-12/22/21 Caesar's Move Tease

Here's a little tease for those of you who haven't read Caesar's Move yet.

Chapter VI

Bullet Chess

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“Now, Chad and Bethany want to live and you want to end this game.

There are still eight moves left on the board before we declare a winner.

Chad and Bethany will be moves nine and ten. If we stop where we are right

now then nine through sixteen will not be played. If you’re a little slow with

the math, that’s eight moves and we end it here, today, and I declare it a draw

by agreement. Eight people get to live. I will turn myself in to you and you get your picture on the front page; Casey Harwell catches the bad guy. You come out the hero! Oh, FYI, the lovely couple did get a chance to leave the game. I gave them a similar offer, but neither one would accept. Just so you believe that I am not jerking your chain, I will let you speak to the kids with

the promising future.”

After a moment of silence, all listening could hear the teens crying and begging for their lives. Casey swallowed hard, imagining the fear they were going through at this very moment. Suddenly, they were quiet again. Caesar returned to the phone.

“Just so that everyone is aware of the rules of the game, Casey, I want you to tell them out loud, what the meaning of Bullet Chess is.”

Casey pulled the phone away from his mouth a little and spoke aloud.

“Bullet Chess is a form of chess in which each side has one minute to make all their moves.”

He knew that what Caesar was about to propose would not be doable.

“Excellent,” Caesar continued. “Now that I’ve told you what my moves would be, let’s hear what yours will be, shall we? I’ve made it easy on you Casey. You’ve only got one move. Just one and we’re done. Eight people get to live for the small price of … one. Your move is inside the room with you, wearing a grey blouse and black slacks. One more inch and her high heels would be pushing tramp height but the turquoise color is quite stunning, if you ask me.”

A very uncomfortable look came over the lady in the room fitting those descriptions. Those around her stared at her in wonder.

“I would guess her to be about twice the age of our little Chad and Bethany here. She’s lived their life and another already. It would be a shame if they didn’t get their second half, wouldn’t it? There are so many things they haven’t done yet. One inch to tramp girl has already done them, I bet. Isn’t it their turn? Are they ever going to have the same opportunities as she’s had? Maybe they’ll even grow up to put criminals behind bars. Wouldn’t that be ironic? She’s lived her life already, give the kids a chance.”

Caesar didn’t speak for a moment, intensifying the atmosphere in the room.

“I’ve seen you pull your firearm before, Casey. I’ve seen you use it, too. You’re very accurate. There’s no doubt in my mind that you could pull it out of its holster and put one right through her eyes before anyone in the room even twitched.”

Everyone in the room was speechless now, with all eyes on Casey, especially the lady in mention. She was paralyzed where she stood.

“Think about it, Case, one life for eight.”

She put her hand to her face in shock.

“That rock on your finger won’t stop a police issue bullet, honey.”

Caesar’s words terrified everyone. Several of the others began to look around the room, from where they stood, trying to spot a camera.

“Now that you know big brother’s watching, and trust me I’m always watching, let’s move it along. If you draw your firearm, Casey, and shoot her between the eyes right now, then this game will be over.”

Casey had no intentions of complying with his demented rules. That didn’t stop the lady from feeling fearful, though. She stood there motionless staring into Casey’s eyes.

“Tell you what, Casey, I’ll give you a choice. You can either shoot her or that coward in the pinstriped button-up who stepped away from her just now. It doesn’t matter to me; either one and it’s a done deal.”

The gentleman Caesar spoke of looked ashamed of his actions, mixed with fear.

“I thought about making the offer to you too, Patricia, because you’re his partner and all.”

She looked around at the others but kept her silence.

“I even thought about extending it to you, Mr. Cartadoni, now that you are part of the team.”

Jayce also looked very uncomfortable.

“But then I thought, nah. Casey and I are buddies. He’s catching the most heat; why not give him the most glory? So here we are people, moment of truth, and a day in your life that you will never forget.”

Caesar removed the muffles from Chad and Bethany’s mouths. Everyone could hear their cries again.

“In sixty seconds I will put a bullet in the eye of each of the kids. There are no negotiations and I will not speak another word. The choice is yours, Casey. Tramp or coward. Time starts … now.”

The silence in the room was deafening. The only noise heard was the sound of Chad and Bethany’s cries for mercy. With every eye on Casey, the stress he felt was immense. The sound of the second hand from the clock on the wall seemed louder today than it ever had before. With each tick, the tension in the room got heavier. Casey was at a loss, but not about to shoot one of his own. He couldn’t save the teens, either. All he could do was stand there and listen to the banging of the second hand in his ears. Their cries grew more intense by the second. It was heartbreaking to hear them begging to live and there wasn’t a thing that anyone could do about it. Caesar knew that Casey wouldn’t pull his gun. It was all about reaching down into his emotions and gutting them. He enjoyed putting that kind of pressure on him. Casey stared into her eyes, consumed with sadness, fear and tears as she stood there shaking. Never before had he looked into her eyes for so long a time as today. He sighed heavily. He knew how this would end.

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So, Bainheads, how does it end? If you've read it, you know. If you haven't, you don't. Caesar is a pretty serious dude. What he says, he means. And he never makes it easy for Casey. Still on the fence about the book? Climb down and get your read on. You can go to the dotcom below and grab yourself some reading material. Tell you what, you can read it on the couch, lying in bed, in your car, at the park, and it even works when you're on the porcelain throne. Come on now, you've got your phone out and your're scrolling around Facebook and TikTok while you're there anyway, admit it. Get it on Kindle eBook, cop your squat, and stay there until the last page is read. Or not, but give it a try, people. Tell me what you think, please.

I truly welcome your feedback.

Until then, continue to feed your brain. You owe it to yourself.

Angelo

angelobain.com