A Game of Greed and Deception: A Mystery Drama (17 page)

SEVENTEEN

Tammy felt frazzled and craved
a cigarette. Her bandaged hand was hurting terribly as she had bumped it during
the explosion. Her head was pounding and her temples were pulsating.
So Stephen had the damn smarts to create
some kind of bomb in the cellar? He must’ve done this last night. But how in
the hell did he get Maria in on it? He’s done got her totally against me now.
She
leaned her face against her good hand. Her teeth were grinding against each
other and her mind was racing.
How did he
tell Maria to try and get me down in the cellar? He must’ve done it when he got
her out of the vice.
But why not keep
Maria with him rather than let her back inside the cabin? If he loves her so
damn much, wouldn’t he want to keep her safe? Could he possibly be willing to
sacrifice her to destroy me? That bastard is crazier than I damn well thought.
Tammy
was both confused and mentally exhausted, trying to sort out in her mind what
Stephen could be up to. Then her train of thought was suddenly disrupted by a
knocking on the front door.

Tammy
jumped up and grabbed her weapon. She moved quickly and pressed herself up
against the wall so that she could not be seen through the front window. After
a few moments, someone knocked again, and she heard some muffled sounds coming
from outside. Tammy kept her back against the wall and then slowly moved along
it closer to the door. She turned her head ever so carefully and tried to peek
outside the window without being seen. Standing on the front porch was a police
officer, and his truck was parked on the street in front of the cabin.

Tammy
felt that bolt of pain shoot up her spine. She closed her eyes, trying to block
out any sounds, and took a few deep breaths. She couldn’t afford a migraine
now.
Holy fuck, what do I do now? If that
policeman finds me here, he’ll look around the whole dang cabin, and then take
Maria and I with him. He’ll ask a ton of questions, done see everything that
has happened here, and I’ll be in huge trouble. And if he finds Stephen it’s
his and Maria’s word against mine.
She moved her head back just out of view
of the front window hoping that the officer would leave. He knocked again, only
this time louder, and then spoke. “Tammy Worthington, are you in there?”

Tammy
stayed motionless.
If Maria sees him
she’ll come running out. And what if he finds Stephen first? Goddam, that
bastard will tell him that I’ve done everything to kill him and Maria. He’ll
make everything look like it’s my fault. I can’t just let the officer roam
around outside the cabin. There ain’t no damn way I’m going to jail.
She
was becoming short of breath from the tension.

Tammy
was rapidly sucking in air, trying not to panic. She buried her face in her
hands, unsure of what to do.
Can he just
come inside the cabin if I don’t open the door? There has to be probable cause
for the commitment of a crime, or he needs to have a search warrant. I can just
act like I’m not here and say I was outside, looking for Stephen. And Maria was
just too scared to come to the door. If I open the door, there ain’t no way I
can get around letting him inside.

Then
there was a scream outside and a loud thud. Tammy waited and listened carefully
for something else, but now there was total silence. She turned her head again
and leaned forward a bit to peer out the window. The officer had fallen down on
the front porch and seemed to be hurt. Tammy got closer to the front door and
had a better look outside. Blood was streaming out in the snow and the
policeman was not moving. Tammy held her breath as she opened the front door.

The
officer was lying face-down on the porch in a mess of blood mixed with snow. He
wasn’t moving and Tammy knew right away that he was dead. There was also a
large cinder block next to him covered with blood. She slammed the front door
shut and locked it. Tammy stumbled backwards until she collapsed on the sofa.
So now Stephen is a fucking murderer! I
can’t damn well believe that he killed a cop. Holy shit, now this place is
gonna be swarming with police within a few hours!

Under
the shock of what had just happened, she tried to keep her thoughts clear. An
excruciating pain had begun in her head. Tammy closed her eyes and pressed
firmly on her temples with her right hand. She dug her fingers into the sides
of her forehead, praying that the pain would subside.

But if Stephen is convinced that I’m the
only guilty one, why not let them find me? If he done took that kind of risk
that he must only wanna kill me himself. There ain’t no other explanation. I
don’t think he wants anyone except Maria to leave here alive.
Tammy
bit her nails nervously.

Come to think of it, I think he’s done
had Maria in on this the whole damn time. He’s playing me like the damn fool.
He wants me to think that she is all scared and innocent, but he’s got her
playing this game too. He must have planned this all out way before we left and
told her about it. But how in the hell did he know about it? All my calls were
private and I never told anyone else. Well it sure as hell don’t matter now.
Obviously we’re not all leaving here alive.

Tammy
took a deep breath grinding her teeth from not having a cigarette between them.
Despite the pain in her head, she felt that she was thinking very clearly.
So that bastard has been plotting to torture
and kill me. He is the crazy murderer, not me! I’m totally innocent. All I’ve
been doing is defending myself. That’s right, I didn’t even do nothing wrong. I
didn’t rig any car to go off the cliff, Darnell did! How can anyone prove I am
not the damn victim?

Everyone is out to kill me and I need to
protect myself. Both Stephen and Maria are dangerous psychos. I knew that
little girl had something wrong with her. The way she smiles at everyone and
acts all sweet and shy. She ain’t nothing but a black-hearted little bitch. She
and Stephen think they are so damn clever. Well I’ll show them just how dumb
they really are. It’s time for Tammy to take care of business.

She
looked up at the living room ceiling with a smirk on her face.
It’s perfect, really. Someone tried to kill
Stephen for his money, and he snapped and comes to torture and kill me. I had
nothing to do with it. Nobody can prove a damn thing. Tom will never admit to
anything. So now all I am doing is defending myself both with Stephen and
little Maria. I’ll show that this was all their doing and get what I want in
the end too.

Tammy
stood up slowly and made her way into the kitchen. She started picking up some
of the pieces of the dishes that had broken from the explosion in the cellar
and set them on the table. Then she took one of the shards of glass and rubbed
her finger along the razor-sharp edge ever so gently so it tickled her finger a
bit.
It’s a lot like life, now isn’t it?
Walking one fine damn line between pleasure and pain, between life and death.

She
opened the cupboard and took out the bag of ginger cookies. Then she set the
bag on the table and opened the door to the tea cabinet. She was pleased to see
that the tea set had not been broken. She took out a tray with accompanying tea
set – two cups, two saucers, and an elegant tea pot. She put a metal pot on the
stove, filled it with some of the bottled water, and turned on the flame. Tammy
started to sing to herself.
Poor little
Maria was a naughty little bitch. Far away from home she ain’t nothing but a
snitch. But all the King’s horses and all the King’s men, couldn’t save little
Maria from pain yet again.

After
the water boiled, Tammy filled the tea pot and dropped in a bag of Rooibos. She
reached into the back of the cupboard and took out the bottle of Strychnine
poison. She opened the bottle and poured a bit of the fine white powder into
one of the tea cups. After a few minutes, she poured the piping hot tea into
the two cups and stirred the one with the poison. Then she arranged the cups
with saucers, the tea pot, a small spoon, two napkins, and some ginger cookies
on the tray. She carried everything with her into the living room.

Tammy
slid the coffee table away from the trap door and right in front of the sofa.
She wiped the table down with a cloth and adjusted the down feather pillows on
the back of the couch. Then she set the tray down on the coffee table, giggling
inside.
Poor little Maria gets poisoned
to death while Stephen is hunting down and killing people. And innocent little
me?
 
I have no idea what in the hell is going on.
She
knocked quietly on Maria’s door. She took a deep breath and softened her voice
tone. “Maria baby, would you please come out here? Everything is gonna be just
fine. I think that we’ve all let things get completely out of control and I’ve
made some mistakes that I want to apologize for.”

She
waited a few more moments. “I fixed us a nice pot of tea with some ginger
cookies. You know back home where I’m from, in
Wilmington
, we had midday tea every Sunday.
It was a chance for the family to talk through their week and iron out any
differences. This has all just been one huge misunderstanding. I understand if
you’re upset with me, Maria, I would be upset too.” Tammy took the skeleton key
and unlocked the bedroom door. She tried to open the door but it only budged a
couple inches before hitting the bed frame. She peeped inside and saw Maria
seated on the bed turned away from her. “Maria, would you speak with me please?
I just want to have a chance to say that I’m sorry.”

Maria
whisked her head around and gazed angrily at Tammy. “You want to say you’re
sorry, Tammy? For what, being crazy as hell? You’ve blamed everything on dad
this whole time and tried to kill him. You even used me as bait to get dad!
Then you’ve lied to me about everything. You’re dangerous and psycho and the
police are gonna to take you to jail.”

Tammy
kneeled down so that she was looking up at Maria through the crack in the
doorway. “You’re absolutely right and I know that is seems as if I’ve acted
badly, Maria. I can’t defend all of my actions. But this whole situation has just
been really hard on me.” Tammy’s voice cracked with emotion. “I know that you
knew about the explosion in the wine cellar, and that’s ok. Stephen helped you
set that up, didn’t he? I’m not even the least bit angry. We’ve all made some
mistakes in judgment, right? Look, I hurt both my leg and my hand. You think
that has been easy on me? Let me make things up to you, honey.”

Tammy
hesitated for a moment. “As I said before, this whole weekend was one big test
for Stephen. This was a risky situation that we all got ourselves into. He
might not have understood that and said or done some things that he shouldn’t.
But now everything will be just fine. There is nothing left to worry about.
Stephen and I can just patch things up with each other and move on. Come out in
the living room and have some tea with me and we’ll feel much more relaxed.”

Maria
remembered everything in the letter from her father, including the part about
Tammy rigging the car to go off the cliff. She also remembered being told to go
along with what Tammy asked of her as best she could. She knew that Tammy was
relentless when she wanted her way. After all the lies Tammy had told her, she
wasn’t going to believe a thing the woman had to say. Despite her growing
trepidation, she thought it better to go along with her so she pushed the bed
out from in front of the door, and followed Tammy into the living room.

They
sat down on the sofa. Tammy turned the tea tray so that one cup was in front of
her and the other in front of Maria. “Here you go, sweetie. The ginger cookies
are fresh and crispy. And the tea is Rooibos, your favorite. Drink up while
it’s still hot.” Tammy took her cup of tea in her hands and had a small sip.
Her eyes were riveted on Maria even when Tammy moved her head.

Maria
remembered the time when, after being married to Stephen for just a couple of
months, Tammy had an abrupt change in her behavior. She had been so interested
in Maria’s school work and group of friends. She asked Maria what the other
girls talked about with her and gave her advice on being popular and earning
respect. They had long talks about how being a lady can be so glamorous and
exciting. But then Tammy stopped having these talks with Maria, and spent most
of her time going through Stephen’s papers. She was still sweet to Maria, but
in a more cold, and calculated manner, as if she wanted to keep her happy
without being too involved.

Maria
looked at the tea, and saw a few little bubbles fizzing at the top. This seemed
suspicious to her since she hadn’t yet added any sugar. She grabbed her cup and
took a whiff of the fruity aroma. Then she paused and set the tea cup back
down. “I don’t know if I’m really that thirsty right now, Tammy.”

Tammy
put her hand on Maria’s leg. “Oh but, honey, this will help us relax and talk
things out. Try the cookies, they are so nice. I know that I’ve been an awful
person on this trip and I don’t know what else to say. Everyone needs a second
chance, right? And all I can do is try and make things up to you and Stephen in
every way possible.”

Maria
glanced up at Tammy and then back down at the tea and cookies. She noticed the
determined look in Tammy’s eyes. It wasn’t the type of look that one would
expect from someone who felt guilty or remorseful. Even though Tammy spoke with
emotion, her eyes were clear and penetrating. They looked void of emotion or
feeling. It was the same look that she had when she was with Stephen at the
restaurant, and Maria had seen it many times before when Tammy wanted her to do
something. Maria had trouble looking at Tammy directly. She knew that Tammy
would only be kind to her if she needed to take advantage of her in some way.
“I bet you wish that dad was here drinking some tea with us, don’t you?”