“Who is that?”
“New guy in charge of the group that stormed your house. Since the other one is in their morgue.”
“And he is?”
“Captain Tony Bardens, ex-police, now leading a black op government group of similarly trained individuals. Thirty-seven years old, packed with a group of like-minded asswipes. We’re about to send him congratulations on becoming a father and watch him face his own personal dilemma.”
I look to him. “Gabe, what did you do?”
Gabe smiles, though it’s not a pretty smile. His mother would be worried about naming her son after one of the angels above us if she saw the evil in his eyes right now. “Before you give us an update, I need to do this. I want you to remember, all’s fair in this fucked up game people are playing. For the sake of clarity, I’ve always found the best motivations are the smaller, personal ones, so, hold on…”
His fingers fly over the keyboard, and he does another split screen so we can watch the new guy in charge while he receives a message. Tony has a face only a mother could love—his hair is buzzed to his skull, his eyes are cruel, his face scarred by life. I should feel bad as we watch his eyes flare wide before he steels himself to reread the message Gabe sent. Less than ten seconds later, the man races all over his office before he finds his mobile phone. Tony stands up and slams his door shut before coming back to where we see him freaking out.
“What the fuck is going on?” he barks out at someone.
Through whatever manipulation Gabe is accessing, we can pick up on what the other person is saying, it lags but a line of subtitles runs over the screen.
We don’t know, Tony! Marnie put Connor in his crib and then came back to help with the shopping. The three of them are trapped in the garage, the doors won’t budge at all.
Tony’s face turns scarlet before he screams in sheer panic, “The fucking dogs are out of their cages! They’re roaming free. How did that happen?”
I gasp in horror and look at Gabe who doesn’t look at all guilty at what he’s done.
“How did you do that, Gabe?”
“I haven’t done anything yet. But hang on…”
He drops the noise of Tony’s ongoing telephone call and interrupts them.
“You must be shitting a fucking brick right now. Your hunting dogs on the loose with the door to your house wide open. Who the hell would leave a baby unsupervised with those dogs, honestly! And mate, I bet those dogs are the sort hard to train, and barely respond to one person too huh? Once they’re on a hunt, that’s all that matters to that breed, isn’t it. Sucks to be you.”
“What do you want?” Tony snarls through the phone looking around for the source of the voice.
“Smile, buddy, for the camera at least,” Gabe taunts.
Tony’s face zooms in close, his face like thunder. “What do you want?”
“I wanna watch you scramble. Time to watch the video feed, Tony.”
Gabe stops talking, and we all watch as Tony’s face pales, the dogs now prowling through the gates to his house, and in the background you can hear the shouts and yelling from within the house.
“What do you want?”
“I’ll make you a deal.”
“Who are you?”
“I’m sorry, I thought I introduced myself… I’m your worst fucking nightmare. Or I will be, but you can change the outcome. All you need to do is unlock the door to the holding cells and in return I’ll lock your fucking dogs out of your home where your poor defenceless baby boy is sleeping. Hey, congrats on being a father after all this time. Miracle of life is fucking sweet, isn’t it? Anyway, what is your answer, do we have a deal?”
Tony says nothing. His anger is palpable in every savage inhale he takes.
Gabe’s enjoying this too much. I think I am too. “Fucking sucks big, fat, furry monkey nuts doesn’t it, when the shoes on the other foot. Holy shit, man, you need to let me know if we’ve got a deal or not real quick, these dogs are on the scent.”
“I need a few minutes!” Tony screams.
Gabe chuckles quietly, and he runs his fingers over the screen before a loud click echoes through the feed. “Done. Three minutes or the doors open.”
He mutes our side but we can hear and see Tony explode into action. I want to ask a thousand questions, but Gabe holds his hand up so he can follow Tony closely, not trusting the man.
