The Driver

Chapter 13

I finish getting ready with 8 minutes to spare so I grab some cold pizza from the fridge. Ryder comes out of his room and steals the slice of pizza from my hand and takes a bite of it "hey that was my slice!" I say and he shrugs "I was hungry and you didn't tell me where we're going" I grab another slice and head to the door "come on let's go" and head out the door with Ryder in tow. "Ever done an escape room?" I ask and he shakes his head "kinda busy running a mafia to do that sort of thing" he says. "Well we have 2 hours to spare and I found one close by so we're going." 
When we get to the building we ring the buzzer on the door "name" a voice over the speaker says and I side eye Ryder "cheesesteak" I say and the door swings open. Ryder grimaces "seriously?!" He says and I grin and walk through the door. We are met with an empty lobby with a wooden desk. I notice Ryder stiffen beside me "relax it's part of the experience it's supposed to be creepy" I say softly and a woman pops up from behind the desk. She stands up and comes around to stand in front of us holding 2 blindfolds "once you put these on I will lead you to the room, you will have 1 hour to solve various clues and puzzles some may involve codes and locks, you may ask for 3 hints throughout the hour." She hands us the blindfolds and we put them on. "If at any time you can't take it anymore hit the red button on the wall and the game will stop and the door will open, things may pop out at you please do not break them" I reach out and grab Ryder's hand so we don't get separated and he holds my hand back in reassurance.We are led to the room and when the door clicks shut we take the blindfolds off and the game begins.
As we look around the room I hear Ryder groan "what's wrong?" I ask "you couldn't have picked a different theme?" He replies slightly irritated "what? You don't like it? I thought it could be fun a murder mystery" I say and he sighs and says "you don't know do you?" I look at him confused "know what?" He stands in front of me "you didn't ask how I became the leader of the mafia" I shake my head "no I didn't it's not my story to know if I needed to know you would've told me I wasn't going to ask" he smiles sadly "that's another thing I like about you" he looks around the room "6 years ago my father and mother were murdered in cold blood" i gasp "I came home to find them covered in blood along with his right hand man and several other people maids, the butler even the chef" I can't help it I wrap my arms around him and hug him "I'm so sorry Ryder" I say and hug him tightly "I spent a year trying to hunt down the person who killed them and when I couldn't find them I turned into a ruthless mafia leader and handpicked everyone that works for me so that only people I trust completely work with me" he returns my embrace "that's why I have nightmares Rae" I rub his back "I'm so sorry I never would have picked this if I had known" he pulls back and looks into my eyes "it's okay I may not have been able to solve my parents murder but I know we can solve this game" he wipes away a tear I didn't know was on my cheek and smiles softly at me "let's get to work" I say and grin at him.
We had 52 minutes left to solve the game so we looked all over and saw 3 locks with number combinations and 1 lock with a letter combination. I came across a typewriter with 5 letters smudged and wrote them on the whiteboard. Ryder found an envelope with pictures in it and each picture had a number on the back. Together we found a key and a notebook with the same 4 numbers scribbled over and over. We then found a letter along with a picture with a date written on it and the names of the people in the picture written beneath each person. We put all the clues on the white board and started solving the clues. The first lock we opened was the date written on the picture and it held a puzzle piece that we taped to the board. The second was the name of a person in the picture Marco that matched the letters smudged on the typewriter. Ryder put the pictures in different order until one of the combinations opened another lock so we had 3 puzzle pieces and needed 1 more to get the last clue. We read the letter and it mentioned 3rd drawer, 2nd shelf, 1st person and last Friday. We checked the calendar which had blood on Wednesday the 10th so we back tracked and the Friday before was on the 5th. 3215 were the numbers and the last 4 digits of the phone number written at the base of the phone was 1532 and the lock opened revealing the last piece. When we put the puzzle together it was a picture of a painting on the wall.
Ryder went up to the painting and touched it and it moved he slid it and revealed a key to the locked box on the desk. With 30 seconds to go we raced the desk and put the key in the lock and when it opened there was a button. We looked at each other then pressed the button together. When we did the door opened and we were so excited we embraced each other. When we pulled away we both froze our faces only inches apart. He looked down at my lips and back up to my eyes and I did the same. We both leaned in when suddenly we saw the flash of a camera and jumped away from each other. "Absolutely adorable" says the woman from earlier "and you finished just in time so you win! Follow me so we can get a picture" we follow the lady and she gestures to a bunch of tiny signs I find one that says "smarty pants" and Ryder picks a sign that says "help me" we smile for the picture and a few minutes later lady brings us picture card that on the outside has the poster for the room we did and on the inside a picture of us about to kiss and the picture we just took. We both clear our throats and I say "thank you very much" and we leave the building and head towards our meeting with Victor.
On the car ride there we sit in awkward silence until I decide to speak up. "What happened back there was just us excited about beating the room there was a lot of adrenaline and excitement and we just got caught up in it, no biggie and nothing happened so we're good" I glance at Ryder and he nods "right, anyways we are meeting Victor over lunch to discuss some business so it should take an hour maybe 2 then we will head to Adrian's." he replies. He then pulls out his phone and begins typing on it moments later my phone buzzes and I check it to see he texted me "we will talk later remember car is bugged" I nod and decide to change the subject "does the restaurant we're going to have ice cream?" Ryder rolls his eyes "if not we can get ice cream on the way to Adrian's I'm sure Chelsea would love some" he replies and a few minutes later we pull up to the restaurant and we head inside to meet Victor.