Mind (the) Game

by Kelly Shade

  Blake looked up at Morse and with surprise she saw he also moved behind the man holding the dogs. First the guard took off the muzzles, then after his boss confirmed, he released them of the chains and slowly moved backwards.

  “Kill!” Morse shouted at the dogs and he and his guards turned their backs to Jane and started slowly walking towards the house.

  The growling beasts were getting closer to Jane. She had frozen. She had nowhere to run, the dogs were definitely going to bite to kill. If she jumped, there was no chance of surviving a fall from that height. It took her a second to come to her senses and react. One of the Dobermanns jumped towards her, but she grabbed a rock from the ground and hit it in the mouth. The dog fell and squeaked in pain but it got up angrier than before. The other one was approaching her from the left, the one she had hit was coming from the right, saliva and blood was dripping from its mouth. Blake glanced at both directions, not knowing what to do, she was carefully moving backwards, hoping to find another rock or stick on the ground. She didn’t know where the cliff ended, she made slow small steps, she thought there was more space behind her, but she couldn’t look back, she couldn’t look away from the dogs. The beasts were losing patience, they prepared to attack, Jane could see how both dogs tensed their muscles for the upcoming jump. Blake couldn’t escape them, she saw it clearer than ever, it was the end. One more step back, she tried to do another when her foot ‘stepped’ into the air. Jane lost balance and staggered backwards. She felt the wind on her back, she looked for the last time at the confused beasts who were strolling back and forth at the edge of the cliff.

  The beginning of the fall was fast and felt like flying, but then Jane felt as if it slowed down. And now instead of the blurred trees and lots of hair, Jane could see her life in front of her eyes like a movie.

  There he was, her grandpa smiling at her after her first win against him at a chess game. Her grandpa’s warm light brown eyes and kind face was replaced by the firm expression of her mentor, this was the face he gave her when they first met – after all she tried to steal his wallet. And that memory dashed and another popped up. She saw Ryan. And the memories started to flow, all with Ryan’s smile, and untidy blond hair, his hazel eyes looking at her with love. Gray on his laptop, ‘doing his magic’ as Jane referred to his skills. The moment she kissed him at the Thompson’s house in Chicago, the moment she told him it is not possible for them to be together. And then she saw him waving from his car, asking her to go to her place together, Blake heard her own voice refusing. The last glance at him, his disappointed expression, staring at her as if he knew what she would do next.

  Blake wanted to see more, she wanted to look at Ryan forever, she wanted to see her grandpa again, her mentor. She didn’t want to die, she had so much more to do, so many things left unfinished, so many people she didn’t said goodbye to, so many reasons to live. This couldn’t be the end.

  But then she felt it, she hit the firm ground with great force and all the memories evaporated. Blackness and coldness was all she could feel for a while. Another hit, this time on her head, and it was over. Nothing, no sense of anything, no one in front of her eyes, no sound around, just nothing, emptiness, like a dreamless sleep.

  Moments, days, months or years, Jane did not know how long passed after the blackness fell upon her, but she heard sounds.

  Blake forced herself to open her eyes. She saw a blurred path, but it was upside down. She couldn’t feel her body, she didn’t know how she was moving. ‘Am I flying?’ she thought.

  Blake had no strength to lift her head, no sense of her neck, as if her head was detached from it. A man’s voice spoke, as if from miles away in a tunnel.

  “You gonna be fine! I am so sorry! So sorry, Jane!”

  Who was that? Blake didn’t recognize him. It was getting hard for her to keep her eyes open. In reality, she didn’t even open them by her will, her eyelids fell down themselves because of the jumps of her head, because the man, who carried her, was running.

  Jane wanted to stay conscious, she wanted to know if she was dead or alive, she wanted to know if everything was just a dream, an illusion, a hallucination caused by some of the fruits Erik and she ate without knowing what they were.

  Blackness and deathly silence fell. But this time Jane waited for her eyes and ears to work again, she had to struggle for her life. She wanted to live, she wanted to survive, she had to fight, she couldn’t give up.

  And suddenly she felt pain in her right arm, but soon enough the sense of it was gone. But another sounds came into Blake’s head – a tunneled, distant and somehow unreal, but she heard them. Voices, more than one. A woman screaming “What did you do to her?” a man replying “Help her, please! I found her like this!”

  They talked more but for Jane it was just mumbling sounds messing with her brain.

  Another sharp pain on her left waist side. It was there for a second and it was gone. Blake wanted that pain back, it made her feel alive. She couldn’t be dead if she felt this, could she?

  “I can’t stop the bleeding!” screamed the woman’s voice, this time clearer.

  Jane thought she was about to wake up, she was about to come back to life. She opened her eyes, this time they did it on her command, and saw the sunlight. It was burning her pupils, she had to close her eyes again. For a part of a second she saw an old woman’s face over her. Darkness replaced everything and Jane Blake was unconscious or maybe she was simply dead.

  Chapter 4

  Redemption

  Present Day

  The trip back to Corral was long and exhausting, especially in Jane’s condition. After almost two weeks spent mostly in bed, Blake couldn’t believe she was able to walk almost fifteen miles to the city. She felt she was about to collapse when she finally reached a street. She sat down on the road, waiting for a car to pass by and hopefully drive her to the airport.

  A few hours have passed, when she saw a vehicle coming her way. Jane started waving her hand, hoping the driver would stop. He did, a young man with newish silver sedan pulled over and smiled at her. He welcomed Blake in the car and asked politely where she was going. Jane didn’t want to miss the chance for a drive to the airport and tried to hypnotize him. She spoke calmly and softly with monotonous voice in Spanish, but nothing happened. Blake didn’t know if she lost the skill after the fall or because she wasn’t talking in English, or because she didn’t use the right Spanish words, but it didn’t work at all. The man was looking at her with confusion and no indications of being in а trans. At least he didn’t kick her out of the car, maybe he thought she was speaking strangely because she was a foreigner or it was just because she was a beautiful young woman in need, but he agreed to take her to the airport.

  Jane asked him if he speaks English but he didn’t. They had several small talks in Spanish but most of the trip they spent in silence.

  After they arrived they said goodbye to each other and Jane hurried to buy a ticket for the next flight to LA. She was in luck - the first flight to Los Angeles was а couple of hours later. Jane was very excited and happy she was about to go home.

  The long flight gave her time to think about what she wanted to do next. She was very disappointed of the fact that Ryan didn’t find her, her team never came to Chile, and probably they didn’t care about her well-being at all.

  Blake didn’t know if she wanted to deal with them. She missed the whole team and the job itself, and Ryan. But after all she went through alone and no one bothered to search for her, Blake wasn’t sure if she could trust them again.

  ◆◆◆

  The plane was about to land. Jane looked through the window and saw LAX. A broad smile appeared on her face. She was finally home, the place she thought she won’t see again, the one she dreamed about while she was in Chile.

  The moment her foot stepped on American soil Jane forgot about the team, the sadness and the loneliness. She was happy. All through the walk to the exit of the airport Jane was looking around with so
much excitement as if she was seeing it for the first time.

  Blake got out of the airport and took a taxi to the motel she was living in now. She knew everything would be on its place because she had paid the rent for a whole year.

  Jane stopped in front of the door of her room, hoping for Erik to be there. It was dark inside but it was around midnight so maybe he was sleeping. Blake tried to open but it was locked. She knocked several times but nobody answered. Jane looked around, it was deserted, everyone was sleeping. Then she thought of calling the manager for a key but decided it was too late and she can manage to unlock the door on her own. Blake searched in the backpack for a hairpin or paper clip but couldn’t find one so she started looking around for some kind of a wire, when a familiar voice interrupted her.

  “Jane! I can’t believe it!” shouted Erik.

  “Ricky!” Blake turned and saw him smiling at her.

  He made few fast steps towards her with open arms. They hugged and stayed like this for a while. Jane was happy to be home, glad that Erik made it to the States, and excited to tell him everything.

  Erik unlocked the door and gave her the key back. They went inside, it was just the way she remembered it, except it was cleaner than the time she was living there. Erik was taking good care of the place.

  “Mr. Carmichael thinks I’m your brother and you went on a vacation to Florida. I had to think of something when I came here.” Started Erik with a cheerful tone.

  “Okay, bro, no problem!” Jane laughed. “So what happened?” she sat on the chair and Erik went to the kitchen to prepare coffee.

  “What do you mean?” he asked with a surprise. “I went to the city and took the next flight to LA as you told me to do. I came to the motel with a taxi and send the message to your boyfriend…argh…I mean Ryan Gray, the next morning.” Explained Erik, served the coffee and sat next to Jane. “What happened to you? No offence but you look like crap.”

  Jane didn’t answer straight away. The smell of the freshly made coffee filled her nostrils and she enjoyed a few sips in silence. It was so long ago, for her it felt like centuries, since the last time she drank а coffee so good.

  Minutes later she spoke thoughtfully “But you came back, Ricky, right? You saved me and brought me to Nancy. Thank you!”

  “Wait, wait, what? Saved you and carried you to … What?!” Erik was stunned. “I didn’t do any of that. I was here. I even got a job!”

  “So it wasn’t you.” Concluded Jane puzzled “Then who?”

  “Why did you need to be saved? In what mess did you get in, Jane?” Erik said worried and started looking at her from head to toe. But Blake looked fine and he calmed down a bit.

  Jane told him everything that happened including the fact she had temporary amnesia. The one detail she missed out was Nancy’s story, Jane didn’t want to involve Erik in the search for the real killer of Nancy’s mother. Blake knew he would want to help, but she didn’t want to get him in trouble after he cleaned his act and even got a job.

  Erik listened through the story silently. At the end he said only “I knew I shouldn’t have left you alone.”

  “It was better that way.” Jane smiled and scratched her waist side. The spot was very itchy ever since Nancy removed the stiches - she told Jane it was normal, it meant the skin was healing. Blake went and opened one of the kitchen drawers and took out a pack of cigarettes. Erik lifted his eyebrows in surprise.

  “You smoke?” he asked.

  “I quit them, but right now I need one.” Jane answered and came back to the round table holding an ashtray, lighter and the pack of cigarettes. She lighted one up ignoring Erik’s disapproval and spoke again “So you sent Ryan the message, you didn’t deliver it in person?”

  “Yes, I thought if I go there the cops will interrogate me and I didn’t really like the idea. But I am sure he got the message. He came that day with another older man, they knocked on the door for a while and when no one opened, they went back to their car discussing the letter. I was in front of the motel and listened to every word. They were worried sick.” Explained Erik.

  “Well, they didn’t come. And I’m sure Morse is long gone.” Sighted Jane and continued with a smile “You got a job! Well done! Where?”

  “At the Playa Del Mar Hotel, it’s this fancy hotel near the beach. Do you know it? I’m a bartender at the beach bar. They pay good, I like it, and the accommodation is free. I have a room at the hotel, but I come here every day because I was waiting for you.” Said Erik and smiled back at Jane. She could see how happy he was that she was back. He really missed her.

  “Thanks, Ricky! I am really proud of you!” Jane said and added “And you look better now!”

  “Thanks! I go to the gym from time to time, I feel way better!” said Erik his smile widened.

  Jane noticed he gained some weight, he had a good haircut, his hair was as untidy as before but it looked like it was that way on purpose, he was wearing clothes, which suited his age. He looked like a man and not like the boy she met in Chile.

  They spent the night talking. Jane was enjoying the conversation but at six in the morning she felt she needed some sleep. Erik had to go to work anyway so they said goodbye to each other and he went out.

  Blake slept for a couple of hours. She couldn’t sleep more even if she wanted to, she was used to the sleep schedule she and Erik had in Chile. Jane took a shower, got dressed, took the car keys, her gun, some cash and went out.

  Jane stood in front of the motel wondering where she should go. For a moment she thought of going to the Station but realized she didn’t want to see any of her colleagues, especially Ryan. Then decided to visit her old hacker friends. Blake wanted to repay Nancy, to bring her back to her family, so she was going to investigate Mrs. Downer’s murder.

  Jane went to the parking lot, hoping her car will still be there and luckily it was. She got in and drove off fast. She wanted to see the beach, she wanted to drive and listen to music, she wanted to come back to her old self.

  On the way she bought a burner phone and called the hackers. Jane asked them to open the police file of Nancy’s mother in exchange for a generous amount of money.

  ◆◆◆

  Blake stopped at a parking near the beach and stepped out of her car. The light breeze was soothing, it cleared her head, it calmed her down and she was no longer thinking of what had happened the past few months. Jane slowly walked to the beach, sat on the sand and enjoyed the sweet music of the splashing waves.

  Her phone rang, taking her out of her trans – it was her hacker-friends asking where to send the information they have found. That was the moment Blake realized that her laptop and everything in her backpack was still in the tree in Chile. Jane told them just to tell her what they had found since she didn’t have a computer nearby.

  They informed her that Ana Downer was the name of the victim and the case was opened twenty-two years ago. The evidence against Nancy was ridiculous, Nancy’s fingerprints and several of her hairs on the bed. “Of course,” Jane thought, “she was her daughter after all, what did they expect?” Obviously, they concluded that Nancy was the killer because she didn’t have an alibi and because she was arguing with her mother the day before. Blake asked for the crime scene address but it turned out Nancy’s sister, Mrs. Shelton, sold the property so Jane got Mary Shelton’s home and work addresses instead.

  “Oh, one more thing, Mary’s husband, George Shelton, checked in at a hotel down town two days ago.” Said one of the hackers and told Jane the address.

  “Thanks, guys!” said Jane.

  Blake headed to Mr. Shelton first, after all he was in LA. Jane preferred to talk to him first and then to drive to Texas.

  She stopped in front of a fancy looking hotel and walked to the reception.

  “Hello, I have a meeting with Mr. George Shelton!” lied Jane to the receptionist. She looked at Blake as if she didn’t understand a word. It looked like the girl was newly hired and didn’t know the protocol well, s
o after several minutes she gave Jane the room number Shelton was at and let her go in.

  Blake took the elevator and pushed the seventh floor button. She had a weird feeling something wasn’t right. And soon enough she understood why.

  When the elevator doors opened she saw Nick standing at the hallway talking to Ian. Jane’s heart started beating furiously, she pushed the button for the lobby but it was too late, Ryan got out of the room opposite the elevator and saw her just before the door closed.

  Blake got to the lobby and hurried through it but Gray ran out of the staircase and stopped her.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked breathlessly and somehow coldly.

  “I had work to do.” Jane answered calmly even though her insides were burning, her heart was beating like crazy and she wanted to scream.

  “What work?” Gray continued with the questions.

  “A friend needs help. What are you doing here?” Jane answered.

  “We are doing our job.” Ryan cut and he looked like he will turn his back on her. “What was that letter you sent me?”

  “I’ve found him. But obviously you didn’t care.” Blake was making great effort not to scream that at him.

  Ryan’s mouth curved into a sarcastic smile. He looked at her for a moment, turned around and headed to the elevator without a word.

  Jane was stunned, she didn’t believe what just happened. She followed him with eyes. What was she supposed to do now? She had to go back to talk to Mr. Shelton, but with the team around she didn’t feel she should be there. Blake stayed frozen on her place, watching Ryan waiting for the elevator. The familiar sound indicated it was there and the doors opened. Nick and Ian went out of it and ran to Jane ignoring Ryan.

  “Hey! I’m glad you’re here!” Nick hugged her tightly and Jane hugged him back, her eyes still fixed on Ryan who was now looking at them, leaning on the wall next to the elevator.