“Well, how do you plan on doing this?” Kurt asked John while lighting his own cigar.
“You should have, I mean, we should have killed him when we had the chance,” Tara yelled at John.
“I told you why we couldn’t kill them, but this is our chance now. No, this is my chance now. It will all play itself out,” John said in between puffs of his cigar. “Well, it sounds easier said than done since he was specially requested by The Man,” Kurt responded. “What are you going to with his lady friend? The DA chick?” Kurt asked.
“Leave Jane to me. I’m going to skin her from head to toe and watch her bleed out.” Tara jumped in while taking out the knife that was given to her by John as a gift before he went to prison.
John smiled at the enthusiasm of Tara taking on his traits. The room went silent as the three of them thought of ways to get rid of Steve. John had been fascinated with the game of chess since learning it in jail. He always kept a chessboard on his desk to remind him of his life. Chess to John resembled the obstacles of his life. He needed to stay one step ahead of his competition.
John eased up from his seat to grab a drink of whiskey from his minibar. He took a few sips as he stared at his chessboard.
“You know, chess is simple. You take out the king and the pawns will follow. All we have to do is take out the king.” John finished his thought and took a seat while taking another puff of his cigar.
“Well, again, how do you suppose we do that without causing too much attention to us?” Kurt asked John, paying close attention to his chessboard.
John, who had been slouched in his chair, slowly fixed his posture.
“Kurt, didn’t you do some bomb duty in the army or something back in the day?” John asked as he looked Kurt in his eyes with much intrigue.
“Well, something like that. More like defusing them for combat.”
“Well, can you make one or not?”
“Yeah, I think I still have it in me. It’s been a while, but hey, we have internet for that now also,” Kurt answered as he sat back in his chair to gather his next thought.
“How are we going to get access to the money?” Tara asked.
“Don’t worry about that. I have it all figured out with Senator Alan. We’re going to use part of the 50 million to get him into the White House. Then he will be my puppet and I will own him. We will use Kurt’s bomb and take out the king. I will take place as leader and get the other pawns in line.
“Once Alan becomes President Smith, I will create a pipeline to stream government money back to us in off-shore accounts to create an empire. Whoever gets in my way is dead to me. One thing is for certain. Steve will not make it out of here alive. For him, this is game over,” John said.
Kurt moved a piece on the chessboard as John sat back and waited. John took a puff of his cigar and grinned evilly, then yelled, “CHECKMATE!”
15
Surprise Guest
All right, all right, everyone. Gather around.”
Sergeant Tim stood at the podium to give a brief press conference to the citizens of White Pine.
“Three days ago, at approximately 6 p.m., someone called in to report a suspicious vehicle illegally parked and a truck that was still running halfway in the street. When White Pine PD arrived on the scene, a body was found in the truck, and the SUV was discovered to belong to DA Jane Goodwright. Currently, the whereabouts of DA Jane are unknown. The Pembleton camera spotted escaped convict, John Dexter, near the truck and SUV. At this time, the whereabouts of John Dexter are also unknown.” Sergeant Tim paused to look at the room of reporters as he gathered his thoughts.
“Sergeant, Max Sinclair, from White Pine News. Is it true many people involved in the case of Tara Murphy are also missing at this time, and when did John Dexter escape?”
“I can’t confirm the location of others involved in the three-year-old case. All I can confirm is DA Jane is missing and we are working diligently to locate her. As for John, he has been missing for three weeks now. The fugitive task force are tracking him as we speak.” “Sergeant, Jim Gold, from Inside Edition. How close are you to finding John Dexter, and is that a priority?”
“The search for John is not on White Pine’s PD radar. His search will be conducted by the FBI and the United States Marshalls. Just because the SUV of DA Jane was found in White Pine doesn’t mean she is in White Pine. She may have had some car trouble, got help, and moved on. However, we will search as much of the Adirondacks as we can to either find clues or any answers that may be there. When the time comes, I will update the press if necessary information comes forward. I would like the citizens of White Pine to call us if they see or hear anything out of the ordinary and especially if they see John Dexter. He is to be considered armed and dangerous. Thank you.
Sergeant Tim stepped away from the podium as many reporters shouted his name, wanting to get a question in.
Steve opened his eyes after a short night’s sleep in the burning cabin. His body still sore from the miles he walked in the Adirondack mountains and his shoulder still hurting from the bullet John shot in him. Steve just lay there, not wanting to get up but wanting to think about what he got himself into. What if he didn’t go to the
