The Altruism Effect: Book One (Mastermind Murderers Series 1)

by Kristin Helling

  “Hey!”

  The person forcing her into the car froze.

  “Raine? Is that you?”

  As she heard her name, she was dropped to the pavement. She landed on her hands, coughing and gasping for air. She lifted her head to try and see who had grabbed her, but all she saw was a face full of exhaust as the car peeled out and tore off down the road.

  Terrified tears almost overcame her, and she stayed on the pavement a moment before looking up to see a beefy guy kneeling by her side, out of breath.

  “I thought it was you! Did you know that man?” he asked.

  Raine shook her head.

  The man kneeling beside her in a football jersey and shorts was a kid from one of her psychology classes. He must have recognized her from across the street.

  “Thank… thank you,” she breathed.

  “We need to tell someone about this. Like now-”

  “No!”

  He stood back, dumbfounded. “You were just assaulted. On a university campus.”

  “I don’t want to deal with it. Please. Just, please let it go.”

  They sat together on the pavement a moment under the spill of the streetlamp. “Can I walk you to wherever you want to go then?”

  “I’d really like that,” she whispered. She wasn’t sure what to think. He’d just saved her life. But she’d read and seen on social media about all the cases of university harassment that slipped under the radar. She didn’t want to kick up the sand in a new school that she’d worked so hard to get into. She’d be told it was an isolated incident. Or she could get in trouble for underage drinking, or for going to that party with upperclassmen to begin with. The university might tell her that she was just another girl trying to get attention. She didn’t want to mess up her chance at a reputable degree. She couldn’t tell her roommate, because Maggie would be mad at her for leaving the party early. Maggie would say if she hadn’t left early it never would have happened. She couldn’t tell her parents, because they’d be on the next flight out here, or make her come home. They’d obviously make her report it. They’d be mad at her for walking at nighttime alone.

  She’d thought she was safe. She hadn’t been aware of her surroundings. I wasn’t paying attention to every detail around me as I walked alone. My carelessness caused this terrible thing, or almost really terrible thing, to happen. It’s really all my fault.

  The football player from her introductory psych class put out his hand for her and she took it, using his strength to pull her to her feet.

  She was shaking all over, made worse by all the thoughts going through her mind.

  “That was messed up, man,” the guy said as they walked next to each other down the street she’d been dragged down just moments before.

  Raine couldn’t keep her knees from trembling uncontrollably as she readjusted her purse and wiped away the tears. One foot in front of the other. They walked until they got to the door of her dormitory.

  Without even looking her hero in the face she mumbled, “Thank you so much.”

  “Anytime. You sure you’re okay?”

  She nodded her head and fumbled in her purse for her ring of keys and building fob.

  “Okay. Hey, I’ll see you in class.”

  She nodded once more, and unlocked the front door.

  When she got into her room, locked the door, and crawled into bed in the same clothes she’d been wearing all day, she pulled out her phone. Her fingers shook as she texted Maggie:

  Safe.

  TEN

  “So you never told anyone?” Arie asked.

  She shook her head, and remembered that he couldn’t see her. “I never did. And… ” her voice cracked, “I’ve never told anybody that story before. But I can pinpoint that day as a pivotal moment in my life. After that, I was always looking over my shoulder. Anywhere I went, I’d formulate in my mind what I would do in specific situations. Like, if I was leaving the grocery store, what would I do if somebody was underneath my car, waiting to cut the tendon behind my ankle as I unlocked the door?”

  “Damn.” he breathed.

  “I’m a psychologist. I help people every day with disorders like this. Paranoia. Anxiety. Things that get so bad that they impair your normal life. I help people sort this shit out all the time! But how am I supposed to be a good life coach, if I can’t even handle my own anxieties and paranoia? How am I supposed to live a life where I’m constantly looking over my shoulder for that man in the black trench coat to come up behind me and grab me again, to take my life away?”

  Arie remained quiet.

  “I self prophesied getting taken. And look where I am now. This prison. It’s a prison all right, but not legal by any means.”

  “I know.”

  “You know?”

  “Well, isn’t it obvious, Raine? Look at our cages. You think I think this is a government facility?”

  “Well, no.”

  “It’s just a matter of who, right? Just like in your story. You don’t know who the man with the black trench coat was, do you, or the fact that maybe he wasn’t wearing a black trench coat at all? Maybe your mind made that visual up as time went on, filling in the pieces that your memory failed to. In your original story, you never said you could even see what the man looked like.”

  “You’re right. I hadn’t thought about that before. But it’s comforting, believe it or not, in this circumstance, to put a visual with the situation.”

  “I do that all the time here. I don’t care who the unknown higher power is, running the place. All I see is the guards and how they treat me. To me, the guards are the face of why I’m in here.”

  Raine turned around on her knees and crawled towards the front of the cage. “Arie, come here. Come to the front of the cage.” She heard a soft shuffling next to her. “I want to tell you something, but it has to be quiet, and it has to be quick.” She saw his fingers stretching to her cage. “When I was taken away from here, a guard told me that-” She lowered her voice even more, “-that he was also here against his will. He doesn’t remember what happened, just like me, but he knows that he has to follow commands from someone or there are consequences.”

  “The guards were kidnapped as well?”

  “Yes.”

  “How do you know he wasn’t just telling you that to get information out of you, to bring back to whoever’s higher up?” he asked.

  “The situation… I don’t know. I just feel like I can trust the guy. Don’t you find it strange, though? This is a bigger operation than we thought.”

  He was quiet for a moment, and then mumbled something.

  Raine pushed her ear up against the cool bars. “Hm?”

  “I just said… well the guards are the ones that enforce the punishment, therefore, they are the face of this madness for me. I don’t give a shit that they have a higher up. That’s their problem.”

  Raine pursed her lips. “That’s valid, but we need a plan B. Because Plan A didn’t work.”

  “While you were gone, Meg came and talked to me.”

  “What did she have to say?” Raine rubbed her eyes, sliding her hands over her forehead to her hair. How is it that Megan has free rein of the prison? It doesn’t make any sense. Arie trusts her but not the guard?

  “She said to hang tight. She’s working on another plan. She’s most of the reason that I keep sane here in this place. Look around you. Look at these people,” he whispered.

  Raine sighed. Megan’s hope would have to do for now. At least someone was working on something. She placed her hand on her achy stomach, and looked out the bars into the row of cages. There were so many, though not all of them were occupied. The two guys she saw in the cages directly across from her rarely stirred. She always caught them sleeping or laying there lethargic. They were human, just like her.

  Her first night here—who kn
ows how long ago that was—she was told she was in a place for murderers. The more time that passed behind bars, the more slivers of truth she uncovered.

  She leaned back in the cage.

  The Warden. Ever since the guard told her about this authority, she couldn’t stop thinking about the possibilities. She’d studied the human mind, in textbooks, clinically, and throughout her life. Was the guard telling the truth? Was there somebody else that was blackmailing him? Somebody who had the capability to kidnap all these people from their daily lives, and go unnoticed?

  Though the more time that went by, the less likely it was that anybody would find her. Surely if she missed work at all, Marcus and Troy would be looking for her. She never missed a day of work.

  Troy. The thought crossed her mind that set chills up her spine, jolting her. He had quite a bit of access to her. She’d let her guard down around the office, a place where he knew she was vulnerable.

  Could Troy pull off an operation like this? She’d contemplated his mental state, which was a common and natural occurrence for her, someone who’d studied the human condition. The first step to learning psychology is to diagnose all those who are close.

  Troy used to hang out in Marcus and Raine’s study group when they were researching their dissertations. When she and Marcus had the idea to open a practice together after they graduated, Troy was quick to jump on it.

  She’d recognized misogyny early on in Troy. He’d undermine her when she’d answer one of the questions on their study guide. She just ignored it, finding him somewhat of a jealous person. He was the opposite of her, often loud and obnoxious. When she tried to hold a conversation with him, he’d talk over her and not wait for her response after asking a question. He carried himself with arrogance, an air that he was better than everyone.

  She was aware of this going into practice with him, but Marcus said things would be different. They weren’t, really.

  She couldn’t help but hate Troy more as she sat on the concrete of this prison.

  Troy’s not capable of an operation like this, she thought. Yes, surely the kidnapper, the Warden, had to have some sort of connection to her in her real life, but Troy wasn’t organized enough to pull off something this elaborate, with so many people involved. Was he?

  “So what happened when you were gone, Raine?” Arie asked from the other side of the wall.

  “I told you. I had that conversation with the guard.” She said.

  “It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You were gone for so long. I’m thinking it had to be half a day.”

  She didn’t like that thought. She didn’t like feeling vulnerable, not knowing what happened to her, the fact that anything could have been done to her while she was unconscious. She even opted for Novocain over anesthesia when she had her wisdom teeth extracted. She couldn’t stand the thought of being unconscious and not in control. “I don’t know, Arie. I don’t know what happened to me. I have these moments in time that are just blank. I can’t even freakin’ remember what I was doing before I woke up in this hellhole!” The walls on all four sides closed in on her in her mind. It was such a tiny space. She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t get out.

  “Breathe.”

  She heard his voice. Why is he talking to me? Why does he even care? He’s got Meg. He doesn’t need me. I’m just slowing him down. So many thoughts raced through her mind, hitting all the curves inside. She closed her eyes and breathed. Inhale. Exhale. That’s all she had to do. Nothing else. Just inhale and exhale.

  “Are you hungry?” he asked.

  She opened her eyes and cupped her hands over her stomach. “I’m starving,” she admitted.

  “When you were gone, Meg brought us all some food. I wasn’t sure if you’d get fed. I saved you some bread. Come to the front of your cage.”

  She was already there.

  “See if you can reach.” He slipped a piece of bread through the bars.

  She reached to grab it, thought she had it, but dropped it on the floor. She stretched her fingers out the best she could, so far that she felt like she would almost rip her middle finger off, the longest finger, but she reached the bread.

  As she leaned into the bars, the lock on the door snapped, and chinked to the floor.

  “Did you get it?” he asked.

  She froze as she looked down at the lock on the floor, then back up through the bars. The two guys across from her cage were either out cold, pushed to the back, or taken out. It was so dark in the warehouse, she couldn’t tell.

  She felt like she was in shock, all her muscles tense and shaky as she reached out and touched the door, pushing it forward. It creaked. “Arie,” she said, almost inaudible.

  “What’s wrong?” He was at the front of his cage.

  “It’s unlocked.” She finished pushing open the door and peered out, down the row both ways. She crawled out of the cage and grabbed the bread, bringing it up to her lips. Nothing tasted better in her entire life, and she closed her eyes, chewed it up, and swallowed. As her body felt the food going down her throat, her stomach grumbled. “Thank you,” she whispered, finishing off the bread and feeling the lock on Arie’s door with her fingers.

  “How… ?” He gaped at her and clutched both hands around the bars in front of his face.

  “You think the guard… is it possible he did it on purpose?” she asked, as she continued to finger his lock. “I can’t get yours.”

  “You’re just going to have to go.”

  “I can’t, I don’t know where to go.”

  “Go down. Find those stairs Meg was talking about.”

  “What if he sees me? The guard said he’s always watching. I’m scared.”

  “Raine. Look at me. Be scared for your life. This is your chance.”

  “What if the consequences are worse?” She grabbed the bars he was holding and put her forehead up against the cage. “I can’t leave without you, Arie.” The urgency and panic in her voice was palpable.

  “You have to give it a shot. You can do this. I believe in you. Hey. Look at me.” He reached through the bars and tilted her chin up.

  She came face to face with him, staring right into his stony, green-flecked, gray eyes.

  “You are strong. Run. You can come back for me. If you’re caught, give them hell.”

  Her lip trembled, and she nodded her head to show him that she understood.

  He reached through the bars and ran his thumb down her cheek. “They got you pretty bad,” he whispered. “You’re bruised.”

  “You’re pretty banged up yourself,” she whispered back, observing his purple cheekbone and bloodshot eyes.

  “You’re strong willed. You can do this. You have to.”

  “I’ll come back for you.” And as much as she hated the thought of leaving him behind in the cage, she turned away. Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness. She slowly crept down the row of cages, her bare feet noiseless on the cold, damp concrete. They carried her down the same path she’d been dragged down before, towards the second set of double doors.

  ELEVEN

  Raine pushed her way through the darkness to the wall, moving like a ghost. She traced her hands along the oversized cement blocks. Standing still a moment, she listened for any signs of movement that sounded like it was outside of a cage. When she felt like the coast was clear, she heard the echo of footsteps. They were loud and booming, steel toed boots, pacing slowly up and down the row to her right. She wouldn’t have to pass that row to get out, but she needed to move quickly, because she couldn’t predict which way the guard would be headed.

  There were two day guards and two night guards. Although she never knew when it was day or night, she had to assume that this was one of the night guards.

  She looked over her shoulder, back at her cage. Wi
thout realizing it, she had closed the door behind her, so a guard wouldn’t notice it ajar. Arie was still locked up. There was no time to think about that. She needed to go.

  She crept down the wall to the double doors. Luckily, the door was ajar, though it wasn’t open enough for her to slip through. She looked over her shoulder. She couldn’t see the guard. She was going to have to pull open the massive steel door just a little bit to slip through, regardless of her petite frame. There was no other way. She’d already gone too far.

  She clutched the door with both hands and tugged with all her strength. The rusty hinge made a terrible creaking sound, something that sounded like nails on a chalkboard, and she closed her eyes as she slipped through and threw herself up against the wall on the other side.

  “It already time?”

  She heard the booming, deep, throaty voice on the other side of the door, in the warehouse.

  “I thought I still had another quarter of the shift?”

  The voice was getting closer. The pounding of the guard’s steel toed boots hitting the concrete floor echoed off her skull as she put her hand up to her mouth to quiet her breathing.

  The footsteps stopped. There was a moment of painful silence.

  “Hmph.”

  He was right on the other side of the door.

  A moment later, footsteps echoed again. This time they were beginning to sound more and more faint.

  She rested her hand down by her side and exhaled, looking down the long dimly-lit hallway. She tiptoed, looking into the corners to see if there were cameras. In this day and age, cameras were easy to hide, and surely they were everywhere. But she couldn’t do anything except keep going.

  There were doors on the right side of the corridor, since the warehouse covered most of the left.

  She passed by the only familiar door—the one that she’d been in with the nice guard.

  She recalled Arie telling her that Megan said the stairs were at the end of the hall. Of course she didn’t know which end, but she had to choose.