10
One said he'd stay there…
The first place Group One (Lynette, Gabrielle, Mike, and Carlos) searched was the second floor with all the bedrooms. The first room they checked was Mike and Susan's bedroom. They searched under the bed, in the bathroom, and the closet—but no sign of Miss Teri Game.
"Well, then, she's probably in the next room," said Mike quickly. "Let's go."
"Wait a minute," said Gabrielle. She slowly picked up Mike's gun from one of the drawers and asked, "Whose is this?"
Mike muttered something under his breath.
"What was that?" said Carlos.
"I said it's mine," said Mike more loudly. "I was advised by a friend to bring it in case there were any mountain lions."
"Likely story," sneered Carlos.
"Well, it's the truth!" said Mike defensively.
"How do we know you're not lying?" inquired Lynette.
"You'll just have to trust me!" snapped Mike. "How about I bring my gun with me? That way, if Miss Game tries to harm us, I can shoot her and therefore prove I'm not out to harm any of you."
"Just as long as you don't use it on us," said Gabrielle nervously.
"Why would I?" asked Mike, even though everyone was putting him in the mood to.
"Never mind," said Gabrielle quickly, who decided she was better off keeping her mouth shut.
DHDHDHDHDH
Meanwhile, Group Two (Bree, Katherine, Susan, and Tom) was searching the basement. Earlier, they had searched the kitchen, parlour, dining room, and the bedrooms as well as the bathrooms—and found nothing.
"This is ridiculous," said Bree, who bent down and peered under the stairs. "You'd think we'd find Miss Game by now."
"She must be a really good hider," said Susan, who lifted up the lid of one of the barrels.
"I'll say," said Katherine, who used her flashlight to look in the dark corners.
"Good grief, Miss Game makes my kids look like amateurs at hide-and-seek," commented Tom, who lifted up the lid of a brightly coloured toy chest that had red drums around it.
At that moment, Group One arrived down the stairs almost without warning, which was why Susan nearly jumped a foot in the air when Lynette said, "You guys find anything?"
"Geez, Lynette, don't sneak up on me like that!" exclaimed Susan. "You could've killed me!" She paused. "That wasn't a very appropriate comment," she quickly said.
Lynette laughed. "It's all right. In a situation like this, who wouldn't get riled up? So did you find anything?"
"No," said Bree, shaking her head. "We found no one. And we've searched all the other rooms."
"So have we," said Lynette. "I'm beginning to get a little worried."
"What if Miss Game is outside?" suggested Gabrielle. "What if she has a little hiding place somewhere?"
"Good point, Gaby," said Carlos. "If Miss Game isn't inside, she must be outside."
"Why don't you guys go ahead?" said Lynette. "I'll continue to search the basement in case she's hiding herself somewhere in here."
"Are you sure?" asked Tom. "What if she's dangerous?"
"Tom, I'll be just fine," assured Lynette. "If I'm not up within fifteen minutes, send someone down here, okay?"
"Or how about we all split up and search in different rooms and two or three of us will search outside?" suggested Gabrielle.
"Great idea," said Lynette. "You all do just that; I'll continue to look down here. And sweetie," she walked up to Tom and planted a kiss on his lips, "don't you worry your head off about a thing. I'm a tough girl. If I can beat cancer, I can beat a lunatic."
"If you say so," said Tom nervously. "But just so you know, if anything happens, I love you."
"I love you, too," said Lynette softly. "See you later, Tom."
"Bye," said Tom as he headed upstairs with everyone else.
Lynette stared wistfully at everyone else walking upstairs. Tom was the last to leave. He began to close the door, but stopped and took one last look at Lynette before closing it.
This was a very emotional moment for Lynette. Tears poured down her face, but she was able to shake them off and began to search the basement. She searched every nook and cranny and looked through every cupboard and container—but still nothing. She got so caught up in her search, she didn't even hear the door slowly creak open and shut…
She did, however, hear the echoing footsteps. The sound made the blood in her veins turn to ice. She spun around and nervously called out, "Who's there?"
"Don't play games with me, Lynette; you know it's me," said an all-too familiar voice accompanied by the outline of someone whom Lynette recognized.
Lynette slowly backed up, but tripped over her feet. She let out a blood-curdling scream, hoping someone from upstairs would hear her and run downstairs to rescue her from this horrible fate.
Someone did eventually come down the stairs and it was Gabrielle—but she got there too late. Lynette had been tied to the wall and stabbed right through the heart…