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Secrets

by Kristin Kobolka

By Kristin KobolkaPublished 3 years ago 10 min read
1

“You all are probably wondering why you were invited here tonight.” The elderly gentleman said to the small group of people gathered in the large sitting room. “And we shall get to that in a moment. First, why don’t we go around and introduce ourselves so that everyone knows who they are sitting next to. How about we start with you, Miss…?”

“My name is Penny.” The young girl said looking around the room anxiously. “Penny Eriksen. I’m currently a Senior over at Whitmore High and I honestly don’t know why I was invited here.”

“Then why would you come?” An attractive older woman asked crossing her arms over her chest.

“Curiosity got the better of me.” Penny replied. “It’s not that big of a deal. You are acting a bit judgmental. Kind of like a cop.”

“That’s because I am.” The older woman said pulling her jacket open just enough to flash her badge and gun on her hip. “I’m Detective Jordan O’Leary and you obviously have no idea how bad this whole situation could have been, Penny. Haven’t your parents ever told you never go to a strangers’ house?”

“Miss Eriksen and Miss… I mean Detective O’Leary…” The gentleman said interrupting the staring contest between the two women. “Perhaps we can give someone else a chance to introduce themselves and you two ladies could please take your seats.”

“Why don’t you explain who you are and why exactly we are all here.” Detective O’Leary said cocking her head to the side and staring up at him. “And maybe a name would be a good thing to share as well.”

“You may call me Jeffery and you all shall find out the reason for tonight’s activities all in good time.”

“Maybe I should go next?” A young man with a slight southern accent interrupted. “My names Jameson Davis. I’m an architect and a Leo. I like long walks on the beach, but you have to be barefoot because the feeling of the sand between your toes is…”

“Seriously?” Detective O’Leary asked with a raised eyebrow. “You sound like a fake profile on some dating app.”

“I guarantee, ma’am I am serious.” He said with a wink.

“I’m Morgan Reinhart. I work down at the Bank as a teller. It’s not exactly where I saw myself when I was younger, but it’s a good job and the benefits are nice.”

“Nice to meet you, Darlin’.” Jameson said smiling at the auburn-haired woman who blushed in return.

“It’s nice to meet you as well Mr. Davis.”

“Please call me Jameson or James. Hell, even Jim will do.”

“Actually maybe not.” Said a tall dark-haired young man. “My name is Jim Machan and I own a small coffee shop downtown.”

“If you ever need another property and want to expand your business you should give me a call.” Another man said handing Jim a business card. “The names Victor Nadler of Nadler and Nadler Properties.”

“A family business? Do you run it with your wife?”

“No he and I run it together.” A tall woman with a striking resemblance to Victor said as she stepped up beside him. “My name is Victoria Nadler. Victor here is my twin.”

“Hi. My name is Ricardo Diaz. I own a Landscaping company and do most of the neighborhood parks and private properties.”

“I’m Moira Sarafin and I’m a nurse at Mercy Hospital.” An older woman with slightly graying hair said as she stood up.

“Jackson Taffet I’m a lawyer with the Public Defender’s office.” A short man with glasses perched upon his nose said coming to stand with the small group.

“Victoria Darsey.” A blonde woman said as she leaned forward in her seat on the couch.

“Darcy? Like Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice?” A petite woman with dark blonde hair said as her interest was piqued.

“It is pronounced the same but spelled differently. Let me guess, English major?”

“I was, yes.” The woman said tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “My name is Adelaide Joss, and I am an English teacher over at Whitmore High. What is it that you do, Miss Darsey?”

“Right I got off track. I am a chef.”

“Now that you all have introduced yourselves, perhaps we can…”

“I do believe you are forgetting me.” A gruff male voice said from the corner and the group turned to see an older man sitting in the overstuffed chair wearing a nice three-piece suit and a thoughtful look on his face.

“I do apologize, but you are correct. You were sitting away from the group and I did not notice you over there.”

“I wanted to observe the interactions first.”

“And who exactly are you?” Detective O’Leary asked him.

“Forgive me. My name is Dr. Caleb Barden.”

“MD?” Moira asked.

“Afraid not. PHD. I, my dear, am a therapist. And it seems to me, with such a mixed group of people from different ethnicities and backgrounds that this may very well be some sort of experiment. Am I right, Jeffery?”

“Partly.” The gentleman confirmed with a nod. “Are any of you familiar with Michael Rathbone?”

“Isn’t he like some big oil tycoon?” Jameson asked.

“His family did do business in oil, yes. But Mr. Rathbone was quite an odd man. He became a recluse in his later years and requested that I invite the thirteen of you here tonight.”

“Why would he do that?”

“As I said…” Jeffery said as he reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a little black book. “His instructions were clear. I was to invite all of you here this evening and he would give me $20,000.”

“What’s the catch?” Detective O’Leary asked. “You don’t get the money if we don’t show?”

“Oh I assure you I received the money.” He said pulling out a thick stack of cash from his other breast pocket.

“What does he want with us?” Penny asked quietly.

“You all have a choice to make.”

“And what kind of choice is that?” Morgan asked.

“You can leave now and call an end to this night. No harm no foul.”

“Or…” Victor urged.

“Or you can stay and earn your own $20,000.”

“20,000? For each of us? That’s like….”

“$260,000. Cash.” Jeffery said as he pulled out a locked briefcase from under the couch and put in the code, opening up the metallic case and turning it so that the group could see the large amount of money that lay inside.

“What if some of us leave, but the others don’t?”

“You would still only receive the $20,000. The ones that choose to leave forfeit their chance to win the prize and it goes back into Mr. Rathbones account.”

“What’s the price?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“I think what Miss Joss means is, what do we have to do to earn that $20,000?”

“Nothing too bad, I assure you.”

“What do we need to do?”

“You must reveal a secret that is worth earning the money.”

“How do we know if it is worth it?”

“Do you wish to answer that one?” Jeffery asked and after a moment the sound of a bell ringing could be heard throughout the room. “Mr. Rathbone can hear everything that is said in this room and if he deems it worthy, he will ring the bell to let you know, but none of you may do anything about what is spoken in this room. Now, which of you shall go first?”

“What do you mean by that? That we can’t do anything about what we hear in this room?” Detective O’Leary asked.

“I mean that if someone in this room confesses to any wrongdoing that could lead to criminal charges, that you, my dear Detective, cannot do anything about it now or in the future otherwise your own secret shall be revealed.”

“So, you are going to be blackmailing us?” Penny asked softly as she bit her lip nervously

“Not at all my dear. It is just an assurance that what you reveal in this room, stays in this room.”

“I’ll go first.” Morgan said stepping forward. “I always cheat on my boyfriends.”

“It seems that that is not a good enough secret for Mr. Rathbone. It needs to be something deeper than infidelity.”

“I steal money out of the till every day. Only around $20 to not rouse any suspicions.”

“That was a good one.” Jeffery said as the bell began to ring. “Who is next?”

“I sabotaged the Chef that I used to work under so that I could get his job by putting laxatives into one of the dishes he made.” Veronica said as she moved closer to Morgan and let out a sigh as the bell rang.

“I believe I remember hearing about that incident. A potential outbreak they said on the news.”

“He was an asshole with a serious mean streak, and I don’t regret it.”

“Very well.”

“When I was in school my roommate George committed suicide and I stole his designs and passed them off as my own.” Jameson said bowing his head down as the sound of the bell rang through the room for a third time.

“My mother, she is ill, but I always have so much work to do and I often just go home and go to bed and don’t bother checking on her.” Ricardo confessed quietly, feeling the guilt deepen just a bit more at the sound of the bell.

“I hypnotize my patients and have them transfer money into an offshore account I have in the Caymans.” Caleb said confidently smiling when the bell rang.

“I know the majority of my clients are guilty, but I still get them off no matter how small or big the crime that they’re accused of is.” Jackson confessed and nodded at the bell.

“Me and my brother purposely steal clients from other real estate agents, and we cheat when it comes to all of the inspections.” Victoria said nodding at her brother when the bell rang twice.

“I have propositioned all of the barista’s in my coffee shop and when they try to go against me, I say it is a case of my word against theirs.” Jim said smiling at the bell.

“I hate it when criminals slip between the cracks. Especially in cases of domestic abuse. So, I have faked evidence in a few cases to make sure these dirtbags don’t get to run around free to victimize anyone else.” Detective O’Leary said darkly, shivering as the bell rang once again.

“There are so many patients that are suffering from incurable diseases and I hate to see them in pain. So, I give them some Succinylcholine and it seems as though they just passed in their sleep.” Moira confessed quietly.

“It can be hard to watch people in the last leg of their journey.” Jefferey said placing a hand on the woman’s shoulder as the bell rang.

“I saw Ms. Joss making out with Braedon Thompson in her classroom."

"Braeden is eighteen. Perfectly legal." Adelaide said softly.

"I'm afraid that is not a good enough secret Ms. Joss." Jefferey said with a shake of his head.

"That wasn't my confession. I killed my first love Tommy the night of our graduation. We were drunk and got into a fight and I ended up pushing him down some stairs. Braeden reminds me of him a bit."

"We told you our secrets." Detective O'Leary said.

"Yes you did."

"Can we get our money now?" Morgan asked.

"How is it that you can get away with stunts like this?" A voice asked once everyone had left the room and Jefferey turned to see the young man near the window.

"No one ever suspects the butler, Jefferey." He said shaking his little black book in front of him. "It is always good to know people around you. Trust me son. You will learn soon enough."

"Of course Mr. Rathbone. Of course.”

fin

fiction
1

About the Creator

Kristin Kobolka

Just trying to get some of my work seen. I have one book that I self published through Amazon Kindle called Silent Lies and am currently working on a second.

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