Page 108 of Forgotten Sacrifice

“Shouldn’t you lock your secret lair?” I verbally poke him.

He shrugs. “Seems moot at this point.”

“Whose eyeball is in that jar, Vince?” I demand.

He ignores me, which infuriates me to no end.

Following him to the garage, I hop in and slam my door, putting on my headphones and scrolling through my socials. Opening my DMs, my jaw falls to the floor.

“What?” Vince yanks off my headphones, tossing them on the console.

“None of your business.”

He sighs loudly. “Are we really back here, Luna?”

I narrow my eyes at him. “Appears so.”

He snatches the phone from my hand.

“I hate you.”

“That’s a dollar.”

“Owe me ninety-three.”

He smirks, that is, until he reads the message.

Luna, I’m so proud of you. There hasn’t been a day that’s gone by that I haven’t thought about you. You probably hate me for leaving you with your dad, but I’d still like the chance to explain myself. I’ve been following your chess career. The Vegas Invitational is coming up. I’d love to see you…

“We don’t know this is really your mom; could be a scammer,” Vince warns.

My phone buzzes, and I grab his wrist, moving the phone so I can see the screen. It’s a picture of me as a baby, being held in my mother’s arms. It’s eerie how much I look like this woman.

This is the only picture I have of you. I look at it every day.

“It’s like looking in a damn mirror; still say this is a scammer?” I challenge.

“Luna, why do you think she’s popping out of the woodwork now? I’ll tell you why: she sees dollar signs.” Vince hands me my phone.

“Isn’t that allyousee?” I snatch my headphones, putting them back on.

We arrive at the grand opening of Madhouse Chess Club, with hoards of press and onlookers. I don’t wait for Vince, hopping out and disappearing in the crowd.

“Grandmaster Barone, there you are.” A woman grabs my hand, whisking me to the front of the crowd. “The club’s biggest donor prefers to remain anonymous, and so we’d love for you to do the honors.” She hands me a pair of scissors as Vince appears, visibly annoyed.

Ha, I knew I’d get to him eventually.

“The honors?” I ask.

“Cutting the ribbon, of course,” she says like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “Go on.”

I walk on stage, standing beside self-important people dressed in suits while the mayor gives an extremely long-winded speech. “Grandmaster Barone, our native Atlantic City chess queen, please do the honors.”

I cut the ribbon, and the crowd erupts into cheers as it flutters to the ground.

Vince

I push my way through the throng of people to catch up with Luna. “This is so amazing.” She looks around the lobby, a huge smile on her gorgeous face.