A Game of Greed and Deception: A Mystery Drama (12 page)

Darnell
looked over the hand-drawn map. “You’re prolly right. You’ll need to find a way
down there, Tammy. I expect you can find some interesting things in that
basement and Stephen hiding down there as well. It would be a good idea to get
to him before he gets to you.”

Tammy
put out her cigarette and flicked it to the floor. “And then what the hell am I
gonna do once I find him? What if he is ready and waiting for me? Stephen owns
a M1911 semi-automatic pistol and would not be afraid to use it.”

Darnell
leaned forward and extinguished his cigar. “That’s been taken care of. I found
his handgun in the glove compartment of his car when I was taking care of the
brakes while you guys were eating dinner. I didn’t want to leave it there, so
as a precautionary measure, I took it. I am keeping it safe inside my truck.”

Tammy
let out a big sigh of relief. “Can you give it to me? I may need it for
protection even if I don’t plan on using it.”

“That’s
not a good idea. The last thing that you need to do is try and kill him with
his own gun. That would be pretty damn hard to pass off as an accident. From
what you’ve told me this dude ain’t exactly too scary. Find a cruder weapon
that you could only be using if desperate, for self defense.”

“I
will see what I come up with. But what if he is already waiting for me and catches
me by surprise? I’m in good shape and strong for a girl, but I’m still gonna
have to get him from behind. Hit him with something heavy, then finish him off
with this hunting knife.”

“Here’s
what I think. Stephen would in no way harm his precious daughter. As long as
you can keep her on your side and near you, it’s gonna be hard for him to get
to you. You gotta remember that she is his pride and joy.”

“But
Maria has lost trust in me. She knows that something funny is going on and I
can’t count on her. I’m afraid that she’s becoming a pawn in his revenge plot.”

“So
then what you need to do is use her to get to Stephen. She is still the one
person that he doesn’t want to see get hurt. You might have to get rather
aggressive with Maria to lure out Stephen, if you catch my drift. You need to
be calling the shots. And Maria better not be ‘round when the police come since
she will only incriminate you. I would think long and hard about what to do
with her. Honestly…they both need to be dealt with.”

“Darnell,
I need your help. You’re in on this too. Tom won’t pay you anything unless
Stephen is dead. Can’t you help find him and…”

Darnell
waved his finger, cautioning Tammy. “I wish I could help you more, but at this
point, no – I’m only a liability. Nobody knows I’m here and I gotta keep it
that way. You stand to gain a lot more from his death than I do, that’s for
sure. I did what I was paid to do. I can still walk away from all of this and
be totally in the clear.”

Tammy
nodded. “I’ll do what I need to do.”

“I’m
gonna be ‘round here in the area for a short while, but I’ve gotta stay hidden.
I brought a few water bottles with me that I set right outside the front door.
You can drink that for the time being. And remember – you and I have never
met.”

Tammy
showed Darnell out the front door and brought in the water bottles.
So I just need to get little Maria to go
along with whatever I tell her to do. No problem, I can get anyone to do what I
need them to, I’ve done that my whole life. I think it’s time to outsmart that
little brat yet again.

She
went to Maria’s room and opened the door, but found the bed empty.
That’s strange. Where in the hell is she?
She
checked the kitchen, and then opened the door to the master bedroom. As she
walked around the bed, she heard some faint sounds coming from the closet. She
went into the walk-in closet, saw the door opened to the wine cellar, and heard
Maria screaming and crying from inside. “Maria? Are you down there?”

Maria
tried to stop sobbing to speak, clearing her throat which was horse from
screaming. “Yes Tammy, I’m all alone down here! I was attacked by killer bees!
Please help me.” She coughed and wiped more tears away from her cheek. “I got
trapped down here. The bees were coming at me. Then the lamp broke and I
couldn’t find my way out.”

Tammy
turned on the bedroom light and kept the closet door wide open. “Killer bees?
In the winter time? Are they still down there? Did they sting you?”

Maria
rubbed her eyes and squinted as even the little bit of light hurt them from
having been in the dark for so long. “I got stung once on the back and it
really hurts. They were attacking me so I hid myself behind the barrels. After
it was dark, I stopped hearing them making noise. I don’t know where they are,
but I’m scared!”

“So
how the hell did you break the lantern?”

“I
dropped it when the bees attacked me. It wasn’t my fault!”

“That
lantern was the only source of light that we’ve got when we’re in the cellar,
Maria. Anyways, look here, in the stairwell. Can you see the light? Come towards
it.”

“I
think I can see it but I can’t find the way to go.”

Tammy
started down the stairwell until she was at the bottom. “Where are you Maria?
I’m over here, can you see me? Come towards my voice.”

“But
what if the bees are still…”

“Just
come here, there are no bees! Come to the light in the stairwell.”

Maria
got up and ran towards Tammy. A couple of moments later, they were up the
stairs and back into the master bedroom.

ELEVEN

Maria wiped tears from her
eyes, trying to hide the fear that she felt from what had happened. “My back
hurts. I think it might be swollen.”

“Let
me have a look at where you got stung.”

Maria
showed Tammy her back. A small black dot where she had been stung was
surrounded by a baseball-sized area of the skin that was red, puffy, and
swollen.

“It
doesn’t look all that bad, honestly. I think you’ll be just fine.” Tammy opened
one of the water bottles and set it on the kitchen table. “Here, I found this
in the back of one of the cupboards. You can drink this if you get thirsty. What
on Earth were you doing down in the wine cellar anyways?”

“I
got woke up early in the morning from ice hitting my window. It was the worst
storm I ever heard and was so loud and I couldn’t sleep. There was even
lightning right outside my window. And then I saw somebody outside, in the
woods, carrying something!”

Tammy
arched her eyebrows. “What do you mean you saw somebody out in the woods? What
did this person look like, Maria?”

“I
dunno. All I could see was his back. He was dark and black, and walking slow
and kinda weird, hunched over. And he was carrying something over his
shoulder.”

Tammy
grabbed Maria by the shoulders. “Are you sure that this wasn’t a dream? After
all, you had just woken up, and sometimes…”

“I
know what I saw!” Maria cut her short.

“Okay,
so you’re telling me that someone was walking through the snow outside in the
middle of the morning, and you think that is
WASN’T
your father? What do you mean he was hunched over?”

“He
was shorter than dad. He walked funny, like he was dragging his feet through
the snow. It was like something out of a movie. Why don’t you go see who is out
there, Tammy?”

“Hmm.
Maybe I’ll look into it. But that still doesn’t tell me why you were down in
the wine cellar.”

“The
storm was really loud and scary so I went out looking for you and saw the
cellar door open and thought you were...”

“The
cellar door was open?” Tammy interrupted. “But I had left it closed. Are you
sure that you didn’t open it? What else did you see down there? And where did
these bees come from?”

“It
was open when I went into the closet. I saw a bunch of barrels, a cigar someone
was smoking, and some gas containers. The bees just appeared suddenly in the
room. They were living in their nests and just came out and attacked me! One of
the barrels had a sheet on it and your lipstick tube.” Maria hung her head down
towards the floor, trying not to make eye contact with Tammy. “And I saw what
you wrote under the sheet.”

“What
sheet and lipstick? And what are you talking about – I never brought any personal
things down there! Did you also see the deadly trap that was set up there,
underneath the pile of hay?”

“I
didn’t see any trap. I moved the pile of hay and there was nothing else under
it. Maybe you just tripped and fell.” Maria looked at Tammy from the corner of
her eye. “Look, I saw what you wrote with your lipstick ok? And I found the
diagram that you wrote too. I know you are trying to scare me and kill dad. I
know you are crazy and when the policeman gets here I am gonna have to tell him
everything.”

“Is
that what you think Maria? You think you done have it all figured out now don’t
you?”

Maria
leaned back on the rear legs of one of the kitchen chairs while twirling her
hair with her fingers. “I know what you are doing, Tammy. First you killed the
owl outside my bedroom window. Then you made up all this stuff about dad and
the cellar.”

Tammy
sat down at the kitchen table across from Maria. “Well honey, I think it’s time
that I told you the truth. I’m sorry that I haven’t been honest with you up until
now but it was for your own good. After all, you’re a big girl and we shouldn’t
have secrets between us. So please, accept my apology.” She lit up a cigarette
and took a long swig of water. “Do you remember just after Stephen and I got
married that he started doing some therapy sessions?”

Maria
remembered that her father and Tammy both went to therapy sessions together.
“Yes, with Doctor Baker. So what.”

“Right.
Well that man was a Psychotherapist. He helps people with all of their personal
problems. I’d done told Stephen to go get help with his anxiety and fears. He
was seeing Dr. Baker two times a week to help him with all of his problems.
Like dealing better with people he worked with, not stressing out from
important meetings, and other stuff like that. Stephen was under so much
pressure and always freaked out with personal things. Do you remember the time
that after he came home from work he done threw the plates in the kitchen
against the wall? And then he screamed at you to get downstairs for dinner? How
did that make you feel?”

“Ya,
dad was being crazy. I almost cried because he yelled at me like that.”

“Exactly.
I was almost completely undone. But I kept my cool and told Stephen not to
worry and that everything is gonna be ok. That’s the kind of person that I am,
Maria. I make people feel good when they need to. I gave your father comfort
each and every time that he got down. And I got on to him hard for yelling at
you.”

Maria
looked confused. “But I don’t remember you even saying anything when that
happened, Tammy. Dad went psycho and then I thought you just sat down for
dinner. You ignored me even though I was upset.”

“Ah,
but you don’t know what happened. See, I was also speaking with Stephen’s
therapist privately. And he gave me strict methods on how to help Stephen so I
had to listen. I was not allowed to speak up when Stephen was going into a
rage. That would only add fuel to the fire. I had to let him calm down first
and then have a quiet, patient talk with him alone. And that’s exactly what happened
that night. After we finished dinner, you went upstairs to do your homework.
Stephen and I went into our room and had a long talk about him managing his
anger. And I told him that he loves you too much to scream at you like that.
And he needs to behave more like the gentleman that he is. Right? Doesn’t that
make sense?”

Maria
sat still for a moment.
Dad and Tammy
went to therapy together, how could she speak to the doctor alone? And dad told
me that we all had to work on Tammy’s mood swings and constant craving for
attention.
It was dad that didn’t
want to talk to her when he was upset, not the other way around. And then there
were her headaches which she didn’t want to take any medicine for.
She
nodded sheepishly.

“And
what changed that next week, Maria? Stephen was a lot nicer, now wasn’t he? And
he took you out for ice cream after school to make up for acting so bad, right?
See because of me helping him, Stephen was starting to worry less and enjoy
things more. This is what is called tough love. Not giving in to someone else’s
problems when they are angry. And do you know why Stephen always worried so
much, Maria? Do you know why he always was so stressed out and had so much
anxiety?”

Dad got stressed out much more AFTER
Tammy entered his life. He always had to keep his anger held inside so as not to
argue with Tammy. And she was the one who had a bad temper.
Maria
shrugged. “No, why?”

“Because
he was always scared of something. Before he met me, he never thought he could
get a beautiful girl. He never had no confidence in himself. Your mother didn’t
even want you or to stay with Stephen. She was nothing but a selfish bitch. He
was scared of being alone in his life. And when he sold his first business he
was scared of what he would do next. Also he didn’t trust nobody in business
and thought they were all gonna steal from him. Remember all the times he told
us about thieves in business?”

“Ya,
I remember. But I thought dad worked with friends that he knew and trusted.”

“Well
sure, sometimes he did. But even they could turn on him. When it comes to
money, there ain’t nobody that you can trust no matter what, Maria.” Tammy
smiled gently, patting Maria on the leg. “And everyone knew how rich Stephen
was. They were envious and jealous of him. Everyone that knew Stephen wanted to
live his lavish lifestyle. So after a time, they were trying to get his money
too. And he was terrified that he could lose a lot of money in a short amount
of time. Even though he had so damn much, the thought of losing any to someone
else scared him shitless. So that is why he needed to start the therapy
sessions. And I had to keep calm in every way to help Stephen be less angry.
But the problem was that his fears were from when he was a kid. Stephen had
been scared really bad as a little boy and never got over it.”

Maria
looked up inquisitively. “When did he get scared? What happened?”

“I
don’t know everything that happened. But when he was little, his father got
real mad and shoved Stephen against the wall. He got hurt and broke his arm in
two places. Do you remember that?”

“Yes,
but dad said that he broke his arm in a water skiing accident.”

“Well
sure that is what he done told you, Maria. He didn’t want you to know that your
granddad had hurt him. But that is what happened. He told me all about it and
swore me to secrecy. But I knew he needed help ‘cause ever since then he told
me that he can’t get over simple fears. Things that he should not even worry
that much about make him feel awful. Think about a time when another child at school
made fun of you. How did that make you feel? Did you go tell one of your
teachers right away? No, you would keep it to yourself so you don’t feel
embarrassed. Well, what happened to Stephen was way more embarrassing than
that. And you know how important his reputation is to him. So he never told
anyone about what happened until he told me and Dr. Baker.”

Dad told me details about that accident
and there is no way he would have lied to me. He was water skiing when the boat
hit a patch of rocks in the lake.
And grandpa was so nice all the time I can’t imagine him hitting
anyone.
“Wow, poor dad. I wish I knew about that. I really never knew that
grandpa would hurt someone like that.”

Tammy
grinned from ear to ear. “Well see, Maria, you never really know someone as
good as you think you do. Almost all people have a dark side. And to be
terrorized as a little kid is really difficult. That is what the doctor told
me. I even had a terrible thing happen to me when I was younger that scared me
a lot. Do you know what that was?

“No,
what?”

“I
know I done told you about this once before, Maria. I had a little brother born
when I was twelve. He was unfortunate enough to be born with a genetic
breathing problem. After just a day in the hospital he died. All of my other
siblings are girls. That was my one chance to have a little brother and I lost
it. I was so sad and down for a while because of that. But I was strong and
overcame that fear and sadness. I became a better person as a result of that
tragedy.”

Maria
nodded.

“So
Dr. Baker came up with an idea to fix your dad of all his problems. A way to
make Stephen never get scared again easily and have no fears or anxiety about
anything anymore. Do you want to know what the plan was?”

“Yes.
What was it?”

“That
is what this whole getaway trip right here is for. I wanted to bring Stephen to
an isolated place, away from everyone and everything. A place to forget about
all of his problems and fears. So I chose to bring him up here – with the
advice from the good doctor of course. The anniversary weekend was perfect. His
idea was that if we can help Stephen overcome fears being isolated in the
winter time, without all of the things that he is used to, then he can overcome
just about anything. See Maria, going from the luxury life that your father
leads to this is a challenge for him. So we set this all up as a test at a time
when there is a ton of snow and bad weather. Stephen has to survive for a few
days out in the wild.”

“But
where
IS
dad then? How come I can’t
even see him? Why didn’t he say anything to me? He has never left me alone like
this before.”

“He
is outside, very safe and managing on his own. He is living off the land for a
few days. That is why you saw the owl that had been killed. And the fox I told
you about. He has to hunt for food. And his car was driven away so that he
can’t go too far away to buy anything, which would be cheating. But he has warm
clothes and made a place to sleep in the woods, under the trees. It’s just for
a couple more days. It’s like camping which you and Stephen did once before,
right?”

“Ya.
He took me camping by a lake in
Montana
.
But it was warm outside then.”

“Right,
things were easier. But life is not always easy, Maria. Now he has to face some
big challenges and try to overcome them. Then he will know that he can
accomplish anything. That done makes perfect sense, now don’t it? And he likes
camping anyways. I think Dr. Baker is a damn genius. So it is our job to not
let Stephen back into the cabin until the days are up.”

“But
then how come all this bad stuff is happening? Like no water or heat. And you
hurting your leg. And what I saw in the cellar.”