Games of Fire

by Airicka Phoenix

  Outside the door, a hand lifted and lightly caressed the gold plaque drilled into the white door. Dirty fingers traced the numbers the way they longed to caress the soft, rosy cheeks of the girl inside.

  Soon. Soon!

  The time for waiting was nearly at an end. He wouldn’t wait anymore. She was his and the sooner she realized it the better.

  Chapter Thirty

  “It’s a threat!”

  “I already made the call. There’s nothing else I can do right now!”

  “He was here, Ben!”

  Despite their touching attempts at being quiet, her parent’s low hissing woke Sophie the next morning. She rolled over and squinted blindly at the two silhouettes standing across the room beneath the window. Her shifting had the pair stiffening and jerking around to face her.

  “What’s going on?” Sophie croaked, struggling to sit up.

  “Nothing!” her mother said almost automatically.

  “Mary!” her father chided his wife. “She has a right to know.”

  “The police will handle the matter!” her mother protested.

  “Will handle what matter? What’s going on?” Sophie was wide awake now.

  “Something was left outside the door,” her father said, ignoring her mother’s low hiss. “They must have done it sometime while we were sleeping, because it wasn’t here when we arrived.”

  She climbed out of bed, a stupid decision when her knees wobbled dangerously. “They … they know where we are?” Her mouth filled with ashes and copper. “You phoned the police?” Another more frightening thought struck her hard. “Where’s Spencer and Jackie? Have you told them?”

  Her father shook his head. “We wanted to talk to you first. And yes, we phoned the police. They’re on their way.”

  “How did they find us?” she exploded, feeling her nerves unfurling. “How … ? What … ?”

  “Sophie.” Her mother rushed forward and engulfed her in familiar arms. “It’s going to be okay. We’re going to figure this out.”

  But Sophie was shaking so hard, her mother had to tighten her grip when she began to slip, her legs no longer able to maintain strength. Bile rose hot and sour, filling her mouth until the taste of it trickled from her senses. She fought not to cover her mother in it.

  “I told you we shouldn’t have told her!” her mother hissed to her father sharply.

  “How did they find us?” Sophie said again, needing an answer to that very important question. “What are we going to do?”

  “We’re going to tell the police,” her father said reasonably. “Then we’re going to decide from there, but in the meantime, we need to stay calm!”

  Logical. It was all logical. One step at a time. Had to remain calm. Phone the police. Calm. Calm.

  “Sophie, breathe!” Her mother shoved her on the bed and forced Sophie’s head between her knees. “This is why I didn’t want to tell her!”

  “We can’t hide this from her!”

  “Wha … what did they leave?” Sophie interrupted, bolting her nerves down. “What was it?”

  Carefully, as if the object was a bomb, her father lifted something off the table and held it up for Sophie to see.

  It was in a Ziploc bag, sealed and safely stowed away. At first glance, it looked like a piece of paper, but she looked harder and the item came into focus.

  “They left a card?”

  A Christmas card, to be exact, with a big, red flower on the front and loopy, gold letters that wished the holder a Happy Holidays stamped across the center. The inside was blank except for four words.

  See you soon, Sophie.

  It was scribbled in blocky letters just short of crude, but the promise behind them was scrawled in blood. They boiled with a poison so beyond sanity, it carved into her very soul with a pen of ice. It dripped into the recesses of her being with malice. It burned and oozed. The distance between her bed and the bathroom became infinite; miles of endless space choked with jagged wires of steel. She barely made it to the porcelain bowl before Janice’s delicious chili made a reappearance.

  Her mother was there, pulling back Sophie’s hair and rubbing her back. She was saying something in soothing murmurs that was as mindless as the need to breathe. Suffocation was a welcoming bliss compared to the endless torment barricading her senses. It made no sense how she could still be alive when everything inside her was dead with terror.

  A cold glass of water was pressed into her shaky hand. She took it, dribbled half its contents down her front, but managed to take several greedy sips. She rinsed her mouth and gulped the rest. Her mother was still next to her, soothingly pressing a damp cloth to Sophie’s burning brow.

  “It’ll be okay,” her mother promised. “Your father and I will work things out. We’ll fix this.”

  “How did they find us?” Sophie croaked, sickness melting into tears. “How did they know where we were?”

  Her mother shushed her gently, pulling Sophie into her arms. “It’s all right.”

  But it wasn’t. There was someone out there terrorizing her, wanting something from her and she didn’t know why. She was completely powerless to stop them or even fight back when she didn’t know what she was fighting. Everything around her was closing in, crushing her bones and compressing her into something small and defenseless. She felt the slap of shame burning on her cheeks, mixing with the hot path of tears.

  “What do they want?”

  Without answers to give, her mother resorted to softly shushing her while rocking her the way she used to when Sophie was small. And Sophie let herself be rocked and coddled. She let her mother protect her from the evils of the world. It was becoming apparent very quickly that the bogeyman no longer resided beneath her bed or in her closet, but had stepped into the world beyond the dark. It had stepped into her world where it could frighten her whenever it pleased.

  With the careful hands of a mother, her mother undressed her and helped her into the tub. She filled it just the way Sophie liked it, a few degrees short of scalding and left her to soak, promising to check on her soon. But the moment the door closed behind her, Sophie sunk to the bottom, letting the pressure trap her. The absolute denial of all her senses calmed the havoc demons marching through her with pitchforks.

  The police were at the door when she emerged wrapped in a bathrobe. It was the same two officers as the day before. They sat at the table, their notebooks open in front of them. Her mother sat in the chair opposite them, while her father paced by the window. Jackie was there and …

  “Spencer!”

  He was sitting at the foot of her bed. He leapt up when she walked into the room. In three quick strides, he pulled her into his arms.

  “Are you okay?”

  She nodded, fisting the back of his shirt and pressing her face into his chest. She closed her eyes against the flood of tears threatening to destroy her.

  As if sensing the thin ice separating her from the dark abyss threatening to pull her under, Spencer smoothed back her hair and kissed her brow. “It’s okay, baby.”

  “They found us, Spencer,” she whispered into the soft material of his shirt. “They found us!”

  “I know,” he murmured.

  “How?” her voice broke, coming out sharp and high pitched.

  “Shh.” He tucked his finger beneath her chin and tipped up her face. “Are you hungry?”

  She shook her head. She didn’t think she’d ever be hungry again. Her stomach hurt just thinking about it.

  He took her to the spot he’d been occupying and gingerly nudged her down. He kept a firm arm around her as they listened to the police officers file the report.

  “We’re going to take this in as evidence,” the taller of the two said, holding up the card. “We’re also going to see if we can’t get surveillance videos from the hotel cameras. We might be able to identify him that way. In the meantime, is there anywhere you can send—” He checked his notes. “—Sophia? Just for a little while?”

  Her parents
looked at her. Spencer’s arms tightened around her as if he were trying to mash her into him and keep her there.

  “Yeah,” he said before anyone else could answer. “My dad’s house. They won’t find her there.”

  “What?” Sophie pulled away to look at him. “I can’t go there. What if they follow? What if they find me? They won’t be safe. And what about my parents and you and your mom?”

  “But they want you!” Spencer stressed. “They can’t have you if they can’t find you.”

  “I won’t leave you guys behind to save my own neck!”

  Spencer glowered at her. “Well seeing as how I’m pretty fond of your neck, what with it keeping your head in place and all, I’m not willing to risk anything happening to you! My dad won’t care. He’ll take all of you in.”

  “But you won’t go.”

  “I can’t. I have to stay with my mom.”

  Sophie folded her arms. “Then I’m not going.”

  He growled, baring his teeth. “Why do you have to be so frustrating?”

  She opened her mouth to respond when the second officer piped in. “They specifically asked for you,” he told Sophie. “It might be best if you were taken somewhere safe.”

  Sophie frowned. “But where? They found us here and no one knew where I was. What’s to say they won’t find me again?”

  “You must have told someone who told someone. It only takes one person to talk to the wrong person, or even if they’re overheard. You need to disconnect from everything for a little while,” the taller one said. “No Facebook or Twitter. No emailing or texting your friends. Just drop completely off the grid until this guy is caught. We have to assume that nothing is safe right now, that everything you’re doing is being monitored somehow. For all we know, this person could be someone close to you, a friend or family member. Someone that is always in the loop.”

  “That’s why my dad’s place will work,” Spencer jumped in. “No one knows where it is.”

  “What about everyone else?” Sophie said, feeling like they were going around in circles. “Your dad can’t house all of us.”

  “He doesn’t need to.” He gripped her hand hard. “He only needs to take you.”

  She snatched her hand away. “Forget it.”

  “Spencer’s right,” her father interjected before Spencer could throttle her. “You’re the one they want.” He glanced at her mother, then Jackie. “We need a new plan.”

  The police left with the promise to keep in touch. The room fell into a tense sort of silence as everyone carefully avoided everyone else’s gaze. But those eyes all lifted when her father straightened, silently willing all attention.

  “It’s apparent we need to leave,” he began carefully. “And Sophie can’t come with us—”

  “What?” Spencer and Sophie shouted at once.

  Her father put his hand up, silencing them. “I need to return to work. Your mother and Jackie have things they need to do. We can’t just keep hiding, but you … ” He rubbed a hand over his jaw.

  “Whatever idea you think you have … ” Sophie said. “Is a bad one so forget it. I’m not just leaving you guys. What makes you think you can go back to the way things were? When they realize I’m no longer there, they’ll come after you. They already tried to burn our house down. They destroyed Jackie’s car and broke her window. These guys aren’t messing around.”

  “No, they’re not,” her father agreed. “But we still need to think this out properly. We only need to keep this up until these guys are caught, which won’t be much longer. I can feel it. But in the meantime, we’re going to switch hotels, just me, your mother, Jackie and Spencer. You are going somewhere else.”

  “Where?” she demanded, feeling the urge to be sick overcome her once more.

  “My dad’s,” Spencer said. “He’ll do it.”

  Her father hesitated. “I don’t feel comfortable sending Sophie to live with people I don’t know.”

  Spencer volunteered, “My dad offered. He’s good for it.”

  Her father glanced at her mother. “We could send her to Aaron’s for a few days.”

  “That’s a bit far, isn’t it?” her mother said. “And we really don’t have the … resources at this time.”

  Her father threw his arms open wide in a shrug. “Well, we don’t exactly have very many options, do we?”

  They really didn’t. Her mother was an only child and Aaron, her father’s brother, lived across the country. There was Grandma Valdez, but she lived in a retirement home and wasn’t allowed overnight visitors.

  “Mark is your best bet,” Jackie spoke up for the first time since the conversation had started. “I can call him.”

  Her father began to shake his head, but stopped, possibly realizing the limited possibilities of their situation. He sighed, scooping a hand back through his hair. “Okay.”

  Jackie rose to her feet and walked into the next room. A few minutes later, they heard her murmuring softly.

  Sophie glanced at her father. “Can’t we just ask if we can all stay at Mark’s? This isn’t right. I can’t stay there, all tucked away safe and sound while you guys are in constant danger!”

  “Nothing will happen to us,” her father said with so much conviction, Sophie nearly believed it. “I need to return to work, So. We have a house that we can’t just abandon. Spencer has school. We can’t stay in hiding forever.”

  “They’ll go after you!” Why could no one else see that? “You’re no safer than I am!”

  “We’ll be fine.” Spencer took her hand.

  No you won’t be! But Jackie returned then, looking weary and pale. She had her cell phone still clutched in her hand and there were thin lines around her pinched mouth.

  “He said yes,” she said. Sophie could hear the but before it even left the woman’s tongue. “But Spencer goes, too.”

  Spencer’s muscles stiffened. “What? He said that?”

  Jackie met her son’s eyes. “No, I did.” She raised a hand when he began to protest. “You’re going. Sophie may be the one they want, but I won’t let you get caught in the crosshairs. You won’t argue with me on this one, Spence. Your father has already agreed. He’ll be here in an hour to get both of you. I thought it would be best if they left in a car no one would recognize. I don’t think anyone will consider this change. They’ll assume we’d keep the children with us.”

  “And follow you,” Spencer finished in a half growl. “That’s a crazy plan.”

  Jackie sucked air in through her nostrils. “But it will keep you safe. It will give us just enough time for the police to find them.”

  “If they find them!” Spencer countered, getting to his feet. “You can’t be sure of that and you could get hurt or killed in the meantime.”

  “You’re not a parent!” Jackie snapped. “When you are, we’ll have this conversation again, but right now, I’m the parent here and I’ve already made up my mind.”

  Spencer stormed out of the room, hands balled, back poker straight. Jackie sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose as she turned and followed, closing the joining door quietly behind her.

  Sophie turned to her parents. “This is a bad idea. You can’t play bait.”

  Her parents had been unusually quiet since Jackie’s news. They stood by the window, watching everything with a look between sorrowful and determined and Sophie realized they’d already made up their minds, too.

  “Jackie’s right,” her father said evenly. “It’s a good plan. Anyone watching will assume we would keep the children with us. They would never suspect … ” He was either talking with her mother or himself, it was hard to tell when he stared off into the distance as if somehow watching this brilliant plan of theirs unfold like a 3D movie.

  “Dad!”

  He blinked, momentarily surprised and confused. “Oh, right. Get packing,” he told Sophie. “I’m going to call the front desk and let them know we’re checking out.” He was already stalking around the room to the door before he ev
en finished his sentence.

  “Come on!” Her mother was hurrying around to her now, making shooing motions with her hands. “Get going! Mark will be here at any moment.”

  “Mom, this is crazy!”

  He father left the room without a word, leaving Sophie alone with her erratic mother.

  “Get your bathroom things,” she said as if she hadn’t heard a thing Sophie was saying. She was already dragging Sophie’s duffle bag out of the closet and tossing it on the bed.

  In a matter of minutes, Sophie was packed and standing by the door, so close, that when her father darted in, he nearly smacked her in the face.

  “Here!” A baseball cap was shoved down on Sophie’s head. Before she could say anything, something stabbed her in the eye.

  “Ow!” she yelped.

  “Sorry.” A pair of sunglasses were pushed into her hand.

  “Seriously, Dad?” Still rubbing her left eye, she squinted with her good eye at the mirror on the closet.

  I brake for hotties! Was stamped across the top of the hat in bright, blinding pink. The rest of it was a puke green that made the pink look extra flashy. In her hand was the ugliest pair of sunglasses Sophie had ever seen. They were perfectly round with leopard print frames and purple lenses. Oh and rhinestones along the bars. Together with the hat, she looked like an eccentric, middle aged man-eater on vacation.

  “Do the hair scoopy thing,” her father said, demonstrating by combing back his short hair into a nonexistent ponytail.

  Sophie just stared at him. “Who. Are. You?”

  Scowling at her inability to see how cool he was, her father flicked her on the nose and stalked to where her mother stood. Moments later, there was a knock on the adjoining doors and Jackie walked in with Spencer in tow. He carted a duffle bag and an extremely sour expression. But it perked a little with interest and amusement when he spotted Sophie and his eyes darted to her hat.

  “Not a word!” she threatened.

  Wisely, he cleared his throat and pressed his lips together.