The Odds, page 7
The idea that Ethan would be ashamed of manual labor, rather than gambling losses, was so preposterous that he hoped it would send the message that she needed to just go along with this, and that all would be explained later.
Jenny looked utterly baffled.
Then she spoke. “Ethan, you never have to be ashamed. The work you do doesn’t define you—you know that.”
She was going along with it! Ethan couldn’t believe it!
“I’ll fix this,” he said. “I’m just asking you to trust me.”
“I trust you.”
“Thank you. I’m sorry I lied. It will never happen again.”
“I’d hug you,” Jenny said, “but you’re filthy.”
“Right. I am. I’m going to take a shower. At this point I might as well not even bother trying to go to sleep, so maybe...” He lowered his voice. “...you’d be up for some makeup sex? Working so hard did something to me, I can’t even explain it. We could go at it like wild animals, like we did at the cabin last year.”
The cabin last year had incredibly thin walls. Ethan and Jenny had both been very much in the mood but had to be extremely careful not to traumatize their sons. It had been sex in super slow motion, with Ethan whispering dirty things into her ear the entire time.
“Okay,” said Jenny.
Ethan took a very quick shower. When he stepped out of the bathroom, naked, Jenny was waiting in bed. He climbed into bed with her, dove under the covers, and went down on her.
“Oooohhhhhh yeah,” said Butch.
Rick, Butch, and Gavin were in the van where they followed all of Ethan’s activity. It was Butch’s turn to monitor the webcams in Ethan’s home, but all three of them were watching at the moment.
“You think he knows we’re watching?” asked Gavin. “You think he’s a total exhibitionist?”
“Nah,” said Butch. “They’re under the covers.”
“Yeah, but he’s got to know we’re watching.”
“Maybe he thinks we’re just listening.”
“Maybe. It’s still kinky.”
Jenny’s eyes were closed as she moaned softly in pleasure.
“We need that sheet to slide down a few inches,” said Butch.
“You guys are perverts,” Rick told them.
“I don’t see you averting your eyes.”
“Maybe it’s a trick.”
Gavin grinned. “Yeah. Maybe he’s licking a message on her. I bet he’s tapping away with his tongue in Morse code.”
“I hope he can breathe under there,” said Butch. “I’d hate to lose two people to suffocation in a row.”
“You guys really need to grow up,” said Rick, though he kept watching the monitor.
It was difficult for Ethan to keep track of time down there. He wanted the show to start to get boring for the spectators, so he kept going, not adjusting his position.
“He’s got some tongue endurance, I’ll give him that,” said Gavin.
“Maybe that should be one of the games,” said Butch.
“How would it work?”
“I don’t know. We find a really frigid bitch, and he has to finish her off within a certain timeframe.”
“He’s been down there for nine minutes,” said Rick. “Is that really impressing you two? Is that a world record in the eyes of Gavin and Butch?”
“Hey, I don’t go down there at all,” said Gavin.
“That doesn’t surprise me.”
“It’s emasculating.”
“How the hell is it emasculating?” asked Rick. “Actually, don’t answer that. I don’t want to have that conversation with you.”
“Bonnie pretty much makes me,” said Butch. “She won’t reciprocate otherwise.”
“This is the worst porno ever,” said Gavin. “I’m literally bored right now. Nothing here is going into the spank bank. I’m about to fall asleep right at the keyboard.”
“Wait, wait, he’s moving,” said Butch.
“Oh, yeah, here we go!”
They watched for a few moments.
“Is he for real?” asked Butch. “They’re seriously staying under the covers?”
“I’m telling you, he knows we’re watching,” said Rick.
“Missionary. For God’s sake. Rick, can’t you call him and tell him to get some doggy-style action going or something?”
“Sorry.”
“Sounds like she’s enjoying it, at least,” said Gavin.
“Well, I’m not,” said Butch. “This is bullshit.”
Jenny moaned with ecstasy, even though Ethan wasn’t actually inside her.
He was too stressed out to get hard. After mounting her, he began vigorously thrusting away, hoping she’d know not to say anything. She played along, even though she had to be utterly bewildered by what was going on.
He kissed her neck as he pretended to pound into her.
Gavin was no longer watching. Butch continued to watch but looked annoyed.
“They could at least vary it up a little,” said Butch.
“Maybe they’re not exhibitionists,” said Rick. “They could just be a happy couple making sweet love.”
“Yeah, yeah, kudos to them.”
Ethan licked Jenny’s earlobe.
“Keep doing what you’re doing,” he whispered. Unless there was a webcam mounted right in the pillow, they wouldn’t be able to see his lips move.
Jenny continued to moan.
“It’s a game,” he whispered. “I thought it was over in Vegas but it’s not. They’re forcing me to keep playing. When I get those calls and leave the house, it’s for the next challenge.”
He wished he could see her face, to make sure she wasn’t giving anything away. But if she was faking sexual pleasure, the shock might not be recognizable on her face, if they could even see her face.
She hadn’t stopped moaning. She was still playing along.
He licked her neck then returned to her ear. “I’m not allowed to tell you. We’re not allowed to call the police. If you break the rules, we’re in danger.”
“I can’t believe he’s still going like that,” said Butch. “I think our little player had himself a dose of Viagra.”
“Maybe,” said Rick.
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t like that his mouth is right up against her ear.”
“He’s nibbling her earlobe. I do that to Bonnie sometimes if I’m feeling all tender and shit. You think he’s whispering to her?”
“He could be.”
“What do you think? Sweet nothings? Nasty stuff? Or do you think he’s telling her about the game?”
Rick leaned closer to the monitor. “I’m not sure. I don’t like it.”
“Do you want to terminate his game?”
“No. It might be nothing.”
“He might be saying how much he likes to fuck her.”
On the monitor, Ethan kissed Jenny on the mouth.
“We’ll switch to enhanced surveillance on the wife,” said Rick. “Any indication that she knows the deal, and we’ll do a full cleanup.”
“At least they got laid one last time,” said Butch.
Ethan moaned, shuddered, and pretended to have an orgasm, the first time he’d ever had to fake it. Then he and Jenny just held each other.
He assumed she was freaking out on the inside, but as long as she stopped questioning his activities, that was one big step toward escaping from this nightmare.
Hopefully he’d never have to tell her about the dead woman.
Hopefully there wouldn’t be any more dead women.
9
Ethan’s job required a lot of focus and attention to detail, which wasn’t ideal when he’d had less than two hours of sleep the previous night. He tried to compensate for it with a massive amount of caffeine, but so far the cups of coffee weren’t helping much. With everything else that was going on in his life, he couldn’t afford to get written up for falling asleep at his desk, so he fought through it.
He kept waiting for a call from Rick, forcing him to make up some sort of excuse to leave work early, but his phone remained silent.
When he got home after an unproductive day at the office, he napped on his recliner for about half an hour until Jenny got home. She asked him about his day, and told him about hers, and though he could sense the underlying tension, she wasn’t behaving in an manner that would seem suspicious to anybody who might be watching or listening. She was actually a pretty remarkable actor.
He made it through dinner with the family (baked chicken) without falling asleep. He tried to help Tim with his homework but offered no useful assistance, and then fell asleep on the couch as everybody watched television. At ten o’clock, Jenny prodded him to say it was time for bed. He could barely keep awake to get undressed, and was asleep almost immediately after getting under the covers.
He woke up at midnight.
He picked up his phone. No missed calls or texts.
Rick had given him no timeframe for the next round. He’d assumed it would happen pretty quickly, but that wasn’t based on anything Rick had actually said.
Ethan tried to go back to sleep. He couldn’t.
Dammit.
He lay there, waiting for the phone to vibrate and praying that it didn’t.
Get some more sleep. You may need it.
Now he was wide awake.
He just lay there.
After a while, he wanted to give up and get out of bed, but if he woke Jenny up she’d think it was related to the game and she’d worry. If he had to scare his wife, he at least wanted it to be when there was legitimate reason to be afraid.
He tried various tricks to fall asleep, but none of them worked. This wasn’t fair.
He finally drifted back off to sleep just in time to be tired as hell when the alarm went off.
He went with energy drinks instead of coffee at work, though they didn’t seem to work any better. He really hoped Rick didn’t call, because unless the challenge involved losing consciousness, he was screwed.
Rick didn’t call.
When he got home, Ethan napped for an hour and felt a little better. He’d thought about stopping by a pharmacy for some sleep aids, but what if Rick contacted him while he was dosed up? More people could die.
At six o’clock, while Jenny was making dinner, he called.
“Hello,” said Ethan.
“Hello. Did you enjoy your day off?”
“Yes, it was very relaxing.”
“Well, it’s time for the next round. Report immediately to the strip mall on 237 Weston Highway.”
“What’s the challenge?”
“You’ll be told when you arrive.”
“Hold on, that’s not how this works,” said Ethan. Jenny was staring at him, so he lowered the phone. “It’s work,” he told her. She immediately turned her focus back to preparing dinner. Ethan walked back into his bedroom. “What are my odds?”
“You’ll find that out when you’re told about the challenge.”
“Tell me now. I’m allowed to say no, right?”
“That’s right.”
“And what happens then?”
“Things proceed the way they would if you didn’t participate.”
“So you’re saying that you would’ve—” Ethan lowered his voice to a whisper “—buried the woman alive even if I declined?”
“Correct.”
“Then I don’t really have a choice, do I?”
“You still have free will, Ethan. It’s not my fault if you have a conscience.”
“You’re a piece of shit. Have I told you that today?”
“Not today. So I can expect to see you at 237 Weston Highway, departing immediately?”
“Yeah.”
Rick hung up. Ethan cursed and walked back into the kitchen. Jenny looked over at him, not doing a very good job of hiding her concern. “Do you have to go in to work?” she asked.
Rick nodded.
“For how long?”
“I don’t know. For however long they need me. I’ll call when I know more.”
“All right.”
“I’m sorry to miss dinner. It smells delicious.”
“I’ll leave a plate in the refrigerator.”
Ethan walked over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He wanted to whisper something reassuring to her, but that would be too risky.
“I have to go in to work,” he told Patrick and Tim, who were in the living room playing a gory video game. “Don’t eat all of the tuna noodle casserole.”
“We won’t,” said Tim.
“Why do you have to go back to work?” asked Patrick.
“Things are crazy there right now. It shouldn’t last much longer.” On the screen, a barbarian decapitated an armored knight in a cartoonishly large spray of blood. “Did your mom buy you that game?”
“No, you did.”
“We’ll talk about this when I get back,” he said.
Ethan drove to the strip mall, which had a couple of restaurants, a nail salon, a tax service, and a party supplies shop. He parked in front of the nail salon and waited for Rick to call.
Instead, Rick walked up to his car. He knocked on the window, then opened the door and slid into the passenger seat.
“I get to see you in person this time,” said Ethan. “What an honor.”
“Don’t get used to it.”
“What’s the challenge?”
“Stop being so impatient,” said Rick. “We’ll get to it. There’s something I want to discuss with you first.”
“Okay.”
“You know we’re monitoring you, right? That’s no surprise. We wouldn’t set the rules if we couldn’t verify that you were following them.”
“I assumed you were listening in, yeah.”
“And watching.”
“Oh. I didn’t know you were watching.”
“I made it clear that I was when I made the comment about you having spaghetti for dinner. ‘I can see you’ is exactly the message I was trying to convey.”
“Sorry. This is about last night, right?”
“Yes.”
“Sorry. I thought that make-up sex would keep her from asking more questions. I apologize if you’re mentally scarred by what you saw.”
“We didn’t see anything. You kept it under the covers.”
“I hope you’re not asking me to ditch the covers next time.”
“No, Ethan, I am not.”
“I didn’t realize there was a no-sex rule in place. You said to behave the way we normally do, and normally we do what married couples do. Now that I know you’re being a Peeping Tom I obviously won’t do it again. I’m just glad you saw a halfway decent performance.”
Rick stared at him for a moment. “I’m not sure if you actually think this is about me being a prude, or if you’re faking it.”
“I assumed it made you uncomfortable to watch us bone.”
“I could’ve looked away. I could’ve turned the volume down.”
“I wish you had. No offense, but you watching my wife and I make love is a little creepy.”
“You’re pretty casual with the banter, considering that a woman died a horrible death two nights ago. Suffocation is a terrible way to go. I can’t imagine how much she suffered.”
“Keeping it casual is how I’m saving myself from a complete mental breakdown,” said Ethan. “You’re not good at subtly guiding a conversation, so if you’re not here to tell me my next challenge, tell me why you’re in my car.”
“What were you whispering into Jenny’s ear?”
“When?”
“When you were fucking her.”
“I wasn’t whispering anything.”
“I saw you.”
“I nibbled on her earlobe. It turns her on.”
“And then you whispered.”
“If I did whisper, it was filthy gibberish. I didn’t whisper an actual sentence. I don’t think I formed real words. I may have gasped into her ear. I don’t know.”
“You don’t remember?” asked Rick.
“No.”
“Hmmm.”
“Look, I’m sure that when you have sex with your wife or girlfriend or friend with benefits you take careful notes to remind you of everything that happened, but when I’m in the throes of passion, I like to lose myself in the moment. It’s obvious what you’re trying to accuse me of, but that’s just not what happened.”
“Hmmm.”
“Stop hmmm-ing at me. I didn’t tell her a thing. You think I’d put my wife and kids at risk like that? Are you seriously saying that I would come home after you proved that you’re the kind of psychopath who would tie up a woman and bury her alive, and then I’d immediately break your rule about not telling anybody about this? Do you think I’m insane?”
Rick said nothing.
“Do you keep the videos? Do you have a way to zoom in? Because I swear to you, I’m following the rules.”
“All right,” said Rick. “I’ll let it drop. But don’t give me a reason to doubt you again.”
“I won’t nibble anywhere near her ear.”
“Good.”
“By the way, which is it? Wife, girlfriend, or friend with benefits?”
“That’s none of your business.”
“Sorry,” said Ethan. “I figured that since you watched me bang my wife it was okay for me to ask about your relationship status.”
“Would you like to hear your next challenge?”
“Yes.”
“The odds are 50/50 again.”
“Because that worked out so great last time.”
“The odds were accurate. We calculated that there was a fifty percent chance that you’d inspect the shovel.”
“How do you calculate something like that? It feels like the kind of numbers that one might pull out of one’s ass.”
Rick frowned. “I remember giving you permission to be verbally abusive, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t piss me off. If you want to be sarcastic, go right ahead, but I’m not sure how that improves your situation. Why be antagonistic? What do you gain?”
