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“Amber, you can’t be here!”
“I came to save you,” Amber said.
“I know,” Simon replied. “But it’sa trap.”
Even as Simon breathed those words,lights came on all around Amber, filling the huge room they were in with light.Amber pressed the knife into Simon’s hands and turned, her gun starting to comeup, ready.
“I suggest you drop that. I wouldhate to have to shoot you before our game.”
Amber saw a man approaching fromthe left. She recognized him instantly from his photographs, with the youthful,handsome features that seemed untouched by prison life. He was dressed in darkslacks and a dark button down shirt, the sleeves rolled up to reveal themuscular forearms beneath. There was a coldness in his eyes that was moresuited to some big predator than a human, and he was holding a gun leveled atAmber without a hint of wavering.
Amber briefly considered whethershe could get her own weapon up and fire before he could get a shot off,trusting to the training she’d had and hoping that he missed. Amber got thefeeling that Colm wouldn’t miss, though, and even if he did, there was a goodchance that the shot would hit Simon.
Amber lowered her weapon.
“Good,” Colm said. “Now, throw itto one side. We’re not here to fight, Amber.”
Amber couldn’t see a better option.Her only hope was to go along with whatever Colm had planned and hope that shecould find a way out. Reluctantly, she tossed her gun aside.
“Good,” Colm said. He gestured tothe middle of the room.
In the dark, Amber hadn’t noticedwhat was there. Now, she could see it lit up perfectly. There was a table thereand two chairs. On the table, set up neatly, there was a chess set. Colmgestured to it.
“Shall we play, Amber?”
CHAPTER THIRTY ONE
Amber kept her eyes on Colm as hemoved over to the table, sitting down with the gun still in his hand. It wasobvious that he wasn’t going to give Amber a chance to jump at him to try totake him down.
Colm had the black pieces in frontof him. Amber frowned at that. She’d expected him to take every advantage inthis game. Especially that of going first.
“Sit down, Amber. Either we play,or I shoot you and then kill Agent Phelps.”
Amber sat down at the table.
“All of this, just to get me toplay one game of chess against you?” Amber asked. It seemed like a strangeplace for this to end between them after Colm had hurt so many people aroundher. “You beat up my boyfriend, killed my friend, my aunt, my fellow puzzler…all to get me here?”
Colm shook his head. “Those werethe first game, but I’ve tired of that. You couldn’t protect the people aroundyou. You couldn’t save them in time.”
It was obvious that he was tryingto get into Amber’s head. The trouble was that she wasn’t a psychopath likehim. She couldn’t just shut out her feelings. There was fear and pain runningthrough her at those words, the memories of the people she’d lost flooding hermind.
Colm was watching her. Of course hewas. He looked interested, but also disappointed.
“How is it that someone can be sobrilliant at what she does, yet still be affected by such stupid things?” hedemanded. “It holds you back, Amber. It limits you. Maybe that’s why you failedto save them all.”
Amber held back her anger, butbarely. She was aware that Colm was trying to get a reaction from her.
“You’re the one who’s missing out,”Amber said. “When was the last time you connected with anyone else?”
“The connection when I kill someoneis enough,” Colm said. “The satisfaction of having beaten someone. As for therest of it… look at how it’s held you back, Amber. If it had just been you,with all the resources available to you, maybe you would have saved more of thepeople close to you.”
Amber winced at that, because sheknew that it was true. Mallory’s involvement had slowed her down, kept her fromthe full facts of the case. He hadn’t shown her all the elements of thedifferent puzzles Colm had set. He’d tried to keep Amber out of the case, eventhough Amber had been the one with the skills to solve the puzzles. And peoplehad died because of it.
“Which is why I decided to changethings for this last clash between us,” Colm said. “Just you and me, Amber. Onegame, a direct challenge of wits between us. Of course, the stakes remain thesame.”
Colm picked up Amber’s king. “Thisis your dear Agent Phelps. How close have you gotten now? Close enough that itwill hurt if you lose him. Close enough that it will break you, I think.”
“I already guessed that I couldn’tlose,” Amber said. She was confident, though. If it came to a straight contestbetween her and Colm O’Rafferty, she backed herself. She’d seen the puzzleshe’d designed. He was clever and he was cunning, but he relied on stacking thedeck in his favor. Amber could beat him.
