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THE GAMES WE PLAY

DIYA

L ayne and I waited in the corridor.

Behind the door was… the monster in the woods’ first mistake, his only mistake.

“You thinking what I am thinking?” Layne asked, chewing on her bottom lip. I nodded. “I want to get you the hell out of this place.”

“I know, but we can’t run, not while we are this close.”

“He’s like a cornered animal, and you know how they react.” Layne rubbed her forehead.

“Yes. I want him to react.”

“God, I want booze.”

I laughed, and my sister glared at me.

“I told you not to come.”

“You really think I’d let you do this alone? Hell no.” Layne’s voice was firm.

“Thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me, Dee,” she said, shaking her head. “It’s always been us against the whole fucking world, and it always will be. We’re family. I’d die for you and Trina. No hesitation, no second thoughts.”

“I know, Layne,” I said, staring above her head as memories collapsed over me, memories of darkness and pain and suffering. But this was where it took us. Right here. “The only good thing that came out of that hell was us . It’s absurd, but if I had to live through that nightmare all over again, I’d do it. Just for this.”

“Bitch, don’t make me cry.” She bumped against my shoulder. “This is horrible, but we’ve survived worse than this.”

“Yes. Now, we have to—”

I stopped when Vincent walked toward us with Deputy Clark and Dunn.

“Doctor Sharma,” Deputy Clark said. “Did you call this in?”

“Yes.”

“Diya.” He paused, narrowing his eyes. “Why are you here?”

“Long story.”

With a nod to me, he walked into the room. After a few seconds, I heard a curse. “Oh my God. Three murders in the span of a few weeks. Clark, call the Coroner. Dunn, the team.”

The next few hours stretched into an endless eternity. Muffled voices, more curses. People coming out and then going back in. Layne and I stood right outside the door, waiting for someone to tell us something, but no one even cared that we were there.

Vincent came out of the room, dark circles under his eyes, fists curled around a piece of paper, after an hour or so.

“You called it in?”

I nodded. “Yes.”

“Why are you here?”

I hesitated, exchanging a look with Layne.

“We came to meet her.”

“Why? How do you know her?”

I came here to talk about her daughter who might or might not have killed herself because of a sadistic psychopath, who is also a serial killer, but he only poisons them with mercury.

Yeah, that sounded ridiculous even in my head.

“I came to talk about her daughter—”

“Sheriff Bricks, you need to see this,” said a tall man in a white coat that looked closer to yellow. Must be the coroner.

“I’ll be right there, Doctor Hill.” Vincent looked at me with a sigh. “You can leave for now, but you need to come down to the station to give witness statements. I’ll call you when we’re done here. Stay in town.”

I threw a look in one last time before I left with Layne.

“Diya… Do you think he’s watching us? Right now?” Layne asked as we walked out. “Ugh. I need my fucking tools.”

I fingered the bottles in my pockets.

“I came prepared,” I said, pulling out a syringe, and handing it to her. “Just in case.”

“What should we do now?”

“Eat, and then think about what we’ll say to Vincent.”

“Why not the truth? You don’t trust him?” Layne asked.

“I don’t know. Well, I think he’s a good man, but…”

“Yeah, I know,” she said. “Trust is a luxury.”

I rubbed my stomach. “Let’s go get something to eat, and then think.”

Layne nodded as we walked toward Mia’s Gravy.

“Oh, and Dee…”

“Yes?”

“Can we talk about Asher?”

“Is this the time?” I asked with a wince.

“No, but it’s going to get even more wild from here on out. So…” She tilted her head.

“What about him? Don’t tell me I like him. I don’t.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Good.”

“I’m going to tell you that…” she trailed off, linking her arm with mine. “You’re falling for him.”

“Lay…”

“Don’t deny it.”

I didn’t. How could I? It was too obvious. I wasn’t in love with him, but it wouldn’t take much to fall. I was so close to the edge.

If I stayed, if we talked just one more time, if he held my hand and told me he wanted to flay my foster father for me, I knew I’d fall.

“That’s ludicrous, isn’t it?” I said. “To fall for him? Not with…” I motioned to us. “Not with all this ugliness we carry. Love is an indulgence.”

She stopped walking, turning to face me with a frown. “So, are you saying that broken people like us can never find love?”

“I’m saying…” I hesitated, my breath catching. “I’m saying I’m too jaded to look at love like other people do. For us, love comes with conditions, compromises, and shadows. It’s not the good kind.”

“Dee,” she said, her voice a mix of frustration and affection. “You deserve the kind of love that doesn’t care about your darkness, the kind that holds you together when you can’t do it yourself.”

“I already have it,” I said looking at her with a smile.

I had Layne and Trina. That should be enough, shouldn’t it? My life was perfect as it was, before Asher Maddox. But now… I wanted more. Was I getting too greedy?

She shook her head. “Yes, and you’ll always have it, but it’s different with us,” she said. “If you want him, then you better fucking go after him and hold on. If you let him go, I swear to God, I’ll…” She let out a sharp breath. “I’ll never forgive you for not choosing yourself for once.”

“Okay, I’ll try. I will try.”

“Good.”

We ate lunch at Mia’s Gravy.

“Oh God, this burger is to die for.”

“Trina would kill for it,” I said. “I miss her.”

“Should we ask her to come?”

“No, just let her be. She’s already dealing with the pressure of running that restaurant.”

“Yeah, I don’t know why she’s not opening her own,” Layne said, tapping the tumbler against the table.

“She will, when she’s ready. Do not pester her, Layne.”

“I don’t pester. ”

I rolled my eyes, laughing. “You p ester like nobody’s business.”

We were paying the bill when Vincent called. We walked to the motel, got into the car, and drove to the station. Deputy Clark was already waiting for us by the entrance.

“This way.”

Deputy Clark closed the door behind him. I took a look at Layne, and she gave me a nod, mouthing to go ahead.

Vincent motioned us to the chairs, looking through a file full of crime scene photos. Oh. I’d love to get my hands on them.

I told him that I was meeting her about her dead daughter, deciding to trust my instincts. Vincent was a good guy, just stubborn.

“Why? How do you know her?” Vincent’s voice rose as he slammed the file closed.

“She was in Hollowhaven.”

“What are you doing here, Diya?”

“She committed suicide a year before Riley,” I said. He flinched back as if I had kicked him. “I’m looking to see if there was any connection between Riley’s case and…”

Vincent stood up from the chair, his fingers pulling at his hair.

“Are you helping Asher?”

“What if Riley didn’t just kill herself? Whatif she was pushed into taking her own life?”

“What the fuck are you…” He shook his head, inhaling sharply. “Shit, sorry.” He sat back down with a huff. “What are you saying, Diya?” He sounded exasperated. “You must know this is wrong.”

“It’s not wrong, Sheriff,” Layne said. “We’re doing the job you were supposed to do.”

“It’s been eight years. You’re eight years too late.”

“But what if the one who killed Riley is still out there, killing more while we sit here twiddling our thumbs?” Layne fluttered her eyes, giving Vincent one of her most beautiful smiles.

Vincent sputtered and shook his head, his face twisting in frustration. “Conspiracy theories from a man who committed himself to an asylum.”

“It looks like you don’t want to hear the truth,” I said with a frown. “So, why do you think that woman was killed? Right after I’d just talked to her about her daughter? Coincidence?”

“I don’t know,” Vincent muttered, looking conflicted.

“You want to believe us,” Layne said. “What’s your instinct telling you, Sheriff? You’re a cop, for fuck’s sake.”

“You don’t want to… because then you’d have to admit Asher was right all along. You don’t want to accept it, because then you’d also have to face the fact that you failed Riley. But you didn’t. The only one to blame is the person who did this.”

“I-I need to think. Can I…” He wordlessly pointed toward the door.

“Sure, just call me, and if you still want me to go with you to the party, I will. If not, that’s okay, too.”

He gave me a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “I’ll call you.”

Nodding, we walked out.

Deputy Clark was waiting for us right by the door.

“Let me escort you outside, Doctor Sharma.”

We walked toward the main desk where the receptionist was now reading a different book.

I noticed the glass box on the table wasgone.

I came to a halt, my mind whirring with a thought that grew shrill until all else faded.

“The spiders. Fuck. The spiders .”

How did I miss that?

“What?”

“The spiders, Lay. Fuck, how did I not see that?”

“What do you mean?”

“It was right there… all along.” I pointed to the table where the glass terrarium once was. Filled to the brim with colorful spiders. Riley wrote about the spiders. They had four eyes. It had eight, but Deputy Clark saw only the four eyes in the front, and Riley could have seen the same.

I turned to Deputy Clark. “Where did the spiders go? Did the owner come back?”

Deputy Clark nodded.

“Who is it?”

“Sheriff’s brother.”

“Mayor Bricks?” I asked, frowning.

“No, Jonah.”

“Jonah Bricks?”

I had to get into that party.

When we reached Hollowhaven, it was late in the evening, and the trees had already started spinning shadows into the golden rays of the setting sun. After thanking Camille, I took a walk around the hospital grounds. The place was eerily calm, save for the occasional hum of distant voices or the shuffle of footsteps.

My thoughts raced, tangled and overlapping, chasing around each other.

Could it be Jonah?

A light tap on my shoulder made me jump.

“Oh, it’s just you.”

“Just me? That offends me.” Asher looked at me with a smile. “I missed you.”

For a moment, I thought about what Layne told me.

Did I really want to hold on to him?

Would it be too reckless to do so, too covetous?

“I missed your face too.”

“Just my face? Ouch. You’re bad for my ego, darling,” he said with a chuckle and stopped. “Hey? What did Tabitha’s mother say? Was it…”

“Asher, he-he killed her.”

Asher’s eyes widened.

“Are you okay?” He cupped my face, pulling me closer, his hands running along my body as if he wanted to check for himself.

“I’m okay. He left her in the bathtub. It was a warning. It was also a desperate last-ditch effort. Now that we are too close, he feels cornered, and…”

Asher’s jaw tightened, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. “He’s starting to make mistakes. That’s new for him.”

“If he’s devolving, there’s no telling what he might do next,” I said, leaning into his warmth. He put an arm around me, after making sure we were alone. “Jonah Bricks… Could he be the killer?”

“Did you find something?” Asher reluctantly pulled away.

I hesitated for a moment before taking a breath. “There’s something you need to know. It might sound crazy, but the spiders…”

Asher’s eyebrow shot up.

“Do you remember the four-eyed spiders from Riley’s letters?” He nodded. “Jonah has a fucking terrarium full of spiders. I don’t believe in coincidences. Not when it’s so fucking massive.”

He shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

“There’s a thread here, Asher, and it’s somehow tied to Jonah. What if he’s the end? He’s rich and he has the means.”

Asher ran a hand through his hair, his jaw rigid as he looked away for a moment, then back at me. “Alright,” he said finally, his voice low but resolute. “Let’s pull at that thread and see where it takes us.”

“You said he was in a band. Band means… travel. Groupies. Access to more women. He might not have killed everyone, but there must be some evidence that he was a predator?”

“We need to find the other members of his band.”

Layne slept soundly in my bedroom. I was searching for more information about Jonah Bricks when Asher knocked.

I opened the door, and his eyes softened when he saw me.

“You look tired. Why don’t you go relax? I’ll take care of this.”

I yawned, stretching as he pulled me closer to him, carrying my weight against his body.

“Can I sleep, then? My head is killing me.”

“Go.”

“Wake me up if you find something,” I said. He grabbed my hand with a sigh. “What?”

“Nothing.” He leaned in and pressed a kiss to my lips. “Go rest.”

“Diya? Diya?”

I yawned.

“Asher?” Layne blinked, sitting up next to me.

“You both need to wake up now. NOW.”

I wiped my eyes, stumbling up from the bed, and Layne followed behind me, yawning.

“What did you find?” I asked, biting back another yawn.

“I found Rip, Diya, and…” he trailed off, his brows furrowed.

“Go on,” Layne said.

“It’s Jimmy.”

“Jimmy who? What do you…”

“Jimmy. Jimmy, who always sings about death and murder. James Ripley Porter. Rip. It wasn’t that hard to find him once I started digging into Jonah’s old life. He was in the band with Jonah. He was caught in a few scandals and then one day, he disappeared. Guess where to?”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course. Look at this picture. His hair is blonde, but it’s him.”

Jimmy? He always sounded so polite, always smiled like he wasn’t hiding anything sinister. In the picture, he looked young and high.

“We have to talk to him. Now.”