Valeria Torres and the Midas Vault

Chapter 19: The Promise

The afternoon went by quickly as James led them in another session of their D&D campaign: The Kidnapping of Princess Arelina.

Erin was overwhelmed by the game's mechanics, and her face would flush every time her turn came around. James would remind her she was a healer, and order her to heal them with holy spells. She seemed put off by the whole idea, and would keep asking him if her character could do anything else.

Valeria had grinned at Erin as she protested the limited scope of her character's role. She didn't blame her - she wouldn't want to be stuck with that job either.

After an hour of trying to play D&D, they switched to Uno and other common household games. The others were hesitant around Erin at first, but the tension lessened when they played Uno. They all laughed when Erin saved her bad cards for James, who pretended to be hurt by her antics. After a few hands, Jon was the first to leave. They stopped playing Uno after he left, and James massaged his belly.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm hungry."

Laughing, Roberta exclaimed, "You're always hungry!"

"I'll go take care of dinner," Valeria said. "Pizza's okay?"

Everyone agreed. After deciding on toppings, she left the living room and walked into the kitchen. Frank sat at the table, hunkered over a book. He tapped his foot repeatedly, but when he noticed her, he stopped and leaned back in his chair. Placing both hands behind his head, he forced a smile.

"Sounds like you're all having a good time."

"Yeah.I was going to order pizza, if that's okay?"

Frank shook his head. "I'll handle that. You go back in there and have fun."

Valeria took a step closer and whispered, "By the way, why did you lie about –"

"Not now. Understood?" Frank interrupted, his smile gone. "I'll tell you later. What did you guys want on your pizza?"

She relayed their order, trying her best to refrain from pressing further. She wanted to know if Jada's maiden name was Jackson. She wanted to know if she knew Mr. Tyrell, and if so, why was Frank being so secretive about it.

"Got it," he said, pulling out his phone. "I'll order the pizza. I also need to check in with Jada, so keep an eye out for the delivery guy while I'm upstairs, alright? Here, this should cover it," he said, handing her money before leaving the kitchen in a hurry.

Eyebrow raised, Valeria watched him leave. He seemed different. She couldn't pinpoint exactly what seemed off, but this was the first time he appeared...flustered.

She started to exit the kitchen – but a flash of movement by the kitchen window forced her to stop. Moving closer, she cocked her head to the side as she looked outside. The sun had set along the horizon, with lights from different houses and buildings of the neighborhood turning on both near and far. She looked around their backyard again, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

Shrugging, Valeria left the kitchen and rejoined her friends. They played a few hands of a different card game – Apples to Apples – before the doorbell rang. The pizza delivery man stared back at her through the peephole, with two security guards patting him down. She opened the door and handed him the money.

"Everything alright so far?" One of the security guards asked.

Valeria motioned for them to look inside, where they could see everyone seated around a table playing cards.

"Alright," the guard said, "Let us know if you need anything."

Valeria shrugged and went back inside. She could hear James shouting at Sai about something related to the card game. Laughing, she took the pizzas into the kitchen. She opened the boxes and noticed the pizzas weren't pre-sliced. She groaned and searched the kitchen drawers for a pizza cutter.