The Odds - Jeff Strand Page 0,10

“Don’t you think it’s weird that he showed up at the same restaurant?” wasn’t enough for the police to take action. For now, he’d just have to be on high alert.

He didn’t sleep very well.

He doubled his coffee intake in the morning and made it through the first half of his day at work. Sometimes he went out to lunch with co-workers, but today he’d brought a sack lunch, and since it was a nice day he decided to eat outside. There was a pond behind the building, so he sat down on the bench overlooking it.

Two bites into his ham sandwich, Rick sat down next to him.

“Hi, Ethan,” he said.

“Hi.”

“I suppose I’d be insulting your intelligence if I said this was a coincidence.”

“Yeah.”

“How’s your sandwich?”

“It’s kind of dry. What do you want from me? Are you trying to get your money back?”

“Absolutely not,” said Rick. “You won that money. It’s yours to keep. I’m just here to let you know that the game is still on.”

“You said it was completely voluntary.”

“Each round is voluntary. But the game goes on. Come on, Ethan, you don’t look like a complete dumbass, so you can’t possibly have thought I’d give you sixty thousand dollars and then disappear from your life. Of course I was going to show up again. But before you get too upset, it’s not all bad. There are still prizes. And, again, if you don’t like the odds of a certain round, you can pass. I think you’ll have fun.”

“You’re going to make me call the police, aren’t you?”

“Actually, that’s why I’m here. There are two rules that you’ll have to follow. The first one is, don’t tell anybody about the game. That means your wife and kids, and it especially means, you guessed it, do not call the police. Don’t call 911, don’t contact the FBI, don’t tell anybody. This game is our little secret. The second rule is, don’t send your family away. You’re going to think, oh, I’ll ship the kids off to Grandma’s until this all blows over, and I am telling you very specifically not to do that.”

“You’re saying to leave my family in danger?” Ethan asked.

“I’m saying that the money we used to hook you into this game is a drop in the bucket. So you’re putting your family into danger if you break the rule. I like you, Ethan, so I truly hope that you trust me when I say that you do not want to break this rule. This is as far from a bluff as you can get. I’d rather not get overly descriptive about the penalties, but I can if you’d like. Are we clear?”

Ethan wanted to punch him in the face, then drag him into the pond and hold his head underwater for a few minutes. Instead, he said, “Yeah. We’re clear.”

“So to recap: don’t tell anybody, especially the police, and don’t move your family. Now let me clarify Rule #1. Nobody is to call the police. If your wife Jenny, your twelve-year-old son Patrick, or your ten-year-old son Tim call the police, or if they alter their routine in any significant way, that counts as a violation of the rules.”

Rick’s lack of subtlety about knowing Ethan’s family members was almost funny. “Anything else?”

“That covers it. We like to keep things simple. Good game design involves not bogging down the gameplay with unnecessary rules.”

“Is it against the rules for me to call you a piece of shit?” asked Ethan.

Rick chuckled. “Verbal abuse is okay. Believe it or not, I’m on your side.”

“Since you just finished threatening my family, yeah, it is kind of hard to believe.”

“That’s a necessary precaution. I want you to follow the rules, and I want you to do well in the game. I know this all sounds bad, but it may end up being the best thing to ever happen to you.”

“I’m guessing it probably won’t.”

“Are you better off now than if you had to tell Jenny about the money you gambled away?”

“I’m not sure I am. Her life wouldn’t be in danger.”

“Her life is only in danger if she disobeys the very simple, very clear rules. She’ll be fine. Your children will be fine. Don’t be stupid. That’s basically all there is to it. Don’t give us a reason to carry out the threat.”

“Fine,” said Ethan. “I won’t give you a reason to carry out the threat. You’re still a piece of shit.”

“We’ll see if you still feel that way when this is