The Games of Kings

Chapter Two

"The Game Master," Alicia said, changing the blank computer screen to display portraits of men and women from all walks of life, "was given his name by the first law enforcement team he contacted. He challenged them to a game with the prize being a kidnapped victim."

Ramsey flipped through the files circulating the conference table. "I remember this. The local law enforcement officers are literally participants in a game that must be played by the rules or the prize is forfeited."

"Killed?" Dylan's deep voice rumbled from behind his laptop.

Ramsey nodded. "It seems he's been making his way across the country." He handed out files to each of them. "First an FBI missing persons unit in New York, then a Navy Criminal Investigative Service team in Maryland. An Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms team based in Denver was also challenged and the most recent case was nearly a year ago in Las Vegas. He had chosen the night shift of their crime scene investigators as his players that time." He grimaced as he pointed out, "And those were only the successful cases. These teams were able to find the victims in time."

"How many deaths have been attributed to this man?" Chris asked, intently studying the latest case file.

"At least fifty," Benedict answered his nephew's question. He indicated a large box that hadn't been touched yet. "Those are the cases in which the victims were killed or never found."

"Fifty victims across twelve states? Shouldn't someone have caught him by now?" Dylan stared incredulously at the files before them and the untouched box.

"There's a whole task force in Quantico devoted to catching the Game Master." Ramsey huffed out a breath, rubbing his eyes. "We're under orders to focus on the game and rescue the victim. We're to leave tracking him down to the task force." From the looks on his team's faces, they weren't too happy about it, but they agreed it was more important to save a young woman's life than interoffice politics. "Play the tape, Al." He leaned forward, as did the rest of the team, when Alicia brought up the message sent by the Game Master.

The screen flicked to life to show the image of an obviously terrified young woman with long brown hair. She held cue cards tightly in her hands, almost rocking back and forth as she read them.

"My name is Vanessa Hubert and I live at 7859 Willow in Los Angeles, California. I am being held as a prize by the Game Master. He'll let me go if the players of this game both follow the rules and are able to find me." The camera panned out from the young woman to include the background. It was an apartment, fully equipped as far as the Behavioral Analysis team could tell. "As you can see behind me, he has equipped me with everything I need to live and be comfortable. I even have entertainment but sadly enough not a telephone or a television." Her voice continued to shake, not at all humored by the Game Master's possible attempt at a joke. "And now, onto the game." She glanced up at the camera then before flipping to the next card. It was only a glimpse, but terror was clearly written in their dark depths.

"The players of this game are as follows: Ramsey Montgomery, Alicia Hunt, Dylan Kenji, and last but not least, Doctors Benedict and Christopher Hardy. They, and only they, may play this game. If any other players appear at the game sites, the game ends and the prize is null and void. Other resources and players, of course, may be used in the course of the game, but at the gaming sites only they will be permitted. Lastly, the use of the media will not be allowed. Media in any way, shape, or form is prohibited. Again, if the media is utilized, the game ends and the prize is null and void. Please adhere to these simple rules and the prize remains intact. Let the games begin." The video ended with a burst of static.

Ramsey was pretty sure that last bit was meant to be delivered with a happy note, but of course, it fell completely flat due to the fright in Vanessa Hubert's voice. "That's all?"

Alicia nodded.

"I think the starting point of the game is at her place," Chris pointed out. "He made sure we knew who she was and where she lived. Nothing else personal about her except those two details."

"Agreed," Benedict murmured, flipping through the case files once more. "He's used the home as the starting point before." He pointed to two of the files on the table.

Ramsey nodded, standing to gather his things. The others did the same.

"Wait," Alicia called out, stopping them in their tracks. "What about a forensics team?"

That made them pause once more, exchanging questioning glances.

"The start of the game is at her home," Benedict reasoned, "and he did specifically say that no others would be allowed at game sites."

Ramsey nodded, and then turned back to Alicia. "Looks like you're going to need a kit."

The brunette nodded and took herself off. "I'll meet you at the van," she threw over her shoulder as she headed towards the forensics labs.


~*~*~*~*~


Vanessa Hubert's home was cozy and charming in the way a twenty eight year old single woman's home should be. It was also obvious that the young woman liked to play games. Several board games were stacked in a corner of her living room. Her bookshelves were filled with mind teasers, puzzles, and sudoku. She also has several gaming manuals lining the shelves. So far, they had found nothing unusual.

Alicia and Dylan were dusting for prints. Past files indicated that nothing would be found, but protocol was protocol, they followed it. Benedict was watching over Chris' shoulder as he read from Vanessa's diary.

"Nothing useful in here," Chris finally announced, gently closing the journal and replacing it on her bedside table.

Ramsey nodded absently, still running his eyes over Vanessa's apartment. It seemed strange to him that while all of her other games were neatly stacked in a corner but her copy of Clue had been haphazardly thrown on her loveseat. When he said so, Dylan said, "Maybe she just finished playing with it?"

"No," Benedict opposed, joining Ramsey at the loveseat. "He's right. Look how orderly everything else in this apartment is." He indicated the neatly stacked games, the alphabetized books. "Even her magazines are stacked alphabetically. Why would someone so neat leave her game lying around?"

"Maybe she didn't?" Chris played along with his uncle, reaching for the game box.

Dylan and Alicia joined the rest of the team around Vanessa's dining room table. Alicia dusted the entire outside of the box, but finding nothing, she gave the go ahead to open the box. Inside, disappointingly, they found the game of Clue. All the playing pieces were undamaged, pristine even, as if the game had never been used. The only other discrepancies were the game cards that indicated possible murder sites and weapons for the game. Those cards had been glued together randomly, back to back, a murder site to a weapon card.

"Candlestick in the living room," Chris murmured absently as he intently studied the cards, flipping through them one set at a time.

Dylan picked up the handbook, flipping it upside down and then fanning the pages. "Nothing."

"Nothing unusual under the board or about the board," Alicia reported, flicking the thick cardboard back over.

"Guess I was wrong," Ramsey sighed, a little frustration bleeding through in his voice.

"Maybe not," Dylan rumbled. "This isn't in the original game." He was staring down at a page in the game's handbook.

"What isn't?" Ramsey looked over the seated man's shoulder. Dylan was on the last page of the book, a word jumble took up the whole of it.

The game Clue is in the words

S T W O T W O O N E B B A K E R S Y T R E E T B A E B E R O H Y C Z O S H J W Q
H C I M P A H B O I I Q G K V X R G C V Y H V H W S E U C E F O J M W E S B O G
O T A E K F O R M Q T Y I K P O C B E G B Y Z P Y Z F K F R G O P U V J I F F J
R C W R O A P B I X P F M T T M A Q H O R H T B R B H W E E N G Z P P G S T H Z
N V A H L I N Z U C O F G A M J N T S B D P H G T C X G N S J K A V T Q M Y Q P
W I H R A E C P A H R P V T A W D J T O X M G R E E N S T R E E T D E D X T V F
M T Y G Y V T E M B K R Y T O Z L D S N A Q O Z W R V H B C Z Q P A V S W T K Y
K O W A L F S T S U E F A N R U E P T Z A V Q Y Q T Z U O V M K Q W V L P A K N
E K O E R P O P B S H K I A A F S C K B A F W R Q L Z W L C D O G Y V V P V V H
C B C R X H N A N U F J T F F Q T F F G U D M O S F Y H I X J Y Z R I Q Q T D C
U A J N D J B O H X I W Q T Q X I F D B V B Z R T E G I R U H T B Z Y H J P T Y
D I T R D R C D B U W L X C W F C I X S J A D Y K S H A P D K B V P O U A V P X
U P O N O G A W H M C T D O F S K X I M H C I B H D G M O W M S N K U V Q B K P
Q J K X Z W Q L I S W L S I D W N L I B R A R Y F R M P R Q T B R B R F K O J B
T K R Y U H G O L Y A Q Y K N E H C T I K F S A P M L J H U T A Z P R B S I T Z
O W D C L T E I D I Z U O K M G M O O R L L A B M F Q P D H Y H Y C T E V L D G
I A P M A Z O F B F B G L A W Y Q N E R O T S S T K L Y W O S O M G D B E R N B
N S N B A K J H J B H Z D U K Z G D J L I B O D P M E N N U C R O N H Y I R X F
I J A O M Q D V F D U Q R E O O J B I I A K Q R P U C K B S G X Y B K A C K E O
P V E B W N A B K J F I G D F W J V K R W V G U R S C J S J U Z A H X R I Q H H
I J B E G W Y R N Z D T P K J X B I Y O E B O H K T K X S H R P H Q M R R Y N X
A Y Q R V R N B X T Z D L Y G C M J Q C I R R P L A Y H V B D X A C J M W R A I
L N R X I E E Y T E O E B P S Z I B V D N Q T T Q R P J L E A D P I P E O V B Q
I U T F F V P B A Q Y L Y X O X Z P A Y U V T R A D H E F H X C K H O P M O A A
L T J K J L D A L L N L N F J J L T Z C W S Q R T F V O P B N O N Z E C G N Y Q
N C H T C O E A Z K M T B T C A V T J M W Y X T L A J N K D M V Q V E M U L J Z
G P S T T V S M G E H W G A H H Q V D O I F H L L C V X P I T V Y F K W V U G X
L A T K E E G Y I C W C A T X L V B Z O L L T N C T U U F S E E R R O X N O A G
J R X H N R O N T L Z S X Y Z L V E I R K B G D J O G T U I D X Y E Z R D K X D
H K T J P P B G U A J S G G U F Z O N G K J Y F C R E Z Z N D O Y R O X F C C C
N U B I Y N P B Y A N X O A F Z D Z O N P S J N X Y M A R E R A G W K N C O Z Z
D L P P B P W C C E Y N J T O Z F O B I X H S O W Q Q H F W C N S B U W V T Z Y
V E Q N W Z P O I B D S O N V C Q Z H N B R K V P B P O R D N M A E O H Z J B U
W R E N C H E T J E I X W X N B L P L I R U H Q N Z Q X Z G C V S W B X T C P W
O W D C O D S G K V A D B B T S D T G D Y W Q M Q O L T I N T K J I P Q N M Q A
X V D G F D Y V N U S Q B M P C G P O Z F X N P V N I I P S R A R M P P X V P V
E T Y T U T K D L U P D R Y C U L T O W W J B N V D E F W E A Z U U I X P V A P
L P V E C T G K I R O U A Y X L L R W I R Q B P K X E V G P H B I H S O X S G S
M E R M E E V T Q K I L W Q P N D J W R C L D M A Y B R Z T V A Y A O D E G B R
X H P M M V Q M G K G V T M M T L K C G G E M L C W X R S D B N R A N J V T W R

"Are you sure?" Alicia asked. "Maybe they've added it?"

Dylan shook his head. "I just bought a copy for Ram's kids. When we went through the rules, the handbook didn't have a word jumble."

"Let's take it back to the office," Ramsey compromised. "And finish up here."


~*~*~*~*~*~


"Like we thought, there wasn't a shred of forensic evidence at Vanessa Hubert's home," Alicia reported as she entered the conference room the next morning.

"And the word jumble?" Ramsey asked, sliding into his customary seat at the table.

"Well, thanks to the title of the jumble, we've been able to find several words that pertain to the game itself," Benedict answered, using the remote control to bring up a copy of the jumble up on the screen. Several of the letters were highlighted to reveal items in the game of Clue. "Wrench, library, lead pipe, etc."

"Anything to indicate what we're suppose to do next? Directions?" Dylan asked, hiding a yawn behind a big hand. He wasn't a morning person by any stretch of the imagination.

"No." Benedict glared at the screen as if he stared long enough it would give up whatever secrets it held.

Ramsey turned to Chris, noting his silence, to find the man staring at the screen as well. Whereas Benedict's stare was malevolent, he seemed entranced by it. "Chris?"

"There are other words here," he murmured, standing to trace around letters that appeared on the screen. "Not just words from the game. Here, the word 'street'." The words were highlighted when he pointed them out. "It's preceded by 'green'."

Benedict and Ramsey exchanged looks. "An address, maybe?" Ramsey reasoned.

Dylan immediately began typing on his computer. "There's a Green Street here in Los Angeles but it's miles long."

"Does it have a scarlet building?" Chris circled the words, not seeing Dylan roll his eyes with his back turned to the enormous conference table.

"Probably several red buildings on Green Street, Chris, want to be more specific?"

Chris turned long enough to stick his tongue out at his friend. "How about one that was a mustard factory?"

Dylan rolled his eyes again, but gamely searched his database. "Got it."

Ramsey grinned at Chris, clapping him on the shoulder. "Gear up, people."


~*~*~*~*~*~


The five of them stood just outside the entrance of Shep's Mustard factory. The company had moved onto a better location, but the sign still remained and nothing outside the old red brick building indicated what awaited them inside. Ramsey ran an eye over each of them again, visually checking their equipment. Each was armed with their firearms, a bulletproof vest, a flashlight and a flak jacket.

"Do we know what to look for once we're inside?" Alicia was studying the door and its lock, shaking her head when it pushed open without a sound.

"A puzzle," Benedict answered. "The Game Master's motive operandi has each set of players go through an obstacle course of some kind. Once they've defeated the course, they find themselves facing a puzzle of some kind. Sometimes a riddle, sometimes a physical challenge with a twist." He shrugged, indicating that there was no way to know for certain. "But it has to be solved for us to get the next clue."

"This guy annoys me," Dylan muttered, glaring at the building.

"Yeah, well, we still have to play the game if we want to save Vanessa Hubert." Ramsey nodded towards the door when Alicia pointed to herself and him. She went in low, him high. Behind him, he heard the others.

"What if we don't play his game?" Dylan was asking.

"One team tried that," Chris answered. "The male prize was left on the doorstep of their headquarters. The media had a field day because they couldn't find the Game Master to answer for the young man's death."

"Ouch."

Ramsey agreed. "It's clear." The air moved around him as the others joined him in what looked like a foyer. He blinked rapidly when the lights flashed on; he spun to find Benedict at a light switch. What little his flashlight had showed him was correct, it was a foyer with a huge chandelier lighting the room.

Dylan made a strangled sound as he wandered to stand in the middle of the foyer; head swing this way and that.

"Dylan?" Alicia cupped her hand around his massive bicep, dark head tilted back to study her partner.

"This is an exact replica of the Boddy Manision!"

"From the board game?" Chris asked, obviously not quite believing their computer expert. After all, the game was one dimensional, how could the house be an exact replica?

"From the movie! The one with Tim Curry, Christopher Lloyd." Dylan stared at the room. His eyes were wide and fascinated. "The staircase goes upstairs to the bedrooms, then up to the attic." He pointed to a niche with two doors. "The door on the left goes to a washroom but the right goes down into the basement. These other doors go to the rooms where the Boddy murder could have taken place: the billiard room, the kitchen, etc."

A smile played on Alicia's lips as she said, "Something tells me this is more than just a game you bought for Ram's kids."

Dylan's dreadlocks swayed forward to hide his face, but still couldn’t quite hide his blush. "It was my favorite game as a kid," he mumbled.

Ramsey and the others watched in amusement as Alicia smiled up at him, hand still wrapped around his arm as she leaned into him. "You're the one who spotted the first clue, any suggestions where to start looking?"

Dylan flashed her a shy grin before studying the closed doors. "In the movie nothing happens in the basement or upstairs. I think we should only search this floor."

"So the next mystery to be solved could be in any of these rooms?" Ramsey questioned, frowning at the time it was going to take to search each room. Especially if the Game Master hid it as well as he'd hidden the first puzzle.

Dylan nodded, making Ramsey sigh.

"All right, Chris and I'll take the rooms on the left. Everyone else, go right."


~*~*~*~*~


Their search of the study hadn't revealed anything that could have been a puzzle or clue. Chris was starting to think that Ramsey was right and that they would have to return to the Boddy Mansion replica again and again in order to find it. They'd turned the study upside down, first studying the room for anything out of place before opening drawers and turning over furniture. Ramsey had gone so far as to move what furniture he could off the Oriental rug and flipped it over to examine the wooden floor underneath. Chris had stared at the fireplace, trying to discern if a pattern could be found in the stone. He even stuck his head up the chute when that failed. They had found nothing after three hours of searching the room.

Ramsey had called a quits for the study and suggested they move to the next room. Out in the hall, they met the others as they left the lounge. From the dusty, grim faces it was clear their friends had about as much luck as they did. Chris found himself slumped onto a bench situated against the wall between the study and the library. Whoever said profiling was nothing but sitting at a desk with files and evidence obviously was doing their job wrong. He was tired, still willing for more, but the break was nice and needed.

"We're off to the dining room." Benedict jerked his thumb over his shoulder.

"I wonder if there's anything to eat in there?" Dylan's softly muttered question made everyone chuckle. He flashed them an unrepentant grin.

"If this goes on for any longer, I'm calling a break for lunch." Ramsey scrubbed a hand through his hair, disturbing the dust that had settled there from their searching. He glanced at his watch. "Three hours to search the next rooms, then food."

Everyone nodded, glancing at their own watches. Dylan saluted them with his flashlight then turned to lead the way into the dining room.

"What's next on our agenda?" Ramsey held out his hand.

Chris gamely grabbed onto it, not quite ready for the strong pull and ended up crashing into Ramsey's solid body. A strong arm around his waist helped him balance as he chuckled breathlessly up at Ramsey. "Thanks."

"Welcome." Ramsey's grin stirred something warm inside. "Let's go tackle that library. I'm starting to get hungry."

Chris laughed again and stepped back. He mischievously waved his team leader ahead with a courtly bow. Ramsey rolled his eyes but the grin grew wider.

The library was actually very simple. Two long, comfortable couches faced each other in the center of the room, separated by a long coffee table. Each of the three walls was covered, from ceiling to floor, with bookshelves, which in turn were filled to capacity with books of varying sizes and colors. Hundreds, if not thousands of books were in this room.

Chris groaned. "If he hid it like the word jumble . . ."

"We're going to be here for forever." Ramsey threw him a deprecating look. "Maybe I can pull rank and make the others trade with us?"

"Good luck with that," Chris laughed. He turned to examine the last wall. It held no books, thankfully, only the door, a wine cabinet and strangely enough, a large alcove with a bust of some woman adorning a pedestal. The head of the bust was tilted upwards, strange for that kind of artwork, Chris mused. Perhaps the strangeness of the piece was somehow part of the game? He moved closer, sure the sculpture was connected. When he was next to the bust, he turned to face the same direction, inclining his head back to the same angle. It was only because he was looking up did he see the far side of the ceiling start to retract. A flash of memory showed him the cards pasted together back to back. He barely muffled his instinctive yelp as he sprinted towards Ramsey and yanked on the man with all of his might.

"Chris!" Ramsey barked, but tripped along as his partner pulled them into an unnoticed alcove. "What are you—"

"Candlesticks in the library!" He shouted just as thousands of heavy candlesticks dropped through the ceiling, landing with bone crunching thumps.

Ramsey reacted automatically, trapping Chris' slimmer body between his own and the wall, protecting him. He pressed closer as candlesticks grazed his back, flinching as a particularly heavy one hit his shoulder. He was glad for the little shelter Chris' arms around his neck and head provided. Seconds ticked by, but Ramsey didn't move until he was sure no more objects would be falling from the sky before lifted his head from the warm safety of Chris' neck.

"Well, that was fun."

He laughed at Chris' wry comment, hands of their own accord slipping through the profiler's soft hair and down his neck to shoulders and arms, checking for injury. "You okay?"

Chris shivered in Ramsey's arms, liking the way warm, callused hands felt on his skin. "Yeah." He stared over Ramsey's shoulder at the candlesticks liberally littering the floor of the library.

"Candlesticks in the library?" Ramsey asked, turning them both to survey the mess.

"The cards, the ones from the game." Chris brought his hands together, palm to palm. "Remember how they were glued together?"

The older man nodded, dark eyes narrowing. "Do you remember what the other combinations were?"

"I think." Chris closed his eyes and tilted his head, remembering back to when he looked at the cards. They were only cursory glances but he had a better than average memory. His eyes flashed open in horror. "Knives in the dining room!"