Chapter 14 - Playing With Your Mind
Nick along with Jet sat in the policeman’s
office, both had been practically silent, as the older officer
babbled on the phone to someone. He hung the phone up and looked
across at Nick.
“You say
he rung last night?” the officer questioned
“Yes”
nick sighed annoyed that he already answered that question 3
times that morning
“And he’s
called you to ma’am?” the officer continued looking at
Jet
She nodded
slowly.
“Well we
anticipated that he may get in contact with you, but I’ve
jus gotten off the phone to the officer in charge, they have a
tap on his phone, and also have been keeping a record of his
money transactions, he hasn’t rung either of you, and has
bought no other means of ringing you, are you sure there is no
one out there who might just consider this some mean practical
joke”
“It was
him,” Jet said firmly
“Maybe he
used a payphone?” Nick added
“He’s
had a tracker since he’s been out”
“Let me
guess nothing unusual?” Jet announced bounding off her chair
“You really think he’s that stupid, of course he’s
not going to use a land line, or a pay phone, he’s not as
dumb as you seem to think he is, you don’t get it do you,
this is a fucking mind game, and he is fucking with your minds,
and you know what? You don’t even know it” Jet screamed
running out of the office.
Nick stood up
and followed her as she ran down the hall and out of the police
station.
He finally
caught up with her as she flopped down in a torrent of tears onto
a bench surrounding a fountain.
“It’s
okay Jet, it’ll be okay,” He whispered taking her small
body into his arms
“No it
wont be” she sobbed “It’s his game, and he’ll
play it till the very end”
~ THAT NIGHT ~
Jet sat her
legs tucked under her body, mindlessly flipping through the
magazine she held in her hands. She’d gotten the phone
number changed, and had told Devin about what had happened. He
didn’t seem surprised, he’d been a little annoyed she
hadn’t told him earlier, and had bought up the idea of
moving, but Jet was determined not to let Ryan win.
~ AT THE SAME
TIME ~
A benefit
concert was on the menu for Nick, along with the others. They
played in them quite frequently, and this was just another one,
along the harbor of Tampa Bay. He hated laving Jet, but she’d
assured his it was OK, and that she’d be fine, but for some
reason he didn’t feel too convinced.
~ AT THE SAME
TIME ~
The Carter
house was easy to break into, sure the alarm would have been
useful if Gus hadn’t cut the power to it, and diverted the
alarm off course.
“Childs
play” he’d laughed to himself
The house was
dark and empty. He’d been watching them for about an hour
before they all piled out of the house and into the car. He
quietly slinked up the staircase his gloved hands running along
the railing. He reached the top and decided to head along the
left hand side. His hunch was right as the first door on the left
lead into the boy’s room. The moon shone in through the
large window, allowing a perfect view of the room.
His eyes
searched around for the phone, it was lying simply on the table
beside the bed. This was just too easy. He made his way over to
it, picks the phone up and studied the underside of it.
Within 5
minutes he’d succeeded in bugging the phone and making a
tracker system, which essentially meant he could tap into the
phone using the right equipment and ring out allowing that number
to appear on caller ID’s and redials. He replaced the phone
perfectly, making sure to change nothing else in the room.
~ LATER THAT
NIGHT ~
Nick yawned to
himself as he trudged up the stairs of the Florida home. It had
been a long night, but before retiring to bed he was determined
to check on Jet. He switched on the light in his room and closed
the door behind him. Plopping down onto the bed her starred down
at the phone before coupling the receiver into his hand. He
dialed her number quickly, hoping he wouldn’t wake her up in
the process.
~ AT THE SAME
TIME ~
Jet rolled
over in her bed, her eyes opening with the sound of the ringing
beside her. She yawned a little before picking up the phone,
silencing its rings.
“Hello?”
she yawned
“Jet? Did
I wake you up?” Nick responded, sure that he had
“Um not
really. How was the concert?”
“So, so.
Are you okay?”
“I'm fine
Nick, you don’t need to worry”
“You don’t
need me to come over?”
“I'm
fine, Devin’s and Seth are here, look I'm fine okay, stop
worrying, you’ll make yourself sick” Jet laughed,
surprised she sounded like a mother almost
“I love
you Jet”
“I know”
“I’ll
see you tomorrow?”
“Uhuh”
“Okay,
sweet dreams”
“You too
Nick”
She smiled as
she replaced the phone.
Practically as
soon as she’d hung up the phone began to ring again.
“Nicky,
I'm fine” she laughed assuming it would be him
“Are you?”
a synthesized voice inquired
“Who’s
this?” Jet questioned with fear
“Who do
you want me to be?”
“Leave me
alone you sick bastard”
“Not
until you pay. Do you know the price of betrayal?”
Jet slammed
the phone down into the receiver. She expected to see “Call
number blocked” across the display, but she looked anyway,
it read (851)567-4567.
“Nick?”
she mumbled in disillusion – that was his phone number
Hurriedly she
hit redial and waited as the phone rung.
“Hello?”
Nick questioned as he picked up the phone
Jet
frightfully threw down the phone.
“No, it
cant be him, no God no, not Nick, not him” she cried falling
back down onto the bed.