Prelude

The waifish young woman Cindy, whom Joey calls Sin, is working alone, busily absorbed offloading her bulky cargo at the grotto end of the tunnel. There’s no one she trusts to help her. The party preparations are her sole responsibility. There remains much still to do ahead of the children’s beach party. Cases of bottled water to bring. Boxes of lite snacks to pack and stack. This trip she was delivering the second cartload of cushions for the patio chairs and lounges, the frames still waiting to be brought to the vicinity of the beach grotto. Furniture frames, too large for the cart, will need to be backpacked down from the house to the secret beach. Except the beach isn’t much of a secret anymore. The crew that cut steps descending the cliff to access the beach know about it, and so do the college kids who flew drones over it. Of course, they know it, though not seen in person, they filmed it.

The secret Cindy guards and the reason she can’t ask for help, is only Cindy and Joey know there’s a subterranean tunnel between the beach and the manor house. The tunnel’s great length allows an almost imperceptible slope to descend gradually from the level of the cliff tops down to sea level. They wish their secret to be kept secret. Before it eventually connects with the manor house, first the tunnel leads back a quarter of a mile to the site of the burned gardener’s house, now the new water warehouse. It emerges near a hidden dungeon Joey built in the warehouse basement. The tunnel is too long, a distance too far for Cindy to be alarmed by a muted sound, probably didn’t even hear that first shot fired inside the dungeon.

Cindy was closer, actually headed there, wheeling her cart to the warehouse to pick up a few cases of bottled water when she heard the second shot. Dimly she heard the faint report and it sounded distant, indistinct. Was it even a gunshot? She doubts it. When it didn’t repeat during a few moments pause, she resumed pushing the cart, unperturbed, unconcerned. Odd noises happen all the time.

“Oh, no you don’t you bastard. You can’t escape and leave me down here. Throw me the keys to the cuffs. Stop, Joey, I swear, I’ll shoot you again if you climb one more step! I’m warning you to stop, STOP damn you!”

That second, the final fatal shot was the one that barely caught Cindy’s attention back down the tunnel, but for only a brief moment. Soon she arrived without haste, at the warehouse. She produced her keys and unlocked the tunnel door. A scream, “Help!” was in response to the rattle of her keys in the lock. Immediately Cindy awarded the scream her complete and rapt attention.

The scream had come from within. Reflexively, impulsively, intuitively, she sprang backward, away from the door, and out of harm’s way. The door was jerked open by her rearward momentum and her hand’s firm grasp retained on the knob. No sooner than her feet touched the ground, she saw within and beyond, she yelped and courageously charged forward through the opening. Her daddy was hurt and she leaped to his aid without conscious thought or decision.

“Daddy, daddee? Are you hurt bad? How bad are you hurt?”

“He’s dead, child. There’s nothing you can do for him, now. Do something for me. Go through his pockets, find and get the damn keys to these fucking cuffs.”

‘What did you say, daddy?”

“He didn’t say anything, you stupid little kid. He’s dead! Can’t you understand that? Quit fucking around and look for those keys.”

“I’ll get you some water daddy. You’ll soon be fine.”

Sin called down while a shower of water bottles rained from the overhead hatch.

“He said he’s thirsty, you stupid old cunt! He’s not dead yet and he’s not going to die, cause I’m going to save him. But not you! You’re in the deep shitter because you shot him, bitch! Didn’t you?”

“Only in self-defense.”

“Save your pleas of self-defense for asking Satan’s pity, Elaine, you’ll get none of mine.”

“Kick a few of those water bottles over here, kid. I need some water too.”

“You’re not desperate enough to need any water yet. Wait a few days. You’ll learn the difference between desires and real needs.”

“Who are you kid? Your voice is vaguely familiar, but I can’t place you. Where have we met before?”

“I’m Joey’s Sin. Ever heard of the Wages of Sin? You’re going to pay big time. I’m the impure water girl and you’d better respect me.”

Cindy finally levered Joey into her bike wheeled orchard cart.

“Come on daddy, try and stay balanced in the cart. Keep your arms tucked in. We have to move you to where the help is. Maybe I’ll see you a little later, you evil cunt, after you’ve had the chance to repent some!”

Welcome to the sequel to Non Zero Sum Game before a planned future sequel, The Sons of Pepper.

Hope this tale is better written than previous ones, feedback, please.

Yob

Chapter 1 »