Long Beach, California Ricky Sutton cashed his check at the same bank where Doug Faust cashed his the night before. He boarded a plane for California, with the largest sum of money ever in his pocket. Like a kid who had not only been allowed to browse the candy store, but was also offered a weekend stay, Ricky's mind raced with possibilities.
Ricky had already decided what he would do with the ten thousand dollars. He came to the conclusion the night before, while still in the hotel room in Portland, that the whole offer was a sham. He had just finished drinking his last beer when he hung up the phone after talking to his girlfriend, Jenny, back in Long Beach. It was then that the realization came to him. He was unable to pinpoint why anybody would make such an offer in the first place or who might be behind the whole thing, but it was definitely fake. With that in mind, Ricky would set out to blow the entire check and have a little fun. The idea of having to survive for thirty days was kind of cool, but he did not take the "game" seriously either. Not for a moment, did he believe some rich old millionaire was going to hunt him down and try to kill him.
Why though, his critical side argued, would some rich guy just give five total strangers ten thousand dollars? What was the catch? Rich people get rich by keeping their money, he told himself.
So, what was Fox's purpose? There was no bigger prize, Ricky decided. There would be no one million dollars for the winner; that was the sham. Evidently, the old man simply had money to burn; he came up with the crossword puzzle, and awarded ten thousand dollars to each of the five people who were able to solve it. That was the extent of the "game." It was over. Caput. The end. Now, he would blow the ten grand and get on with his life.
Ricky claimed his Volkswagon Rabbit from the airport parking lot and drove home. He roomed with Lisa and his best friend from high school, Trey. They were both at work by the time he arrived at the apartment; he had the place to himself for the next three hours. The three-room apartment was on the third floor of an old building, located only a block over from the Pacific Ocean. The view of whitecaps and the expanse of blond beach were well worth every cent of the four hundred dollars they each had to come up with to cover the monthly bills. Ricky's portion of the rent though, was automatically borrowed from Lisa.
