Joe had left the board exactly as the stalker had set it up. The top hat token sat beside a hotel on Park Place, and the wheelbarrow fittingly had found a spot on Water Works. The Scottie dog perched on Reading Railroad, and the sack of money was on Indiana Avenue. Piles of money weighted down with rocks were at each of the four corners as well as deeds to various properties. Off to one side of the game, the intruder had set down the box with its unused tokens.
Torie and Hailey knelt beside the board and studied the layout with him. “I used to hate playing Monopoly when I was a kid,” Torie said.
“Your dad always beat you?”
She shook her head. “No, it wasn’t that. I hated to bankrupt him. I’d usually cry and tell him not to pay when he’d land on a hotel property, especially Park Place or Boardwalk.”
He smiled at her tender admission. “You’re a soft touch. This all has to mean something. The stalker took the time to lay this all out in a specific way. Why the top hat piece? Why the wheelbarrow?”
“I had to do a report on a board game when I was a sophomore, and I picked Monopoly because I hated it and everyone I knew loved it. The top hat piece is said to represent J. P. Morgan.” She pointed. “His place, Sans Souci, is part of the Club Resort now.”
“What about the other pieces?”
“The wheelbarrow represents hard work. The dog was supposedly the top hat’s right-hand man. And the sack of money, of course, is all about wealth. It was not a popular piece and was only included as a game piece starting in 1999 and was used less than ten years.”
“That means this game was purchased sometime between 1999 and 2009.”
“We’d better not disturb it until we are sure we’ve milked it for all the clues.”
He drew out his phone and snapped half a dozen pictures. “I’ve got all the details, but let’s go through the stacks of money and see if anything seems off.”
She nodded and picked up the pile of money closest to her. “This one has the deeds to both blue properties as well as all the railroads and the utilities.”
“He has a monopoly,” Joe said.
“Yes, but I don’t know which token it belongs to.” Torie began to count the money, sorting it into denomination piles.
Hailey wanted to go through a stack of money so Joe let her while he sorted a pile as well.
“Nothing but money in my two piles,” Torie said. “I checked both sides. No notes or markings on any of the bills.”
“Same here.”
The box might hold more clues, but all he saw was the rest of the tokens. No instructions and nothing marked on the interior of the box.
“Try the top,” Torie said.
The intruder had nested the bottom of the box inside the top, so Joe slid it loose and looked it over. “Nothing.”
Hailey scooped up the pieces and handed them to him, then scooped up the cards and put them in the designated spot in the box. Torie organized the bills into denominations and stacked them in their place.
Another thought occurred to him, and he took the board and folded it up. “I think you should talk to your dad about this. You’ve said Anton rarely takes a vacation, yet he’s been hanging around here for over a week. What if the stalker is doing this as an elaborate way of getting to him?”
She frowned and rose from the stoop. “But why terrorize me when he’s right here to be threatened as well?”
“Have you asked him if anything weird has happened to him?”
“No.” She glanced down the street. “But here he comes now. You can ask him yourself.”
Joe hadn’t intended to leave until Anton arrived, but he’d hoped it would be later. It felt like his time with Torie just got snatched away.
* * *
Her dad’s smile faded when he saw Torie’s face. “What’s wrong?” The scent of his cologne wafted toward her on the evening breeze.
Torie picked up the Monopoly box. “This was left on the doorstep.”
He examined it. “Why leave it for you to find? You’ve always hated Monopoly with a passion. The last time we played it, you cried like a baby when I tried to pay you. You’d have thought I’d asked you to beat me with a club.”
“It was going to bankrupt you.”
His blue eyes crinkled in a smile. “It’s a game, honey. You’ll never make a mogul, will you? Even now, you’re so tenderhearted.”
“Which is why I don’t manage anything. Let me just fix a few problems any day.”
Joe gave a glance up and down the street. “It’s getting dark. I suggest we go inside.”
Her dad frowned and followed them inside.
Joe shut and locked the door behind them, then drew the curtains. “I have a few questions for you, sir, if you don’t mind.”
“If it helps my daughter, fire away.” He smiled at Joe’s daughter. “Hailey, isn’t it?”
The little girl sidled up closer to him. “Yes. Do you really own lots of hotels? Daddy says you’re as rich as Midas. I know who Midas is because I like all those ancient myths.”
Her dad gave a bark of laughter that sounded genuine. “I suppose that’s true, but money doesn’t buy you a great dad like you have. It only pays for things that don’t matter nearly as much.”
If it was so unimportant, why had her dad pursued it with such passion all these years? Did he have regrets about time lost together like she did?
Her dad settled on the sofa, and Hailey joined him. He patted her hand and smiled at her again, and Torie was struck at his ease with the child. Did he ever worry he’d never have grandkids? She was twenty-eight without a prospect in sight. Her gaze wandered to Joe.
Well, that wasn’t exactly true.
Dad cleared his throat. “Your questions?”
Joe dropped into the armchair, and Torie went to sit on the fireplace hearth. She prayed her dad didn’t get riled at the questions. Joe might get a little personal. He wasn’t one to pull punches.
“I wondered if you had any enemies. It’s possible whoever is stalking Torie is doing it to get back at you.”
“Why would you think that?” Dad glanced from Joe to Torie. “There’s been no message left for me, has there?” His voice rose.
“No, no,” Torie said.
Joe’s brows drew together, and his mouth flattened. “So you can’t think of any enemies, or you don’t want to talk about it? Which is it?”
Whoa. Torie had never heard anyone stand up to her father like that. He was a man who said “Do this” and his subordinates asked what other tasks they could perform. No one ever questioned what he said or how he said it.
Not even her.
Her father’s mouth sagged, and his face reddened. She waited for the explosion, but his expression cleared, and he folded his arms across his chest. “A man in my position is bound to have enemies. People I’ve had to fire. Companies I’ve been affiliated with that have gone bankrupt. Even in my role with the Fed, decisions I’ve made have resulted in banks or businesses going under. Such is life.”
She winced at the callousness of the words. More and more she was convinced she wasn’t cut out to be a cutthroat Bergstrom, but how did she walk away from her heritage? Someday her father would expect her to take over the reins of the company since she was an only child. He’d given her space to find her own way, but she was nearing thirty. He wouldn’t be patient forever.