Mind Games (Games Thriller Series)

by J. E. Taylor

  “When?”

  “Sunday, Monday and Tuesday,” he answered. “I’ll be gone most of Monday, but I’ll be back for a late dinner. Same with Tuesday.”

  “Sounds good,” she said, grinning at the prospect.

  Tom shut off the car as the garage closed, the kids ran into the house and he waited until the door closed before he looked at Jessica. “About earlier, I’m sorry.”

  “You scared me today. You’ve scared me more than once since we arrived.” Jessica opened her car door and cast a glance his way. “And I don’t like that at all.”

  “Jess.” He stepped out of the car.

  She paused at the door with her back to him, the tension written in her stance.

  He walked around the car and took her hand. “I’m sorry.”

  “I know.” She looked up at him. “Please don’t do it again.”

  Tom nodded, biting back the urge to ask her why not, after all, she had forgiven Ty for far worse. “What do you want to do about dinner?” he asked, looking at his watch and driving those thoughts away.

  “Let’s order in, I don’t feel like cooking.”

  Chapter 49

  Chris stood on his balcony watching as the moon rose above the city. He looked at his watch and smiled. He still had at least four hours to kill before Emily would possibly need him. It was time to have some fun. He grabbed his leather jacket and headed out the door.

  He loved the city this time of year when the air cooled off faster than the ground, making the fog roll up from the pavement in the streets, creating a nice cool blanket of white for him to float through. He trolled the streets, walking without purpose, his head inclined and both hands shoved in his jacket pockets, hiding the cast from view. He glared through his bangs, listening to the sounds around him and entering a neighborhood that was not safe for anyone alone after dark.

  He heard the footsteps fall behind him and he tensed. There was more than one person following him and the smile slowly spread on his face.

  He slipped into an alley and slowed his pace, staring at the walls surrounding the dead end. He heard the laughter behind him and took his hands out of his pockets, turning to face his attackers. “You don’t want to fuck with me,” he growled low in his throat.

  The first gang member pulled out a switchblade and the rest of the posse followed suit. “You lost, shithead?” he asked as they surrounded him. “There ain’t no whitey in my hood.”

  Chris didn’t say anything. He just looked around the circle, counting seven of them. They were young, maybe late teens, early twenties, black and Latino, and all had knives drawn. He smiled and looked back at the one he assumed to be the leader. He was as tall as Chris, equally broad-shouldered and looked downright mean.

  “Got money, shithead?”

  “I will say this one more time,” Chris warned and stared down the leader. “You do not want to fuck with me.”

  “We gonna cut you up,” the leader of the gang said and stepped forward, pushing the button on the switchblade. A long sharp blade shot out.

  Chris shook his head slowly and stretched his smile further. “Then you’re all going to die.”

  They laughed at him and all of them lunged with their knives at the same moment.

  Each and every one of them stopped short within inches from Chris’s body when he whispered “Stop!” Chris laughed out loud as shock registered on the leader’s face. “I told you not to fuck with me,” he snarled and he silently commanded each of his attackers to bury their knives in their own hearts. In unison, seven blades pierced seven hearts. He stood in the center as each fell to their knees and then over on their backs. He stepped over the leader’s dead body and walked out of the alley, shrouded in fog.

  He continued his leisurely pace through the city with a smile, feeling the power grow with each unfortunate encounter. By one in the morning, he had rid the city of over a dozen thugs, none of which was smart enough to heed his warnings.

  As he approached the village, he heard a scream in an ally to his left. He hesitated then ran toward the noise. There in the alley was a young teenage girl, probably no older than sixteen, being raped by three men. She was crying with one of the men in her mouth and the other two argued as to who was going to fuck her this time.

  Chris stormed into the alley, the anger welling up inside him. “Get away from her,” he snarled and when the man getting a blow job pointed a gun toward him and pulled the trigger, Chris felt the power surge out of him. The bullet never reached him; it disintegrated under the stream of heat that blasted from Chris, along with the man holding the gun. Chris turned his gaze to the other men who were now backing away in fear. He walked over to the girl and held his hand out to help her up. “Do you want me to let them go?” he asked her, keeping his gaze on the men.

  She took his hand and he heard her say no very softly as he helped her up.

  “What do you want me to do with them?” he asked and the two men froze in place, the fear on their faces very visible to both Chris and the girl. Chris looked back at her.

  Despite still shaking and crying, she glared at her attackers, her face transforming into a mask of vengeance. “The same thing you did to the other one.”

  Chris looked back at them and let the power go again, vaporizing the other two men. “What else do you need?” he asked, turning back to her.

  She wrapped her torn clothing around herself and looked into the blue eyes that saved her. “Who are you?” she asked in awe, still shaking.

  “Just think of me as your guardian angel.” He took off his coat and wrapped it around her shoulders leading her out of the alley. “Hospital or home?”

  “Home,” she sniffled and pointed him in the direction where she lived.

  “What were you doing walking alone at this hour?”

  “I was at work. My mom usually picks me up, but she got tied up at the hospital and I didn’t want to wait.” She let out a small sob.

  “If you were my daughter, I would have told you to wait.”

  “She did, I told her I’d get a ride from someone at work.”

  Chris looked at her. “You lied to your mother?”

  The girl nodded. “I’ve walked before; it’s not that far. I just didn’t think...” she trailed off and let out another small sob and pointed to the apartment building they were approaching.

  “Sweetie, it’s not safe for a girl your age to be alone on the streets at this hour. Wait next time,” he said. They stopped at the corner and he took his coat back. He watched her cross the street and open the door to the building, and then he took off in the dark back toward his apartment building.

  Chris looked at his watch. It was close to two in the morning. He glanced over his shoulder at the apartment building in the distance and smiled. Helping that girl was far more satisfying than everything else he had done tonight. It felt right, like giving Jessica the power back to save Emily.

  He walked into his apartment and dropped his keys on the counter, stripping the jacket off and tossing it on the chair in his living room. He grabbed a Corona and settled on the couch, flipping the television to the local Fox News station and waited, periodically taking swigs from the bottle.

  God I want to talk to Jess. He closed his eyes, smiling at the power raging inside of him.

  He opened his eyes as a breaking story unfolded on the news about a gang of youths and an apparent suicide pact.

  “Wrong.” He grinned at the television.

  How many people had he saved by ridding the earth of those maggots?

  His smile dissolved when he heard her call his name.

  Chris dropped the beer and bolted into his bathroom, sliding on the tiles and grabbing the sink to stop his momentum. He looked into Emily’s room and saw Frank kneeling over her with one hand around Emily’s neck and the other between her legs. “Let her go,” Chris growled and Frank looked at him in surprise.

  Chapter 50

  Tom retreated to his office to review the script again. The
doorknob rattled and he looked up to see Jessica step into the room and close the door gently behind her. “Hey babe. You okay?”

  Jessica nodded and walked behind the desk, turning his chair toward her. “Don’t make him into a complete monster.”

  He closed his eyes and leaned his head back in the chair. His hatred for Ty Aris contradicted with the disgruntled respect the script formed in him and he sighed.

  “Jess.” He reached out, pulling her onto his lap before opening his eyes. “He told me he needed to push you away when we were in that room together. I didn’t agree with how he went about it, but I knew. I watched what hearing you cry did to him. Ty may very well be the bravest son of a bitch I’ve ever met. He stood in those chains knowing what was going to happen to him and wasn’t one bit afraid of dying. I, on the other hand, was scared shitless.” Tom got quiet and stared at the shifting colors in her eyes.

  “He had such faith that you would make a miracle occur. He just didn’t think he would be the one to be saved by it.” He reached over and picked up the script. “It’s all in here, Jess, so I can’t really portray him the way I want the world to see him.” He dropped the script. “The way I want you to see him.”

  Jessica wrapped her arms around Tom and nuzzled her head in the crook of his neck. “This is going to be hard on us, isn’t it?”

  “Yes,” Tom said and squeezed her tight. He began to wonder if thirty million was worth it or not. “Think you can stick it out with me?”

  “I can if you can,” Jessica replied and pulled away so she could look at him. She traced his face with her fingertips and then kissed him. “I love you Tom, I can’t imagine my life without you.”

  Her words brought a smile to his face and he hugged her tight. “I need to rehearse my lines for tomorrow. Want to run lines with me?” he asked and pulled away.

  “Sure, can we do it in the hot tub?”

  His eyes sparkled at the prospect. “I need to run the lines, Jess.”

  “I know.” Usually the hot tub led to sex. “But we will have bathing suits on this time. Can’t go buff with the kids here.”

  Tom nodded and made copies of the pages he needed to review while she went to change. He dropped the copies on the desk by the slider to the deck and glanced at his watch. It was only nine and both kids were sacked out on the couch. He stopped Jessica in the hall on the way to the bedroom. “Let the kids sleep.”

  “You want wine?”

  “I’ll pass. I need to get up early tomorrow.”

  “Do you mind if I have some?”

  “Not at all.”

  They rehearsed the lines together in the hot swirling water. Jessica finished her wine and tipsiness edged in. She grinned at Tom and licked her lips.

  Tom plucked the copies from her hand and tossed them on the concrete. Moving between her legs, he pulled her to him in the steamy water. “I know what that smile means.” He ran his lips along her neck.

  Jessica leaned her head back. “The kids,” she whispered even as his kisses, along with the wine, pushed her heat threshold up a notch.

  Tom glanced back in the living room. “Still sleeping.” He grinned back at her and reached into the water, peeling her bikini bottoms off. His swim trunks found a similar resting place on the concrete and he slid his already hard cock into her.

  Tom smiled at her after they finished and reached behind her, grabbing both their swimsuits. They slipped them on in the water and settled back in the hot tub letting the euphoria linger a while longer.

  “I need to get some sleep,” Tom said and climbed out of the hot tub. “I’ll get the kids after I change.”

  Jessica stopped in each of the kid’s rooms to straighten up. She grabbed their dirty clothing and dropped them in the laundry baskets. She folded up the beach towels draped over the mirrors and put them on the corner of the dressers, kissing each of them goodnight and closed their doors behind her.

  * * * *

  A cold draft drifted over her skin and Emily shivered, reaching for covers that weren’t there. Her eyes flew open at the frigid caress between her thighs and she stared right into Frank’s black eyes.

  “Hello sweetheart.” He yanked her underwear off.

  “Ty!” The name came out in a shaking cry and Frank’s sly grin faltered, his eyes hardened and his hand flashed out, clamping around her throat. The other hand mercilessly slammed inside her, his entire fist burying into her pussy and pain raked through her.

  “How do you know that name?”

  She caught the flash in the mirror out of the corner of her eye. Chris slid into view and his growling voice overrode Frank’s. “Let her go!”

  Within a blink the mirror blew to bits and Frank disappeared, leaving her gasping for breath and staring at the empty frame where the mirror had stood seconds before.

  * * * *

  At that same exact moment every mirror except one within a one mile radius of Tom’s house shattered in the same manner.

  Tom shot to his feet, his eyes darting around the dark room falling on the shards glinting on the carpet. Jessica slid on tile and skittered to a stop on the bedroom carpet, her gaze fixed on Tom before taking in the open closets, the mirrors gone, smashed to bits all over the white rug.

  “What the hell happened?”

  Tom’s face went ashen and he bolted down the hall, throwing open Emily’s door.

  Wide shocked eyes met his gaze and returned to where her mirror had been moments before.

  “You okay?” he asked. When she nodded, he tore into Eric’s room.

  Relief settled into him at the sight of Eric untouched and still asleep, but he couldn’t say the same for the mirror. He navigated carefully through the shards to the side of the bed and shook Eric.

  Eric blinked sleepy eyes at Tom and then his gaze traveled to the empty mirror. “Who folded the towel?” Eric asked and Tom’s head snapped to the bureau again, on the corner, folded neatly was the towel that was draped over the mirror when they went to bed.

  “I did,” Jessica answered from the doorway. “All the mirrors in the house except the one in our bathroom broke but nothing else did. I don’t think it was an earthquake.” Tom nodded and their eyes met.

  “Which means...” he trailed off and looked beyond Jessica at Emily.

  “Ty,” Eric said aloud and they all looked at him.

  “We need to clean up the glass,” Tom said. “So,” he scooped Eric up and carried him to the hall, “you and your sister should go into the living room and wait till I give the all clear signal.” He put Eric on his feet in the hallway and turned back toward the mess.

  “Where’s the vacuum?” Jessica asked.

  “I’ll get it,” he said and headed through the house to the utility closet.

  * * * *

  Eric and Emily watched from the couch as he came back through with the vacuum hose. When he disappeared back down the hallway, Eric turned back to Emily.

  “What happened?”

  “Frank came and I called him.” Her eyes were still wide with awe. “He blew the mirror up and Frank disappeared.” She flipped on the television. “He blew all the mirrors in the house up.” She shook her head and looked over at Eric. “Did you know he could do that?”

  Eric smiled at her. “He can do a lot of things now that he couldn’t before.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “When he gave Mom back the healing power, she transferred her other power to him,” Eric said. “I felt it when I met him on the beach.”

  “What other power?”

  “The one Mom used to release Ty and kill Marian.”

  Emily just looked at him. “Why didn’t I get any powers?” she finally asked.

  Eric shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe you’re more like Dad and I’m more like Mom. Besides, I don’t have any powers now.”

  “Yes you do, you can read people’s minds,” Emily replied. “Just like Mom.”

  “That’s not a power though.”

  “Yes it is.” />
  Eric shrugged. He didn’t think it was a power, more like a side show trick that he wished he didn’t have sometimes. He picked up the remote and flipped on the television as the first siren flew by outside.

  * * * *

  Jessica walked into the living room and saw the red and blue lights pass by the house. “What the...” she trailed off and looked down at the kids as the second pair of black and whites flew by the house. She walked over and flipped the television channel to a local news station, taking a seat as the breaking story banner appeared.

  “Police and scientists are investigating a seismic anomaly in the Malibu Beach area. Several residents have called the emergency response number reporting shattered glass. Scientists at this time cannot confirm whether a small earthquake occurred or not, but the anomaly seems to be localized within a one mile radius. We will keep you apprised of the situation as more information comes in. In the meantime, please make sure that items are secured properly in case of subsequent activity.”

  Jessica stood up and walked down the hall and into her bathroom, to the only mirror left within a mile. “Ty?”

  He was leaning on the sink in his bathroom in New York with his head hung low. “Everything okay?” he asked without looking up and blocked her from getting into his mind.

  “You shattered all the mirrors within a one mile radius from this house,” she whispered in awe. “Except this one.”

  He looked up and she actually stepped back.

  “He was there.”

  Jessica blinked. She had been in the bathroom and Tom was asleep in the bed. “I didn’t call you though.”

  “I’ve been keeping watch,” he said, the fury still burning in his eyes. “We need to send him back to hell, Jess.”

  “Where was he?”

  Chris looked at her without saying a word.

  “Where?” Jessica demanded.

  “He went after Emily.” The words rumbled from his throat.

  Jessica felt the room start to spin. Her eyes rolled up in her head and she began to fall in a dead faint.