Game of Fear (Montgomery Justice #3)(31)
“Tell me about it. Have a seat.”
Gabe dropped onto the brown leather couch across from the screen, pulling Deb down beside him. Luke arched his brow, but didn’t say a word. He picked up a remote.
“Video first or the game?”
Gabe slipped his hand into Deb’s. “How familiar are you with Point of Entry? You know about Level 88?”
“Who doesn’t?”
Gabe and Deb exchanged a look.
Luke sighed. “Except you two. Level 88 is the Holy Grail in each version of P.O.E. I haven’t made it past Level 60 yet, but then I do have a life and a family who wants to interact with me once in a while. When your wife is a sniper, it’s a good idea not to piss her off.”
“Better you than me,” Gabe said. “Jazz can be damned scary when she’s in a mood.” He cleared his throat and pulled out his cell. “Let’s look at the video first. The kids wanted to document reaching Level 88. Mylo sent it to my phone. It may be hard to see on the small screen, though.”
“If you forward it to me, I can put it on the big screen.”
Gabe looked at the phone for a minute and grimaced. He and technology didn’t always get along. “I’m afraid I’ll blow it away if I try it, and I want to show it to Neil, too.”
“If you want, I can transfer it. I’m a tech guru, remember?”
Gabe found the video file, then handed his phone to Luke. “The one marked ‘twelfth attempt.’ It’s dated Friday.”
A minute later, the electronic magic was done.
“So what are we watching?” he asked, settling in next to Gabe.
“A mystery.” Gabe flicked his phone to vibrate and shoved it back into the pocket of his jacket. He didn’t want to be interrupted during the video. He had to stay focused.
“Sounds compelling. What do you mean by that?”
“Things happen in this video that I can’t explain. The three kids in it are a team. They’re about to hit Level 88 of Point of Entry. As soon as they do, it gets weird.”
“Okay, let’s do it.” Luke hit a remote and the lights went off and the screen flickered to life.
Deb tensed and Gabe slid his arm around her. He knew how hard it was to see her sister on-screen and not know her fate. Deb clutched his other hand, her fingers tight on his. She’d been incredibly strong through all this. She’d fit in well with the other women in this family.
The idea shocked him, but not as much as it might have a few days ago. Still, it was a jump from being attracted to someone, dreaming of a few long, sweaty nights, to thinking of her as a prospective Montgomery woman. But he’d seen her face trouble with strength, her willingness to fight for her sister—just as he would for his brothers—without hesitation, without fail. She could very well be the first woman he’d wanted who really fit.
Luke turned to them. “If you think I should know something, jump in. I’ll stop the video.”
The clip started.
A pretty blonde sat next to a dark-haired boy on the couch, and their intimate smiles let everyone know the two teenagers were crushing on each other.
“Hold it,” Deb interjected. “I guess I should give you some background. That’s my sister, Ashley, and her boyfriend, Justin. They met in high school, when she and my dad first moved to Colorado. After she left for the Academy, Justin and two others formed a P.O.E. team. It wasn’t long before he invited her to join them.”
Luke frowned. “Why her?”
“She’s a prodigy with computers and encryption,” Gabe said. “She and Justin did the NSA hack job.”
Luke’s jaw dropped.
“Anyway,” Deb added quickly, “Britney, the other girl who’s now missing, had been the third member on Justin’s P.O.E. team, but she’d moved away last spring. Ashley was thrilled to fill the opening. Soon, she was playing the game with them every weekend.”
After Deb identified Mylo as the other frozen image in the background, Luke started the video again.
An expensive new gaming system held court front and center on the mahogany coffee table in the living room. Mylo handed out sodas and bags of popcorn, then flopped down into a gaming chair. Justin tugged open the bag and passed it over to Ashley. She grabbed a handful, then he dumped the entire contents into the bowl next to the four controllers.
“This is the coolest game ever,” he said, grinning at her. “I can’t believe you’ve picked it up so fast. You’ve got our levels going up faster than they were before. Being on Level 87 is awesome. It would have taken longer without you.”
Ashley flushed and reached for a controller.
Mylo chugged back half his soda and grabbed a fist of popcorn. “Yeah, Blondie, you’re not bad for a brainiac.”
Justin scowled at him. “Back off, Romeo.”
“I’m not hitting on her. Jeez,” Mylo groused, turning to Ashley. “Seriously, it’s a damn good thing you are a genius. Justin’s smart, but these levels are getting too hard. Banks, spies, breaking codes and that kind of crap. Personally, I like the action-adventure stuff at the beginning of the game better. Guns, robots, and aliens are cool. These last ten levels have been frustrating.”
“That’s because Ashley is only here on weekends. She’s the one that catches the weird numerical patterns and stuff. And she coded that killer password application,” Justin said, pressing the power button and inserting the Point of Entry disk. After everything loaded, all extraneous talk stopped.