Check Mate (Unedited)

Chapter 1

》》Jason Dutton《《

"Check mate."

My opponent's eyes widened. She looked desperately across the board for a move to change my words. But when she found none she sighed and knocked over her king.

I smiled in satisfaction at another effortless victory meaning another successful plan for tomorrow night.

I gave her a handshake and rose from my seat as the man on stage announced, "Our district winner, Jason Dutton!"

I walked to the man who stood at the entrance and gave him a handshake. "Congrats, do send my greetings to your father."

"Will do," I promised with a smile.

I walked away saying under my breath, "Will do when I see that man in hell."

The game of chess is not just any old board game but it is also the game of life. You can be represented as the king, all the others are the people around you. Check mate means game over in the game but check mate in real life means your life has come to an end...

Those were my father's words, the greatest chess player of all time. Too many victories to count, only 3 draws and no losses.

If you were born to a father like that you would be proud to have him as a father but I'm not. Despite all his achievements in the chess world he has none in my life...

I walked all the way to my apartment building, greeting fellow neighbourhood members and friends on the way.

I closed my apartment door behind me and let myself collapse on the couch.

I heard the door open then close followed by a familiar voice.

"You back. I got us some beers."

I sat up and looked up at Jack Viking. My best...scratch that, my brother from another mother.

The strongest fighter around, who knows everyone which contributes to his ability to find high quality equipment at the best price.

He handed me a beer and I gladly accepted it.

"Oh and I got some bad news," Jack said.

I looked up at him as I took a sip of my beer.

"We won't be able to do that jewellery store tomorrow night cause they closed it for renovations."

"Great," I sighed.

"But I was thinking how about the bank, down by kings avenue. It's quite a distance from our base which gives us plenty of time to get the cops off our tail. The vault's alarm is damaged and they're only getting it fixed in two days time. My good man Wesley works there as a guard and can help us inside," he explained.

I thought about it for a moment, thinking of the possibilities. Finally I concluded saying, "Call everyone else for a meeting at base in ten minutes. Tomorrow at three o'clock we strike."

I walked into the basement of the mansion and there stood my crew. We don't really have a name but I relate them to my chess pieces though we did lose three humble soldiers a year back and we dropped to 12 pieces, excluding myself. Well, since I recently hired Calvin we're at 13, but that doesn't mean we are less of a team. We just have fewer but stronger pieces on the board.

My front line soldiers:

Felix
Phantom
Skye
Sean
Sarah
Mandy

Felix and Phantom, my two speedsters, faster than flash himself when it comes to getting the job done.