Survival Games (14 page)

Daniel walked into
Eric’s room to see his son opening his arms and hugging the space in front of
him. He kissed an invisible being and the air filled with sparkles before
whispering a desperate plea.

Eric looked at his
father and tears welled, cutting wet paths down his cheeks. “He needs to
protect Mommy and I don’t know if he can!”

He put his arms
around his son. This was the first time since they started to see LeAnn that
Eric had talked about his mother. “It’s okay Eric, your mom’s all right. She’s
in heaven now.”

“No she’s not! And
the bad man is going to hurt her really bad if he leaves her.” He was breathing
heavily. “I need to help her open the door!”

“What door?”

“The door in her
mind.”

Daniel hesitated,
a shiver sliding down his spine. “What’s behind the door, Eric?”

Eric swallowed
hard. “It’s the only way.”

“What’s behind the
door?”

“The power of
heaven,” he paused. “And hell,” he added in a voice too low to hear.

Daniel looked at
his son. LeAnn had said Eric was playing out a fantasy to deal with his
mother’s death and it was a healthy reaction, but this, this didn’t sound
healthy at all.

Ty bolted to the
control room, stopped the disk and found the place that he wanted, backed it up
a few seconds and pressed record again, forever overwriting his confession as
well as the miracle she performed. He closed his eyes, relief flooding through
him in a dizzying whirl and he sat down in the chair.

If Frank ever
found out about either the confession or her ability to heal the wounded, Ty
wasn’t sure if either of them would get out of the building alive.

“How in God’s name
did you do this?” He pulled the butterfly Band-Aids off his perfectly unmarked
arm.

He glanced over at
Mike’s image. Pieces of the shattered monitor embedded in his ruined hand and
he paced, back and forth, muttering under his breath, looking every bit as
insane as Ty set out to make him.

A cold hand
wrapped around his heart and he moved his gaze back to the monitor overlooking
Jessica’s room. He swallowed hard, his palms suddenly slick with sweat.
What
would she think of me if she knew?

He looked from
monitor to monitor, frozen with indecision.

The phone rang,
snapping him out of it.

“The call came. The
package is ready to collect,” Frank said.

Ty didn’t answer
right away. “I’m not sure that’s necessary.”

“Look Ty, you said
yourself, this will bring in a healthy profit and everything’s already in
place. We’ve been contracted to deliver to the set and I’ve got a truck waiting
at the airport. The jet’s gassed up and waiting to take you and Chris and
you’ll need to bring your passport because you’re driving back.”

“Frank, the risk.”

“You said yourself,
the payoff would be sweet and from the inquiries I made, you are absolutely
right. But if you want to pass this up, I’d be glad to start filming with your
girl there.”

He could almost
see the grin forming on Frank’s lips and a shiver cascaded down his spine.
Not
on your life.
He took a deep breath. “You have everything I asked for?”

“It’s in a bag up
here just waiting for you.”

He closed his eyes
and hung his head. With a heavy sigh, he nodded. “I’ll be up in twenty.” He was
met with a click followed by a dial tone.

He approached her
room, apprehensive and kicking himself for the damage he would do in the next
few days all for a distraction to get her the hell out of there. And he had to
make sure Frank would keep his distance while he was out of town.

Ty stepped into
her room and before he closed the door, she spoke.

“Don’t leave.” She
stood, her fingers nimbly unbuttoning the shirt and she crossed, sinuous and
seductive, pushing him against the door and running her tongue across his
chest. She tugged at the button on his pants, turning her violet eyes up to
him. “Don’t leave.”

He grabbed her upper
arms and pushed her away.
How did she know?

“I just know.”

He hadn’t spoken.

“Sometimes I just
know things, especially…” She looked down and circled her toe on the floor.
“Especially when it’s accompanied by a powerful emotion,” she explained. “So
don’t leave,” she said and caught his gaze out of the corner of her eye.

He listened to the
song playing and closed his eyes. Ironically, it was “Angel”, by Sara McLaughlin.
He reached out and pulled her to him.

Frank could wait.

“Angel,” he said,
carrying her back to the bed, he took the shirt off and made love to her again,
relishing the feel of her as if it was the last time.

Slamming things
into a duffel bag, his mood worsened.
What the hell am I doing?
He
glanced at the monitor in the control room yet again.

His black shirt
still wrapped tightly around her as she sat in the middle of the mattress,
staring at the mirror. Staring at him. He could almost feel her exercising her
will, demanding he stay. Almost. His gaze flicked to the monitor next to hers
and he sighed, the momentary spell broken.

Stalking to the
elevator, he shook his head, clearing his thoughts and stood in front of the
eye scan, waiting. As soon as the doors opened, he slid inside and set his
access key in the slot, turning it and heading upstairs, his eyes closed and
the feel of her was still with him.

Chris sat across
from Frank, swiveling the chair back and forth in the oversized office. “What took
you so long?” he asked, getting to his feet.

Ty shrugged and
dropped his bag. He turned to Frank half hidden behind the large mahogany desk.
“Don’t touch her while I’m gone or you’ll ruin everything I’ve put in place.”

“No problem. I’m
actually going down to the city for a conference for a couple days. I’ll have
the cell with me, so let me know if anything goes haywire.” He kept eye contact
with Ty. “I’ll be back before you get here with the package.”

Ty inhaled. “You’ve
got Marian all set up?”

“Yep,” Frank said.
“Everything you asked for is in there.” He pointed to a bag by the back door. “The
town car’s waiting outside.”

Ty nodded and headed
off with Chris.

Jessica sighed,
the connection she had with Ty severed, leaving her cold and alone in the
concrete prison.

Please God,
please don’t let that bastard come down.

She shivered,
pulling the sheet tighter around her, laying her forehead on her bent knees. Closing
her eyes, she drifted, counting her breaths and going deeper into herself until
she stood alone in an unfamiliar hallway, the key turning precariously in her
fingers. A noise caught her attention and she glanced over her shoulder. Eric
walked up to her and took her hand, leading her through the halls of her mind,
turning this way and that until they reached their destination.

A huge door lined
in white light stood at the far end of the corridor. The old-fashion key hole
easy to spot even at this distance and Jessica dropped her gaze to the key
clutched in her hand.

Eric smiled and pulled
her forward, stopping before the door. “You have to unlock it, Mom.”

Her hand shook and
it took a couple tries to get the skeleton key into place. Unlocking the
labyrinth of her mind was not an easy task. The key barely budged at first, but
with more pressure, she found it turned centimeter by centimeter until the telltale
click filled the small space. She put her hand on the doorknob and hesitated,
fear gripping her muscles, cutting off the command from her brain telling her
hand to turn the damn knob.

“What’s behind the
door, Eric?”

Dread etched into
his features, furrowing his brow and pressing his lips into a tight thin line. “It’s
the only way.” He swallowed hard. “The
only
way.”

“What’s behind the
door?” She crouched on one knee to look into his tiny face.

He kissed her
cheek and whispered, “The power of heaven... and hell.”

She experienced a
fraction of the power tonight when she healed Ty, but it was the darker side of
the equation that drove fear in her heart, the power to unleash hell. “I’m scared.”

“So am I, but it’s
the only way.” His eyes widened and he spun away from her. “Mommy, he’s
coming!”

Her eyes flew open
and her head snapped toward the door, the terror in her son’s voice echoed in
her heart and she shot to her feet, her hands curling into fists and her eyes
narrowing to a defiant glare. When the door opened, she was ready for the fight
of her life.

Frank laughed at
her, slipping a Taser gun from the back of his waistband.

She couldn’t dodge
fast enough and the talons hit her in the right shoulder. Pain seized her
muscles, the debilitating shock crumpling her to the ground. A hiss of pain
escaped her lips and she kept him in focus as he crossed the room. Spasms
racked her body in concert with the electrical surges. “Son of a bitch!”

Frank crouched in
front of her, staring at her, his dark eyes contemplating and then a slow smile
formed. “We won’t get interrupted this time.” He reached out, clasping his hand
around her throat and raised her up, dragging her to the electric chair in the
center of the room. He threaded her legs through the side of the chair, leaving
her spread eagle, the shackles painfully biting into her ankles. Once she was
secure, he yanked the Taser out of her skin and stepped back, surveying his
work.

“He’ll kill you,” Jessica
said, her voice not as steady as she hoped.

The laughter that
spun out of his mouth sent chills through her, icing her blood. “You just hold
that thought.” He disappeared for a moment and when he returned, he set a pile
of discs on the floor, opening the folding chair he carried and set it next to
her. He grabbed the first DVD and popped it in the slot in the television,
producing a remote from his pocket and taking the seat.

“I’ve got at least
three days with you sweetheart.” He winked at her. “But before I settle that
score, there are a few things I want to get off my chest.” He tapped the remote
on his lips glaring at her sideways. “Like this for instance…” Pointing the
remote, he hit play.

The screen
transformed to another room with two women and Ty. When he set the knife on the
bed and said choose, she gasped, and the next words out of his mouth hit her
like a blow to the stomach. When one grabbed the knife and turned toward Ty,
just for an instant, Jessica silently cheered for her. However, the complete
transformation of his face from resignation to a mask of rage drew her breath
from her lungs. The violence in which he took her life shook her to the core. She
knew he was dangerous, but this, this confirmed she was right on the mark with
her earlier label of monster.

Frank stopped the
video on the full shot of Ty’s enraged expression. “Ty’s a cruel son of a
bitch.”

She let out a
laugh that bordered on hysterical. “Look who’s talking.”

The fist came out
of nowhere; slamming into her cheek, pain flaring even before her head hit the
wood behind her. The laugh caught in her throat and she squeezed her eyes closed
until her breath returned.

“As I was saying,
Ty can be a cruel son of a bitch but I really didn’t think lover boy had it in
him.” He stared at the screen before shooting a glance in her direction. “Don’t
get me wrong, Ty has no issues blowing someone up or cleaning up after my
adventures, but to actually kill someone with his bare hands?” He shook his
head and then shrugged. “But then again, I didn’t have all the pertinent
information when I gave the order.” He pressed the play button and the scene
jumped from the first death to the second and the subsequent clean up.

When it was over,
she trembled, knowing exactly where the cut she healed came from and exactly
what Ty was capable of. Eric’s words echoed in her mind:
‘He will protect
you.’
She swore under her breath, her vision warbling from unshed, unwanted
tears. He had left anyway and now she was at the mercy of the madman sitting
beside her.

He stood,
switching DVDs and took a seat, pressing play to illustrate his point. Mike,
staring at a screen in his room, his expression horrified, pained, devastated. He
strained against the chains holding him in place, bellowing NO as the
electricity flowed through her body on the screen before him.

“No,” she gasped.
Not
him, not here.

The video
flickered to another scene and Frank leaned back, stretching in the chair with
his arms crossed and a smile on his face. “I’m not as good an editor as Ty, but
I think this pretty much captures the gist of what we do.”

Another violent death
flashed across the screen along with Mike’s resulting catatonia and her stomach
churned, the steak fermenting into a rotting boiling ball. She swallowed the
bile lining her throat, stifling a sob as well. Even the echo of Eric’s words could
not erase the humiliation.

Another rough edit
jump and there was Ty lounging next to Mike, watching the tape of his first
seduction. The first time that bastard made her eat her words, the first time
his hands created magic in her skin, the first time she feared for her soul. And
Mike watched it all—-the anger in his eyes sparked a fury in her aimed at the
man taunting him.

She would never
forgive him for this.

Ever.

The video jumped
and Mike was alone, staring at the screen. Even though Jessica had never seen
the expression of betrayal first hand, she recognized it in his eyes when she
kissed Ty in Technicolor. Another jumbled edit, again, Mike’s room but this
scene, this one sent her over the edge. Ty had set up a camera of their dinner
and smiled that sly ha-ha-she’s-mine smile into the camera, right before Mike smashed
the monitor to pieces.

She bucked in the
chair, the scream barreling from her mouth, no words, just a guttural cry of
despair and fury, echoing off the concrete. The scream swan dived, leaving her
chest heaving and her breath raspy and harsh. “You fucking bastard!”

This time when his
fist shot out, she reacted, moving her head out of the way and sending a dagger
of a glare in his direction. His hand plowed into the wood headrest and he
yanked it back, shaking the sting from it. He wound up and sent a shot into her
abdomen, folding her over in the chair.

Jessica fought for
breath; her stomach throbbed, threatening again to dump its volatile contents
on the floor. She closed her eyes willing both her body and her mind to ease up
and relax, ignoring the pain for the time being. But her anger, her anger she
reigned into a state of controlled fury.

“Did Ty ever tell
you that I hate him?” Frank tapped his lips, glancing sideways toward her. “I
always have.” He shifted in the seat. “Then again, I’m sure he never knew,
otherwise, he wouldn’t have been so easy to coerce into doing this gig.”

He chuckled. “Poor
bastard didn’t really understand the scope of my vision until it was too late,
and by that time, I already had him believing this was the best he could do,
this is where he belonged.” He scoffed at her. “Gullible shit. Always following
orders and trying to please me, like he had some debt to pay that I didn’t know
about.”

Frank’s jaw
tightened and his eyes went a shade darker, the anger blistering through. When
he turned the glare in her direction, Jessica sunk back in the seat. “Of course,
all of that went straight to hell when he brought you through the door.”

“He obviously
doesn’t know I have a back up recording system upstairs. I have my own
collection. Not the edited versions but the raw deal, So any time a camera is
live, I get a secondary recording upstairs that I can look at any time I
please. He’s not the only one who’s been watching you.”

He shook his head
and blew air out of his nose in disgust. “Your little games, he never really
caught on, but I saw that satisfied smile every time he left your room. I saw
you try the doorknob every day.”

Another shot spun
out, catching her in the side of the face, dazing her and drawing a moan of
pain. Her eye swelled from the punch and she shook her head, trying to focus on
the blank screen in front of her.
Jesus, oh Jesus! He’s going to kill me.
In
that brief thought, the last encounter with Ty flashed in her mind and her
heart sunk, spiraling her down into an abyss of despair.
I’m never going to
see him again.

“At first I
thought he was playing you too, but the look in his eyes when he threw me off
you in the hallway, you can’t fake that.”

“Fake what?” her
hoarse voice inquired, stalling the pain she knew was inevitable.

Frank turned, his
hand flashing out and grasping her throat, he reached behind him and yanked out
the Taser, roughly shoving it between her breasts and pulling the trigger.

Her body went
rigid; spasms racked her and the scream wavered in time with the shock pulsing
through her.

“Shut the fuck
up!” he bellowed in her face and let the trigger go.

Pain like tiny
stabs covered her skin, dissipating slowly, but the terror, the terror grew,
creating a mist of tears over her wide eyes and uncontrollable tremors
throughout her frame.

Frank changed DVDs
again and the screen filled with them making love, her in control, riding him,
holding his arms to the mattress. “In all my life, I’ve never seen him give up
control like that.” He pointed the remote at the screen fast forwarding to the
conversation afterwards. “I knew I was in trouble and had to get him out of the
complex, but then he confessed.”

His hands curled
into fists again and she cringed away from him. “The bastard killed my father.”
The words hissed out between his clenched teeth. He turned his hateful gaze in
her direction, tilting his head. “And you know the funniest part?”

Trembling, she
shook her head and waited for his answer without looking at him.

He leaned in a
fraction. “Ty killed the wrong person.”

Her head snapped
toward Frank, her mind reeling with the insinuation.

“I killed his
sister.” He let that hang in the air for a little while. “I’ve got plans for
him now. The kind of plans this place was built for.” He turned his dark eyes
toward her, reaching out and grasping a handful of hair, yanking her head back.
“And you, you’re the pinnacle of my revenge.”

“You see, I’m going
to destroy everything he cares about, which lucky for me is limited to his
brother and you.” He slammed his fist full into her nose.

The snap of bone
followed by the spray of blood filled her world. Debilitating pain caught her
breath in her chest behind the river that flowed down her throat. She gagged,
turning and leaning over the arm of the chair; both blood and vomit shot from
her mouth between the harsh sobs.

“Three days.” An
evil sadistic smile found his lips. “I’m betting he won’t recognize you when he
gets back.” He let go of her hair and rewound the tape, watching her with him
again. “I’m going to kill Chris and then I’m going to make Ty watch the things
I’m going to do to you.” He slid his hand up her thigh and she shivered. “I’m
toying with showing him exactly what I did to his sister.”

He said nothing
for a few minutes. “I want to see his face when the last thing he loves on
earth dies.”

She braved a
glance in his direction. “What makes you so sure he loves me?”

Frank fast-forwarded
the tape, increasing the volume and stopped just as he rolled her over. His
husky, sex-laden voice rang through the room. “I love you, Jess.” She closed
her eyes and despite the betrayal and humiliation she felt, her heart ached for
him and she couldn’t stop the tears.

Frank stood and
retrieved the last DVD and tossed it on the small stack before turning his
attention back to her.

She stiffened,
aware that he stopped in front of her. She raised her eyes, daring to meet his
angry gaze. “Is Mike still alive?”

The smile that
formed chilled her as if she stepped outside naked in the middle of a Siberian
winter day. “Oh yes, but you’re going to kill him.” He backhanded her across
the face.