A Game of Greed and Deception: A Mystery Drama

by John Mathews

  The hunter shook his head from side to side. “Nope. Ain’t seen no one else out here in months til just now, talking to you. Not many people want to be out here in this kind of weather. And why do you think your man would just be wandering around here anyways? Don’t be wanna be inside the cabin with you?”

  “Well of course he does. What kind of a question is that? But he disappeared yesterday and I’ve got reason to believe that he’s stuck out here somewhere and might be dangerous. Stephen is a crazy man and I done think he’s lost all of his marbles. Do you get what I’m saying?”

  The hunter squinted with an inquisitive expression. “Ya lady, I get it. You ain’t been pleasing the rooster in the hen house so he had to go out for some eggs. Hahaha. It happens every time with you damn pretty women. Always thinking your shit don’t stink. You probably ask him for the world and then don’t show no appreciation when you get it. Well lucky for you I’m here if you need some practice.”

  Tammy balled her hand into a fist behind her back. She felt a bit of a headache coming on. “Actually, that wasn’t it, but thanks for your concern.” Her tone definitely had a formal edge to it now. “If you do see anyone out here, would you kindly come knock on the cabin door and let me know? It’s important. If my husband is crazy enough to do something awful to me, than he sure as hell won’t back off from doing something if he finds you.”

  The hunter let out a big chuckle. “You think I can’t take care of myself, lady? I’ve been living off the land for bout as long as you been LIVING. I don’t care nothing bout you or your husband. In the meantime, keep that pretty little face and titties the way they are and be ready to take care of your man when he gets back. He gonna need it.”

  Tammy decided that there was little else to gain from chatting with this strange and demented person. She turned around and started to go back through the canopy. She moved carefully out from under the trees and made her way back around to the front of the cabin. Soon she was back inside the living room and had locked the front door behind her.

  Tammy laid back on the sofa in the living room while propping her leg up to think about her options. So Stephen climbed on the rooftop to put the cinder block down the chimney. Then he must’ve come in through the den at night while we were sleeping and went down into the wine cellar. But where in the hell did that trap in the cellar come from? And how is he moving on the rooftop like some kind of tracking animal? He seems to know this cabin really damn well. Why didn’t he try to come into my bedroom when I was asleep? And if he lost a dress shoe up on the rooftop, then what is he wearing now without his winter boots?

  She looked outside the front window and saw that the sun had finished setting, knowing that it was getting late. Soon the temperature will drop even further and it’s gonna be damn cold in here. I think the best thing for me to do will be to sleep in the den. I shouldn’t call the police back now because when they come out here, they could find evidence of foul play, Stephen, or both. And Maria is losing trust in me which will only make things worse. Although she would also be an alibi since I was in the cabin with her when Stephen left with the car. So I could play things really nice with Maria, make sure Stephen doesn’t get inside the cabin again, and just wait for the police and hope for the best….but I may also need to try to find Stephen and try to handle him myself. I need to have Maria on my side if possible. She needs to know that Stephen is the one who’s crazy, not me. She’s a spoiled little brat anyways and needs to come to her fucking senses on her own about what her father is doing right now.

  Tammy lit up a cigarette with the lighter marked SW and gazed upwards towards the ceiling. Voices were echoing inside her head. Why is everything always so hard on me? It’s so damn unfair! I gotta do everything myself. When I was little I had to learn to ride my first bicycle all alone. And the kids made fun of me when I fell off. Nobody ever noticed anything special about me except for being pretty. That’s why they all made fun of me, they were just so jealous. She let out a long breath of smoke and watched as it disappeared into the air. And I never had a damn anger problem either. All those therapists were full of shit, there was nothing wrong with me, it was everyone else around me that was screwed up. I never should have been put on all those damn medications.

  A rush of excruciating pain shot through Tammy’s head. Goddam it, not another migraine! She pounded her fist on the end table. Her thoughts were foggy and her temples felt like they were about to burst. She leaned down, burying her face in her hands. The feeling of inadequacy and being unfairly treated had come over her again. Her mind wandered, drifting off into memories from years ago. It took her back to that event, when she was only six years old, that would change the perception of her in those around her…

  ***

  “Tammy, now don’t go wandering off. Stay on the playground where I can see you.”

  The little girl nodded towards her mother. She ran around the merry-go-round, pushing on it, loving to see it spin faster and faster. The other children giggled and basked in the feeling of delight. Then Tammy went over to the rocket ship tower with a long metal slide. She climbed up the ladder and got inside the rocket. Two other children were in front of her waiting to go down the slide. One of them was Bobby, a boy she had seen before and hated deeply. He teased her relentlessly and seemed to be envious of the compliments that Tammy received from many of the parents. Tammy stood closely behind Bobby and nudged him a bit with her shoulder. Bobby turned around to see her.

  “Trashy-Tammy, Trashy-Tammy” he screamed in her face.

  “Shut up.” Tammy had been hearing this insult from him throughout her entire first grade year.

  “Make me, make me.”

  Tammy’s face turned red with anger. “I said SHUT UP.”

  “And your mom is fat. Trashy mom, trashy mom.” He laughed at Tammy, and then turned around and ignored her. The child in front of him got off the slide at the bottom, and now it was Bobby’s turn.

  He walked out onto the platform at the top of the slide, some ten feet above the ground. Before he could sit down, Tammy charged him, and launched herself into him from behind, as hard as she could. After the collision, Tammy fell over, landing on the slide, and coming down awkwardly but unhurt. Bobby was not so fortunate. He went flying off the platform, falling to the ground, landing hard on his shoulder. His screams and cries were deafening, caused by the pain of sustaining multiple fractures.

  Tammy’s mother raced over and grabbed the little girl in astonishment. “Oh my God, what have you done?” Tammy kept a still face and showed no sign of emotion. But inside, she was laughing. She felt instant gratification for getting her way and teaching somebody else a lesson. She looked up at her mother with a sweet, innocent look, pushing her lower lip out. “It was an accident, mommy.”

  ***

  She lifted her head up from the palms of her hands. The pain had lessened and her head was beginning to clear up. Everyone has always been jealous of me. That little boy was hateful. He made fun of me and got exactly what he deserved. For those therapists to label me as anti-social – what a load of crap! That’s how the world works, dad taught me that. You always get what is coming to you. Like when mom was not giving dad the attention that he needed, what did he do? He went out and got himself another girl. I deserved Stephen’s money from the very beginning. If an older guy is gonna get a young, pretty girl, he has to pay for it. Everyone knows that. All the pretty girls he had before me were just prostitutes! Tammy’s heart was racing and she wiped some sweat from her brow.

  And you know what else? He had so many of those whores before me, how the hell could I let him go from them to me. That’s a fucking insult! He never even deserved me from the beginning. I was simply too good for him. Anyone else in my situation would completely agree with me. And little Maria just got caught up in it all. Sorry about her luck, but she can’t stand in my way. She’ll learn, ‘cause life just works that way.

  Tammy felt fire in her veins. When she talked her problems out
to herself, she got invigorated about what was the right thing to do. So why the hell should I let Stephen get off the hook? And he has the damn nerve to try and hurt me? There ain’t no way I can let any man control me like that. So what is the right thing to do, Tammy? Get mad? No, no. I need to look out for number one. I’m gonna get even. If he wants to play games then we’ll play games. She put out her cigarette and flicked it to the floor. She started chuckling to herself. He must have come in through the open window in the den last night, so I think he’s gonna try that again tonight. And with it being so cold out tonight he’s gonna need to get into the heat. I know exactly what I need to do.

  Tammy jumped up and went over to the fireplace. Bending down, she took a deep breath, and slowly moved the concrete hollowed-out cinder block out from inside the fire pit. She reached up and made sure that the fireplace damper was closed. Putting both hands underneath the cinder block, she carried it into the den despite the sharp pain in her calf. Panting heavily, she dropped the block, wiped some sweat from her brow, and examined the layout of the room. That bitch is heavy. These windows are about five feet above the floor. He’ll get on the roof from the bridge, and have to climb down and in through that window. Then he’ll have to come inside legs first and jump down. He’ll be looking at the floor when he comes through that window and won’t see anything above him. Let’s leave him a little gift. She bent down, untied the rope from the chest, and then took it out from the window clasps. Looking at the wall where the rope had been hanging, Tammy removed the two large hooks.

  She screwed the hooks back into the wall, one on either side of the windows, just below the top of the sill. Then she took the rope, wound it through the holes in the cinder block, and put the two ends of the rope over the two hooks. She pushed the window open several inches. Gathering all her strength, Tammy lifted the cinder block up on her shoulder and held it with both hands to keep it from falling. She took a deep breath and slowly got up on one of the chairs. Then she set the block on top of the ledge above the window. It was the right size by a couple inches to keep from falling down, with the back of the block firmly against the wall. She placed a piece of cardboard that she had taken from inside one of the kitchen cupboards and put it between the top of the window and the cinder block. Lastly, she secured each end of the rope near the floor by tying them to the base of the shelving unit, and made sure that the rope was taught.

  Tammy looked up while licking her lips to admire her work. That’s perfect. He’ll have to open the window more to get inside. If he looks up, he’ll just see the cardboard and think that it’s sitting on top of the ledge. As he opens the window a bit, that rope will slide the block on the cardboard. His legs will already be halfway inside the room. Then he’ll push his head and arms inside and force the window open all the way to climb in. Then BOOM – that block will fall off of the cardboard and come crashing down right on top of his head. It will crush his skull into pieces. He’s gonna get exactly what’s fucking coming to him.

  She opened up the sofa bed and then moved the coffee table, with the bloody knife and dagger, right next to it. She went back to the small bathroom, took the bottle of chloroform along with a couple of cloths, and set them on the coffee table in the den next to the knife and dagger. When that bastard tries to come inside, if that cinder block doesn’t kill him, I’ll be able to finish the damn job myself.

  Tammy left the den, locking the door behind her, and went into the kitchen. She took one of the cans of soda that she had hidden in the back of the cupboard. Then she took a few deep breaths and went and knocked on the door of Maria’s room. “Can I come in?”

  Maria spoke through the door. “Help yourself, I can’t stop you.”

  Tammy opened the door to see Maria sitting at the antique writing desk drawing on a tablet of paper. “Whatcha drawing there, honey?”

  Maria looked up and rolled her eyes. “I’m just sketching the view outside my window. The way the snow has covered the trees is like what I saw in movies.”

  “Bless your heart dear, that’s just lovely. It really is a great landscape.” Tammy put her hand gently on Maria’s shoulder. “I brought you a soda to drink. I just found it in the back of one of the cupboards in the kitchen and I wanted you to have it. Isn’t that nice?” She paused and rubbed her hand through the girl’s long, blond hair. “I’m sorry about earlier, baby, but this whole situation with your father missing has done got me goin’ crazy. And we’re stuck in a cabin so far away from anything without any running water or heat. Can you see how that might make me upset?”

  “Ya, well it stinks for me too,” Maria retorted. “I really miss dad. But why do you act like he would try and hurt us? He’s been gone since last night and all of a sudden you think he is a stalker or something? My dad and I are really close. He would never do anything to hurt me.”

  Tammy shrugged. “Well then maybe he’s just angry at me, Maria. I dunno, but I told you about the things that have been happening since we got here. It’s not just coincidence, that’s for sure. Sometimes people just get crazy and don’t know what they’re doin’. You know how much stress Stephen had been under before we decided to take this little vacation. And he was so excited about coming up here that it was more like a dream to him. I think he’s done temporarily lost his mind.” She patted Maria on the shoulder. “Maybe I just overreacted to everything. I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation and that everything is gonna be just fine. I need you to be helping me find your father, not fighting me. Fair enough?”

  Maria shrugged.

  “Well I sure hope that we’re still friends. I’ll fix up some beef and vegetable soup for supper with some biscuits that I found. How does that sound? I can also open up a can of baked beans and heat em up.”

  “Okay,” Said Maria hesitantly.

  They ate quietly with Tammy smiling affectionately at Maria from time to time.

  When they had finished, Tammy gathered up the dishes and announced, “I’m fixin’ to clean up and go to bed. I’m gonna sleep in the den tonight so that I can better survey the cabin. Do you have enough blankets to keep yourself warm in your room?”

  Maria looked up at Tammy. “Ya, I guess so.”

  “Fine. You can take another blanket from the master bedroom if you need it. I’ll put some more snow into the sink to melt. There are enough snack foods and canned goods in the kitchen cupboard to make it through tomorrow.” Maria nodded. “See, now isn’t it nice when us girls get along and think things out together? Goodnight sweetheart.” Tammy left the room and closed the door behind her.

  That should keep her ass calm enough until I can figure out what needs to be done next. No matter what shit Stephen tries with me, I gotta keep his little girl close to my side. She entered the master bedroom and opened Stephen’s luggage. Then she rummaged around inside looking through his clothes. She removed one of his warm designer shirts, and started to rip it at the sleeve. After tearing a piece of the fabric off, she took it into the small bathroom. She reached up and opened the small window in the back wall. Some tree branches could be seen extending just outside it. She took the piece of fabric, caught part of it on the tip of a branch, and then closed the window over the tip of the sleeve. Perfect. I will make sure to notice that in the morning and show it to Maria. The sooner she thinks that Stephen is trying to hurt us, the sooner she will totally turn against him. Tammy took the last can of soda from the cabinet in the kitchen, and went into the den, locking the door behind her with the skeleton key.

  NINE

  Curled up under the covers, Maria was suddenly awakened by a pattering sound against the window. Still half asleep, she rubbed her eyes in the completely dark bedroom and still couldn’t see a thing. The noise got louder, like the sound of shotgun rounds being fired rapidly at a still target. Frightened, she huddled under the covers with the top of the blanket pulled up to her chin, hoping that she was dreaming. She closed her eyes and listened. The popping sound was echoing inside her bedroom. She slowly rea
ched over and turned on the desk lamp. Something was banging against the window outside. She tripped getting out of bed, wincing in pain as her foot bumped against the side table. She knelt down on the floor, and moved slowly over to the window before looking upwards. Large pieces of ice and sleet were pelting the window pane relentlessly. The ice storm outside was ferocious with marble-sized debris hitting the glass, and the noise was becoming deafening.

  Maria looked at the clock to check the time – it was 5:00 am. She rubbed her eyes to wake herself up, thinking that seeing the storm outside made it seem colder inside the room. She observed the relentless pounding against the window, wondering if it might break. Suddenly, there was a crashing sound, and a flash of lightning illuminated the sky outside. Maria gasped for air at what she thought she saw. It looked like the silhouette of a man outside, moving through the snow.

  She stood up and moved close to the window, with her face almost pressed against it, looking into the woods. She waited anxiously for a couple of minutes. Then the lightning struck again. Maria saw the back of a man, moving through the snow, hunched over and carrying something into the woods. The backside of his body looked pitch black like the nighttime sky. Even from that distance there was something bizarre looking about him, and she couldn’t imagine that it could be her father. She fixed her eyes on the spot in the darkness until the lightning struck once more. The image of the dark figure moving through the fluffy white snow was gone. He seemed to have disappeared into the woods.

  Maria backed away to catch her breath. Knowing that she couldn’t sleep under these conditions and scared that the window might break, she put on her shoes and jacket and left the bedroom to look for her stepmother.

  When Maria got into the living room, she saw that the coffee table had been moved a bit further away from the sofa and turned around. She went over to push it back into place and noticed a lighter on the table marked SW. That’s dad’s favorite lighter. But what’s it doing here? He always carries it with him. One side of the shag area rug had been turned up, so she pushed it back down with her shoes. She went into the small bathroom and opened the medicine cabinet. She found some band aids inside and put one on the cut on her foot. Then she took some balls of cotton, a few razor blades and safety pins, and stuck them in her pocket.