The Killing League

31.

The Commissioner

He dove from the second floor balcony of his Malibu beach house, swam straight down twenty feet to the enormous trap he had fashioned by hand. He unhooked the glove attached to the structure, reached inside and felt the powerful clamp of a lobster.

He, in turn, clamped onto it, and pulled it from the cage. He swam back to the surface, climbed onto the ladder attached to his dock, and heaved himself out of the ocean.

Back in his kitchen, he dropped the lobster into a pot of boiling water.

While his fresh catch cooked, he returned to his office which used to be the home’s great room but now featured a long table with a series of computers and a giant flat panel display.

He stood and looked at the giant screen. It was nearly four feet high and five feet wide.

He tapped the screen with his finger and a series of documents, images and charts came to life. Touch screen capability had been a significant innovation several years back and he had been a major stakeholder in the company that developed the required software.

The profit from selling his share of the company was more than most people made in a lifetime.

It had been a huge success for him, especially after the other part of his life had ended. What a f*cking disaster that had been. It hadn’t been his fault, just a few people purposely targeting him. Well, he hadn’t forgotten. So he’d made a fortune a different way, and was now anxious for some payback.

He lined up all of his players on the left side of the screen. He looked at their names.

Florence Nightmare.

Truck Drivin’ Man.

The Butcher.

Lady of the Evening.

Family Man.

Blue Blood.

The Messiah.

On the right hand side, he had all of his targets.

A district attorney.

A crime novelist.

A psychologist.

A reporter.

A retired cop.

A judge.

A governor.

A former victim.

Two FBI agents.

And that was only the beginning.

The Commissioner folded his hands over his chest and surveyed the lists. They represented an incredible amount of hard work. He had searched all over the country. He used his unsurpassed hacking skills and broke into so many databases he had lost count. He had monitored, watched, even stalked both killers and victims. All to produce these diamonds in the rough. It was now time to fashion them into something hard and beautiful.

Using his right index finger, he began moving the players on the board. Although the touch-sensitive technology was not new anymore, he still loved it. Besides, he owned major shares in several more companies developing even newer and more radical interactions. But he still liked this. Still liked the hands-on aspect of it.

He moved the contestants and targets around, switched their order, slid them into different spots.

The matchups were interesting. Deciding which target would give which contestant the most difficulty. Because that’s what he wanted. That’s why he’d gone through so much time and effort. He could have just picked random targets; housewives out picking up laundry, old ladies in nursing homes. But what kind of fun would that have been? No, the only way this competition would be interesting, and serve his ultimate purpose, would be if it represented a challenge. Not just to his contestants. But to the person who would no doubt be the first to realize that a competition had begun.

There was only one person who would reach that conclusion.

The Commissioner smiled.

His old friend.

Wallace Mack.

He stepped back and looked at the screen. The names began moving, but only in his head. He circled, dragged, and juggled them time and time again. He could make a decision any time he wanted to, but enjoyed this. He reveled in it. He loved the control, loved the feeling of having lives in his hands and how and when they might end.

At last, the order clicked into place. He matched the pattern on the screen, then saved the system.

He returned to the kitchen, turned off the pot and pulled out the lobster. He put it on a plate and with his bare hands, cracked its body in half.

The Commissioner smiled.

The Killing League had officially begun.