started to yank open the drawers. Most were locked, but a few weren’t. Did she dare grab the scissors? With her luck, they’d be used against her. She wasn’t strong enough to overpower the guards with a stab or two.

  She pulled out the top-left drawer and saw the Warden’s tablet. She grabbed it. This she could use. She tried to use the location feature to force the tablet to pinpoint their location. If she could do that, she could tell Justin the best direction in which to go. Maybe forward information about the compound’s location to Deb somehow.

  She knew they were in the desert somewhere, but—

  The door flew open. Niko stood there watching her clutch the Warden’s tablet to her chest.

  Silently, he walked straight to her, took the tablet, shut it down, and returned it to the drawer. Then he stared at her, his face expressionless.

  Terror crippled her, and her entire body shook.

  “Idaho,” he said softly.

  “What?”

  “Where we are. Isn’t that what you were looking for?”

  The Warden strode in. “I told you to take her out of here.”

  The blond man smiled at his boss. “I was explaining to Ms. Lansing that you didn’t feel comfortable with her being in your office without supervision, so I was to guard her until you returned, then accompany her to the cafeteria. Isn’t that what you wanted?”

  The Warden stared back and forth between them for a long moment, then scanned his office before relenting. “Get her out of here. I think she’s learned her lesson for today.”

  “Yes,” Niko said. “I think she has.”

  The alarm sounded at midnight and all the automatic door locks engaged. The bed check would start soon to identify who had escaped.

  Ashley snuggled in closer to her tear-stained pillow, grateful that Justin and Dave had several hours’ head start.

  Tonight more rumors had started.

  The guards called it cleanup.

  The Version VIII final mission programming was almost complete.

  The camp would be closed. The Warden would move on.

  Within a few days, everyone they found expendable—all the recruits—would be dead.

  “Please, God. Let them get away. Someone has to bring help to this hellhole, or we’re all going to die.”

  Then she turned her face to the wall, waiting for the beating that was certain to come.


  * * *

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  * * *

  ZACH’S PLANE TOUCHED down gently at the Angel Fire, New Mexico, airstrip. Gabe’s brother could definitely handle the controls. The plane came to a stop at the end of the short runway and Gabe peered out at the quaint mountain town, nestled in the Sangre de Cristo range.

  “Nice landing,” Deb said, unbuckling her seat belt. “That’s a difficult maneuver, especially with this wind-shear factor on the way in.”

  Zach gave her that famous movie-star grin. “I aim to please.”

  Gabe scowled at his brother. “Hey, tone down the wattage on that smile, Dark Avenger. This isn’t a Hollywood set, and you’re married now.”

  “Yeah, I am married now, and very happily, too, thank you.” Zach unclicked his belt and exited the pilot’s seat. “You know, in most movie scripts, jealousy is one of the first signs of the big fall.”

  Gabe threw a quick glance at Deb to see how she was handling his brother’s teasing. Except for the slight flush of her cheeks that most wouldn’t notice, she didn’t blink.

  He glared at Zach. “And not breathing is one of the early signs of imminent death, bro. Keep it up and you’ll have firsthand experience.”

  “Nah, you need me to fly out of here.”

  “Not necessarily,” Deb said, flashing her own grin. “I’ve got my pilot’s license.”

  “Well, you two are a cheerful bunch.” Zach huffed. “I thought I was here to watch your backs, not my own. Let’s get a move on.”

  Gabe laughed, but the trepidation inside him was building. He’d never met Shannon’s parents. He hated forcing them to revisit the night of the girl’s murder, or reliving it themselves, but unless Luke came up with something in his research, Gabe didn’t know what else to do to find a lead on Ashley’s whereabouts. “How are we getting to the Devlins’?”

  Zach rose and unlatched the side door. “I called ahead. The guy who runs the place said he keeps a car on standby for pilots. We can take it if we’re not too long. Ski season is busy this time of year, so when the weather is clear, he has a lot of planes coming through.”

  Deb and Gabe gathered their belongings while Zach opened the door of the plane. A numbing draft of cold air blew through.

  “I really hate winter right about now.” Deb shoved her hands into the arms of her coat and zipped it up. “Ready.”

  Zach completed his postflight check and Gabe scanned the area. Even though the runway had been cleared of snow, Angel Fire resembled a winter wonderland, a valley draped with a carpet of white surrounded by snow-laced mountains. Several ski runs cut distinctive swaths between the trees.

  “I’d love to take a run down that big slope,” Zach said, his expression wistful. “A few of them look easy enough for Sam to handle.”

  “Sam?” Deb asked.

  “My wife, Jenna’s, son,” Zach added. “I plan to legally adopt him as soon as the paperwork goes through. He’s only six years old, but he’s adapted to being a Montgomery like he’s always belonged. Actually, Jenna has, too.”

  “Why don’t you fly Jenna and Sam down here sometime?” Gabe suggested.

  “You were reading my mind, little brother. Once they get home, we’ll plan on a fun trip.”

  “Where are they now?” Deb asked.

  “Luke made arrangements for Mom, Jenna, and the kids to stay at Caleb’s cabin. That place is hidden so far out in the boonies that even the wildlife doesn’t know it’s there. They’ll be safe. And Caleb can handle more weapons than most.”

  “Caleb? Yet another brother?” Deb asked. “That’s six boys? Your poor mother.”

  Gabe met Zach’s gaze and they burst out laughing.

  “Feel sorry for us, Deb,” Gabe said. “Not Mom. You’ve met her. We didn’t get away with a thing.”

  Still chuckling, Zach went into the building and retrieved the keys to the car. “I’ll bring the Jeep around. You know where we’re going?”

  “That’s what GPS is for,” Gabe said, pulling out the new satellite phone Zach had forced into his hand, one with an extra-long battery. So the baby of the family can call home regularly, Zach had taunted. His brother’s expression held just enough concern, Gabe hadn’t slugged him. He’d taken the phone. This one even worked in the mountains. Deb’s calls were being forwarded to his phone, too, since reception was spotty.

  Of course, Zach’s phone could probably get a signal on Mars. Gabe was dying to know how much it cost.

  He tapped several numbers. “Shannon Devlin’s parents haven’t moved from their original home. Be ready, though. Mr. Devlin told me last night when I called that they never updated her room. It’s set up like a shrine.”

  “That’s tough,” Deb said, but her face looked tortured.

  What would Deb do if Ashley’s fate was not what they hoped? He gave Deb a sympathetic hug, then dialed the Devlins to let them know they were on the way.

  “Hello?” a strange woman’s voice answered. Younger than the woman he’d spoken to the night before.

  “Is this the Devlin residence?”

  “Yes, who may I ask is calling?”

  “Gabe Montgomery.”

  The gasp at the other end of the phone twisted Gabe’s gut. Only one other person he knew had also known Shannon Devlin.

  “It’s Whitney Blackstone. Why are you calling my parents?” she demanded. “This is a very difficult time for them. They don’t need more trouble.”

  Her parents? Was he about to meet the woman with whom his father had the affair? Today was getting better and better.

  “I have an appointment to see them. It’s important.”

  “What’s this about?” Suspicion laced her voice.

  Knowing he was a half second from getting hung up on, he laid out the truth. “I need to talk to them about Shannon,” he said. “Her death may be related to some missing kids in Colorado.”

  Deb looked over at him, worried. He gave her a confident smile, when he felt anything but. The last time he’d tangled with Whitney hadn’t gone so well.

  She cursed. “Come on then. I guess it’s good that I’m here. They’ll be a mess after you leave.”

  “What are you doing there?” he asked. “I heard you’d moved to the east coast.” He was sure he’d read a notation like that somewhere in his father’s notes. At least, she’d gone to school out there.

  “Not that I’m not interested to know why you think you have a right to know where I live, but I’ve taken a few weeks’ leave from my job.” Whitney lowered her voice. “They found the bodies of some friends of mine and Shannon’s on the side of the mountain. My parents took the news badly. I’m out here to stay with them until after the funerals, provided the coroner releases the remains soon.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  She paused. “How could Shannon’s death eight years ago be related to a current case?”

  “That’s what I’ve been asking myself,” Gabe admitted. “Over and over.”

  “Are you sure you need to come now?”

  “Unfortunately, yes.” Gabe groaned inwardly. How the hell was he supposed to keep Zach from recognizing Whitney as their half sister? With luck, she’d changed a lot over the years.

  But that was not the way Gabe’s luck had been running lately.

  He and Deb walked to the four-wheel-drive Jeep that Zach had brought around. Before she got in, Gabe grabbed her and pulled her close, holding her tighter than he probably should, but needing her steadiness to stabilize his world in some way before seeing Whitney Blackstone totally blew it apart.

  The stainless-steel table pressed into Ashley’s back, the cold metal making her freeze. She twisted her wrists against the leather of the restraints, then her ankles. The lightweight pants and shirt looked a lot like hospital scrubs. They were two sizes two big and engulfed her, but at least it hid her shap
e. Not that the Warden cared.

  She tried to bend and twist her hands enough for her fingers to reach the buckles. She had to get out of here.

  Steel boots clanked on the concrete floor. He had to purposely wear those boots just to freak people out. Even though Ashley believed that, she couldn’t stop her Pavlovian reaction. Her side still ached from the last time he took the scalpel to her.

  Niko opened the door and the red-haired man entered the room. She couldn’t stop the whimper from escaping. The Warden followed them in, plus another man who delivered a tray of medieval-looking instruments, then back out swiftly, his face a tad green.

  Oh God. They knew.

  She blinked. She really was dead.

  Niko remained stone-faced, but the red-haired man looked down at her, a strange, sick smile on his lips. The Warden looked absolutely livid.

  “What did you do?” he demanded. “Justin Connell is missing. So is Dave Weaver. How did you get past the system? You and Floyd are the only ones with enough skills and guts to pull this off.”

  Ashley tried to look innocent. “I . . . I don’t—”

  The red-haired man bent down, close to her ear, his cologne cloying. “Please lie,” he said softly, his breath a whisper across her cheek and neck. “I want you to lie. Make the Warden mad enough to give you to me. There are so many things I want to do to you.”

  He stood back, laughing.

  The Warden paced, watching her, his expression chillingly familiar. A moment flashed into her mind. The moment before he’d murdered Fletcher in cold blood.

  Ashley bit her lip hard enough to wince and didn’t say a word.

  The Warden clutched her throat with his right hand, squeezing. “Tell me what you did.”

  She tried to suck in a breath, but he pressed harder on her windpipe.

  “What’s our system’s vulnerability?”

  He let up for a moment, but she refused to respond. Furious, he cut off her air supply again.

  Spots circled Ashley’s eyes. Oh God. She was going to die. Deb would never know this wasn’t her fault. This was Ashley’s fault. She’d hacked her way into dying.