The Deadliest Game

by H E Joyce

  ‘I do,’ she said. ‘I’m sorry. It’s ridiculous I know, but I just needed to hear it from your own lips, that’s all. I love you, Michael. I’m so sorry.’

  ‘It’s okay, honey, it’s okay. I love you too.’

  ‘I know you do.’

  They sat in there in silence, their hands locked together. Laura stared at the table, overwhelmed with guilt. Of all the things she could have accused him of...

  ‘Hey, look,’ he said. ‘I promise I won’t do any work this weekend. We can do whatever you like. How does that sound?’

  She smiled up at him. ‘You don’t have to do that. If you have work to do, I won’t mind.’

  ‘There’s nothing that can’t wait,’ he said, running his thumbs over the back of her hands. You’re far more important to me than work. What would you like to do?’

  ‘Oh, I don’t know, anything,’ she muttered. ‘We could just chill out. That’d be nice.’

  ‘Come on, honey, there must be something.’

  She thought for a moment. ‘Well, there is something.’

  ‘Name it.’

  *

  A couple of hours later the three of them, dressed in their waterproof boating gear, made their way down the steep walkway; it was for their own private use, and situated at the edge of their land where the lawn sprawled down to the edge of the cliff. The path went down the couple of hundred feet in stages, a few yards of sloping pathway, then a step down, and so on, and in places, where it turned sharply around the cliff, there was a series of slippery well-worn steps. A wooden handrail was in place for the most part, but in some places it had rotted away completely, making the descent particularly daunting.

  There was only light wind and rain, and the sea was relatively calm. Looking at it, it was difficult to believe that, if the forecast were correct, in just a matter of days the sea would become a raging tempest. Laura held on tightly to Jody’s hand as they made their way down to the boathouse that was built into the rocky cove below. It was in need of repair, and had been long before Laura had bought the property. The paint was all but gone from the timber framework, ravaged by years of salt water, but it would have to wait now until the spring before any work could be carried out. And the boat itself, although still seaworthy, was no better in an aesthetic sense; it was badly in need of some restoration work.

  The single mast light cruising boat had a small cabin and a diesel engine. Michael doubted it would even start after such a long period of being unused. It bobbed up and down in the gentle swell that lapped up around the boathouse.

  ‘Well, there she is. At least she’s still afloat,’ said Michael.

  ‘Yeah, only just though, I’d say,’ Laura said, with a look of dismay. ‘Let’s stay close to the shore, okay?’

  ‘Maybe you’re right. And put your lifejackets on guys,’ Michael said.

  Once they were all aboard safely, and after a few checks, Michael primed the engine and turned the key. The battery struggled, the engine groaned, at first reluctant to start. He turned the key again whilst simultaneously pulling out the throttle, and after a few moments, almost taking him by surprise, it roared into life. He eased up on the throttle and the sound changed to a rhythmic, undulating throb, a wonderful sound that was common only to marine engines.

  They cast off the several lines that tethered the craft and headed out, initially with Michael at the wheel, but once clear of the rocks and heading around the bay towards Brooksville, he let Jody try his hand at steering. Laura sat at the stern and watched them, Michael laughing and joking with Jody so naturally that he could have been his real father. And as she watched, her recent fears seemed distant now; everything seemed so normal again. She was glad she had asked him outright and confronted her fears because his denial of having an affair had completely satisfied her, to such an extent in fact, that she wondered if it had all been nothing more than a fit of insecurity on her part. Either way, it had cleared the air between them. Perhaps now they could get back to some kind of normality. She only knew that she felt happy once again.

  As Michael guided Jody at the wheel, and the small harbour of Brooksville came into view, he turned to her, his voice raised a little to be heard over the noise of the engine. ‘Hey, honey, what do you say to us going out for dinner tonight – just the two of us?’

  ‘That sounds great, but I’m not sure we could get a minder at such short notice.’

  ‘Don’t worry about that, I’m sure Maggie will do it.’

  ‘Well, we can ask I guess.’

  ‘Okay, terrific! You don’t mind if me and your Mom go out tonight, do you Tiger?’

  ‘No, I don’t mind.’

  ‘That’s my man. We’ll give her a call when we get back.’

  ‘Okay,’ Laura said, quite looking forward to an evening away from the house. ‘But we’d better not leave it too late. Maybe we should think about heading back soon.’

  ‘Just a little while longer Mom, please.’

  ‘Okay, just a little longer, honey.’

  There were a number of people in the street at Brooksville; Laura could see them quite clearly milling around, although it was too far away to make out any individuals. A local fishing boat was just heading back to the harbour, having been out to sea long before most people would have even considered leaving their beds. If they had a good catch, then whatever local restaurant Laura and Michael dined at that evening would almost undoubtedly have fresh fish on the menu.

  Going out, just the two of them, was something they had not done for a while, or at least it seemed that way. It would be good for both of them, Laura thought. She looked forward to dressing up for a change, but mostly, it was an opportunity to recapture some of the romance that appeared to have waned during the past few weeks.

  ‘Michael, I think you’d better take a look at this,’ Laura said, staring at the water suddenly seeping through the hull of the boat.

  ‘What is it?’ he said, joining her at the stern. ‘Oh great! Well, I don’t think it’s too serious, but we’d better head back. Best not take any chances. I’ll patch it up when we get to shore. Okay, Cap’n, time to head back,’ Michael shouted across to Jody.

  ‘Awe, do we have to?’

  ‘Sorry, Tiger, I’m afraid so.’ Michael took control of the wheel, turned the boat around and steered it back to the boathouse.

  *

  Laura left Jody with Michael to patch up the small hole with some putty, and made her way back up to the house. Come the spring, the boat would need to be checked over thoroughly, but a basic repair would have to do for now.

  She needed to give Maggie a call as quickly as possible if there was to be any chance of securing her services. At sixteen, there was a distinct possibility she already had plans of her own, either that, or someone may have beaten Laura to it and booked her for babysitting already. She was out of breath by the time she reached the top, and resting her hands on her knees, bent over for a few moments and took in a few deep lungfuls of air. ‘Jesus, I’m really out of condition,’ she said breathlessly.

  The phone was ringing in the hallway, she could hear it faintly as she approached the house, and she increased her pace to reach it before the caller rang off. But as she reached the door, it stopped, and whoever it was, did not wait for the answering machine’s greeting to finish, but hung up. She thought nothing of it, assuming in all probability it was a wrong number, and picking up her address book, located Maggie’s telephone number and dialled it out.

  It sounded to Laura as though she was in a Sam’s Diner, where Michael and Laura had first had a coffee together. At weekends it was often frequented by the town’s teenage population, and the considerable amount of background music and noisy teenage voices pointed to this being the case.

  ‘Hi, Mrs Peterson,’ she answered cheerfully.

  ‘Oh, Hi, Maggie,’ Laura said. ‘I was wondering, would you be free this evening?’

  ‘Yeah, sure! Do you need me to mind for Jody?’

  ‘Well, yes, if
it’s okay?’

  ‘No problem. What time?’

  ‘Would seven-thirty be okay?’

  ‘Sure! Will it be okay if I bring a friend along?’

  ‘Yes, that’s fine – thanks Maggie, I know it’s short notice and I do appreciate it.’

  The phone rang again almost as soon as she’d hung up. It startled her a little, but she answered immediately. ‘Hello, Laura Peterson.’

  There was no answer at first, but she could tell the line was open. She repeated: ‘Laura Peterson.’ There was still no answer, but then, after a moment, the same familiar lamentable breathing that she had heard before. Laura stiffened. ‘Who is this? Look, if you think this is funny – it isn’t, and if you call again I’ll be calling the police, you got that?’

  Then, just as Laura was about to hang up, a woman’s voice. ‘No, I don’t think it’s funny, Laura, not in the least.’ The woman spoke each word slowly and deliberately, with a tone of voice that was sinister and threatening.

  ‘Who are you?’ she said, gripping the phone close to her ear.

  ‘You’ll find that out soon – all in good time.’

  ‘What do you want?’

  ‘It’s quite simple Laura, I want you dead, but until then, I intend to make you suffer.’

  ‘Have you been to my house?’ Laura asked, her heart pounding.

  The woman laughed. ‘Maybe I have, maybe I haven’t. I’m going to make you suffer before I kill you. You won’t know when it’s coming, but I promise you – it is coming.’

  ‘This is ridiculous, why would you want to kill me? I don’t even know you. I’m calling the police…’

  The woman abruptly ended the call and Laura stood there, frozen to the spot, still with the phone in her hand, completely stunned and in a state of shock. She could think of no reason why anyone would do this, but she was certain it was no ordinary crank call. There was true malice and loathing in the woman’s voice that no one in their right mind could possibly mimic.

  She was still standing in stunned silence in the hallway, and still clutching the phone’s handset, when Michael and Jody arrived. She was visibly shaking and tried her best to hide it.

  ‘Honey, what’s wrong?’Michael said.

  His words brought Laura sharply out of the unreal state of mind she had found herself in. ‘Nothing, nothing at all,’ she said, unconvincingly. ‘Go and get out of those wet clothes,’ she said to Jody. He looked at her curiously before doing as she had asked. It was plain even to him that something had upset her.

  After he had gone up the stairs, Michael approached Laura and held her arms. ‘What is it?’ he asked with a grave tone in his voice.

  Laura looked into his eyes; the anxiety she was feeling was palpable, her body shook, she could barely find the words to explain what had just occurred. Michael asked her again. ‘What is it, what’s wrong? Tell me.’

  She burst into tears and buried her head in his chest. ‘Oh, Michael, it was horrible.’

  ‘What was, what was horrible? Who was on the phone?’

  She pulled away from his chest, took a deep breath and tried to compose herself. ‘It was a woman, and she said… she said she was going to kill me.’

  ‘What? Kill you? Are you kidding me? Well who was it?’

  ‘I have no idea. I’m scared, Michael.’

  ‘It’s okay, it’s okay, I’m here. Look, it was probably just a fruitcake.’

  ‘No, I don’t think so.’

  ‘What makes you so sure?’

  ‘I don’t know, there was something in her voice. I can’t explain it, and she knew my name.’

  ‘Do you want me to call the police?’

  ‘I don’t know, I just don’t know.’

  ‘Okay, look; you’ll be with me all over the weekend. Let’s just see if this person calls again. If they do, I’ll call the sheriff. In the meantime, don’t answer the phone, let me answer, okay? Everything’s going to be fine, I promise.’

  She nodded.

  ‘Good, that’s my girl. Look, we’re going to have a nice dinner tonight and just forget about it. It has to be a crank call and nothing more. You go and take it easy and I’ll give Maggie a call.’

  ‘I already have. She’s coming at seven-thirty, but Michael, I’m not so sure about going out and leaving Jody tonight.’

  ‘Hey,’ he said. ’Nothing’s going to happen, I promise. And it’ll do you good to get out, trust me.’

  Laura sighed. ‘I know you’re right, but...’

  ‘No buts. We’ll have a nice meal, a couple of glasses of wine, and come straight home. A couple of hours tops – deal?’

  ‘Deal.’

  *

  Laura checked that every window and door was closed before Maggie arrived, and once she had, she asked, as tactfully as she could so as not to cause alarm, for her to not answer the door to anyone. It was a comfort to Laura to know that Maggie’s friend Janine was with her and that at least the girl would not be completely alone in the house with Jody.

  Michael had booked a table at a restaurant a few miles out of Brooksville; it had a warm, cosy feel with its pine timbered interior, blazing fire, candlelit tables and welcoming staff. They had eaten there before, but not for some time. Even so, they were remembered, and although it was busy, they were given a good table quite close to the crackling log fire. Despite the convivial surroundings, and Michael being perfectly charming and trying his utmost to distract her, Laura felt uneasy. The telephone call from earlier that day haunted her; she could still hear the menacing voice, the pure hatred and venom of the anonymous woman’s words going around in her head.

  The food was excellent at the restaurant, she knew that from their past visits, yet Laura barely looked at the menu, and when the waiter came to take their order she simply asked for a simple penne pasta dish with fennel. Michael ordered a steak with a side order of fries and salad, along with a bottle of claret for the two of them. Laura was quiet and kept glancing at her watch, while Michael tried his best to distract her by doing all the talking as their meal arrived.

  ‘I managed to patch-up the boat, it should be fine in the boathouse till the spring,’ Michael said, carving through the rare steak. The blood that oozed from it, although not something that would usually affect her, turned Laura’s stomach. She did nothing more than pick at her food, just taking the occasional bite, and she drank the wine more as a stiffener to steady her nerves than for enjoyment.

  She could have been a million miles away when she answered him. ‘Oh, that’s great,’ she said.

  ‘Look, try to relax, honey.’

  ‘I can’t relax, Michael. I’m sorry. I’m going to call Maggie.’ She fumbled through her purse, found her cell phone and dialled out their home number. It rang for what seemed an eternity, but eventually, Maggie picked up.

  ‘Peterson residence.’

  ‘Maggie, hi, it’s Laura,’ she said, trying to sound normal and calm.

  ‘Oh, hi Mrs Peterson.’

  ‘Is everything okay?’

  ‘Yes, everything’s fine, we’re watching a movie. Oh, and Jody wanted to make popcorn, I hope that’s alright.’

  ‘Yes, of course it is. Like I said, help yourself to anything you want. So...’ she paused. ‘No problems, no telephone calls or anything?’

  ‘No, no calls, no problems.’

  ‘Well, we won’t be late.’

  ‘There’s no hurry, Mrs Peterson, really, enjoy yourself, we’re having a great time.’

  ‘Okay, Maggie, thanks, I’ll let you get back to the movie. You know my cell phone number if you need to call me for anything, don’t you?’

  ‘Yes, I have it, and I promise I’ll call if I need to.’

  ‘Thanks Maggie, see you later then. Bye now.’

  ‘Okay, do you feel better now?’ Michael said.

  Laura nodded. ‘Yes, a little I suppose.’

  ‘So are you going to try and relax now, and perhaps even try to eat something?’

  ‘I’ll try, yes,’ sh
e said, unconvincingly.

  ‘Maggie’s a sensible girl – you know that. Come on, honey, eat, before your food goes cold.’

  ‘I’m sorry, I guess I’m not very hungry.’

  ‘Stop worrying, I don’t understand why you’re allowing a crank caller to get to you so much. Whoever it was, I guarantee they won’t call again, so just relax.’ He attempted to change the subject. ‘So, Sally will be down next week for Thanksgiving. It’s a pity your parents can’t make it too.’

  ‘Well, they’re not so keen on travelling anymore. But they’ll be quite happy to have a peaceful Thanksgiving, just the two of them and the T.V.’

  Michael raised his glass. ‘Here’s to us.’ Laura chinked glasses with him, reciprocating the words of his toast and trying to smile. ‘To us.’

  *

  Maggie pressed pause on the remote; the movie they were watching froze in the middle of an action scene, causing protest from Jody and Janine. She listened intently and without explanation. Her co-sitter, after an initial sense of irritation, looked at Maggie with concern.

  ‘What is it? What’s wrong?’

  ‘I thought I heard something. Did you hear anything?’

  ‘Like what?’

  ‘I don’t know, someone outside maybe.’

  ‘I didn’t hear anything,’ said Janine dismissively, ‘quit trying to scare us.’

  ‘No, I’m not fooling around, I really thought I heard something.’

  ‘It’s probably just the wind, here, I’ll go take a look.’

  ‘No!’ said Maggie, grabbing Janine’s arm.

  ‘Don’t be such a coward, I’m just going to open the door and take a look.’ She pulled herself free of Maggie’s grip and went to the door, opened it, stood on the porch and looked around. It was pitch black; she could see nothing until she turned to go back indoors, then she saw it, leaned against the wall and immediately next to the door. She recognised it as the sort of thing found at funerals and at gravesides; a floral wreath. She looked around her nervously as she approached it. There was a card attached. The words were not hand-written, but individual letters cut from newspapers then pasted onto the card.