The past couple weeks had gone by exactly as Dave had hoped. Dr. Daniels had done nothing more than she was meant to. The best part was that Jay had not left his side. Alternating between staring aimlessly at nothing, horror tightening his eyes, or looking determined to throttle Stella’s captor with his bare hands, seeing him so unsettled was bitter-sweet. It meant he was winning, but it also meant his great master was indeed fallible.
Dave’s hand drifted to his pocket where another hand-packed sachet of sedative powder was kept. Amara had warned him not to use too much, but at this rate, Jay was likely to make his arrest soon. Once he had publicly taken down the wrong man, Dave would take him down and enjoy displaying how he had managed to surpass him.
Because Jay had gone behind his back and then lied to his face, he needed his plans for Bridgette to join with his plan for the house. They needed to be overseen in person. Tonight, Jay would sleep unwaking, and he would ensure all was ready for the big display.
***
Jay’s head was still hurting, but he knew the painkillers would kick in soon. He had watched Dave covertly and had seen the drugs coming. He hid a smile as the man waltzed down the stairs before spotting him and resuming a more appropriate look.
Looks like the move you made last night will pay dividends today. Jay had thought to himself even as he offered a good morning to Dave.
He moved about aimlessly, following the ploy he’d been playing since the results on the finger had come through. He had spent much of the past two weeks playing Joe’s game. So much so that he had found Dave there early one morning doing the same.
Jay had to swallow a chuckle as he looked forlornly out of the window. Dave had said he had merely wanted to see what had Jay so hooked. However, Jay had already received his alert and knew full well that he was, in fact, hacking again, trying to make sure the game was only a game. Jay wondered if Joe had had fun messing with Dave’s attempts.
Dave had been behaving as expected. He had tried to break into the gym’s roof as well as taking action on several of Lloyd’s men who had been proved to be leaking information.
In the end, he had to wait most of the day before a letter, attached to the hilt of a dagger, was hurled through the open window in the kitchen while he was cleaning up after lunch.
Jay hid a sigh at the dramatic Dave on his heels.
“What does it say?”
Like you don’t know.
“It’s just an address.”
Dave immediately pulled out his phone to type it in. “Look! See? It says it is from a friend. I told you not to lose hope. The finger wasn’t the end of the game.”
Jay nodded, waiting for Dave’s search to tell them where to go.
“Looks like it is just outside Carthage. Kinda run down.”
Jay took a long look at the screen.
Looks like we have the house Lloyd was ordered to find.
“Let’s go.” Jay grabbed his keys and marched out the door.
“Wait! You’re just going to—”
“I’m done playing. Whoever this is wants me to follow so I’ll follow.”
***
The house was in worse repair than the image had shown and poorly lit in the late afternoon sunlight.
“Looks like a decent place to keep someone hostage,” Dave murmured as he glanced at the broken windows and deteriorating framework.
Jay snorted. “It looks more like a good place to set up an ambush.”
“You don’t think this is it?”
“I have no reason to.”
Jay walked up to the house, and Dave grabbed his arm, pulling him back. “You’re telling me that you think the note might have been from your opponent, but you’re still just going to walk in?”
“My opponent doesn’t want me dead. If they did, they would have managed it by now. Given all the other deaths they’ve caused, one more would be easy. So ambush or no, I am at no risk.”
“And me?”
The tone was so credibly fearful, Jay actually turned halfway back and clapped Dave on the shoulder. He followed through with the movement, knowing it would look suspicious if he didn’t. He drew a deep breath to deliver his next lines.
“Let’s pretend this is an ambush set up by my opponent. That being the case, do you think you’d be safer back at the house?”
Dave slowly shook his head. “No.”
“And if it is a lead from an actual ally, would you want to miss the discovery?”
Dave put on a smile. “Not a chance.”
“And just for the record. I don’t think it is either of those.”
Dave began to ask the obvious follow up, but Jay waved him into silence and entered the house with no attempt to be stealthy.
The smell of damp and rot hit him first. He felt a spasm of worry go through him as they walked through the empty rooms. He wasn’t used to following where he was led without having first tampered with the road laid out.
The next breath brought with it the tang of iron.
“Blood,” he murmured and a shiver ran through Dave. Jay felt his stomach clench as he guessed it was likely a shiver of excitement not fear.
There, dangling like a broken puppet was a naked body covered in blood and marks of torture. The long, flaxen blond hair dripped water onto the peeling linoleum floor of the kitchen.
Jay felt his stomach bottom out and his breathing grow short. The face was covered by a leering mask, but even so, Jay could see enough to make him want to scream. He had to resist the urge to turn on Dave and beat
