Game On

Leroy Gamble sat in his Camaro, wondering how it all went wrong. Luke's cell wasn't going through anymore and the signal was still shitty.

"I had him, by God, I had him, exactly where I wanted him! Only for the flight to take off without me. Shit! Shit, shit, shit!" He banged his fist repeatedly against his steering wheel angrily. 

 There was nothing for him to do now except to go home and raid his beer cellar. Maybe he would finally smoke that joint he had saving for rainy days. Even lawyers needed a good high once in a while.

 His car felt stuffy and he felt like taking his frustration out on something or someone. He pushed open his car door and stumbled outside. His reckless movement sent pangs of pain to his knees, reminding him of his age. 

 Once in a while, his 48 years of age popped out of its hiding place, punishing him for overexerting his body. Evie would have to put up with his cramps all night long.

Suddenly, his phone rang. He was reluctant to pick up, assuming it to be Foss. He was in no mood for the young man's sarcasm. He slapped his palm across his screen without looking at the number and thus, ended the call.

  He sat on the boot of his car, trying to figure out his next move. Richard and Jacqueline had a pending press conference to handle and it all depended on his validating the ownership binder. 

 Petals has a lot of influence, Leroy mused, whilst stroking his narrow goatee. A bit of name-dropping at any private airport could fetch me a ride to Alaska. He didn't want to be 'that' guy but he was currently out of ideas.

The cellphone exploded in shrill ringing, diverting his attention from his plot. He grunted in impatience and grabbed the phone to examine the identity of the caller. It was Luke. Shit, shit, shit!!! He swiped his slim finger across the screen.

"Hello? Luke? Sorry for not picking your call earlier. I was driving," he said, the lie slipping out of his lips. He actually looked up to heaven, expecting God to smite him with some form of punishment. When nothing came, he waited for Luke's reply.

"That apology is a little bit late, Mr Gamble as Luke is too inconvenienced to come to the phone right now and so you know, you are a terrible liar," a deep male voice chuckled into his ear. It was not Luke.

45 minutes before

Luke Martinez sat in his living room, packing his bags for the very last time. He had been born there in Alaska, had friends there too but most of them had moved on to bigger cities. Alaska was known for its personalized cold season and participation in minor sports but it wasn't New York or LA or other larger coasts. He himself only visited to reminisce the good times however, it was time to move on, for good this time.

"I still don't know why you agreed to speak to that lawyer dude. He could get you in real trouble, y'know," a man on his couch complained. Luke looked behind him at his boyfriend of three months. The dude was a pain in the ass but he was a beast in the sack so he was worth keeping around, at least for that.

"I'm tired of running and hiding, Seb. Maybe it's time I come clean and fix up my own shit. Who knows? Maybe this lawyer could actually be my way out of this life I hate living. I can help so why shouldn't I?" He bent over, still stuffing clothes in his valise. He couldn't wait to be a free man again.

 First thing he would do was to break up with Sebastian. The world did not know him as an homosexual man and he planned to keep it that way for as long as possible. Seb sighed heavily and abandoned the couch. His top half was shirtless and he had a beautiful, pale Australian body. 

 Luke could not resist the temptation of peeking at him for a while before returning his attention to his point of duty. He was aroused however by the delicious sight. Seb arrogantly grinned from the corner of his mouth, standing six feet one with all the goodies that came with such a muscular body.

"Don't," Luke said, with a thick voice, his arousal refutting his refusal. He could feel Seb behind him already and heaven knows, Seb could touch.

"Don't what?" Seb asked huskily, his wide, tree-like arms gripping Luke's waist possessively. He lightly lifted the hems of the shirt and touched hot, bare skin.

Luke allowed himself to enjoy the pleasure for a minute. "I'm still mad at you for picking my call. It could have been work stuff."

"But it wasn't, Lukie. Get over it already," Seb more like commanded than advised. He was more concerned with getting his boyfriend out of his shirt. Seb's uncaring tone, however, helped him break out of his sexual frenzy.

"Get over it? That lawyer is connected to one of my deceased clients and you were playing voices with him over the phone."

Seb gave up on seducing Luke and threw his hands up in the air. "I said I was sorry, didn't I?! You are too touchy whenever anything about Peter Torres is been discussed. What was going on between you and Peter? Don't tell me it was nothing because everytime I ask you, you never give me a straight answer."

Luke hid his face immediately to hide his hurt. The day Peter had come to his office had not been their first meeting. He had met him on the beach earlier in the week and by God, he had bitten his tongue more times than ever. Peter was a confident person, not the stocky built, macho man but softspoken and gentle. 

 His words were like a birdsong on repeat and Luke had fallen deeply for him. Peter haunted his nights and troubled his dreams and Luke had wept when he saw the wedding band on Peter's ring finger.

"He was my client. That's all," Luke softly replied, resuming his packing. It hurt him to utter those words but they were true all the same.

"Lies. Tell me the truth, Martinez," Seb pushed, suddenly sounding aggressive. He knew that Luke was hiding something and he was jealous. Luke was still infatuated with a dead man while he was living and breathing. It was a slap to his face.

"I have to make a call, Seb. A minute, please." Luke took his phone and scampered out of the room in a haste, anything to be far from Seb at that moment. He dialed the lawyer's number. He had been waiting for his call but till then, no call had come through.

 The weather was always awry in Alaska but Boston rain was a terror. Perhaps he was on the plane already. Tired of making up speculations, he decided to give him a call. The phone rang and rang but no one picked the call.

His phone gave a beep, preparing him to send a voicemail. He turned off the voicemail and leaned his head against the wall. It meant he had gotten on the plane. The sooner he was here, the sooner his freedom would come. 

 He was tired, so, so tired of running. He had dabbled in some illegal deals and Peter had promised to help him. Tears pricked his eyes as he thought of the deceased Peter. It's not fair, not fair at all, he mused morosely.

He went back to where he had left Seb. He would tell him the truth, apologize and perhaps break up with him. It was not fair to treat him like second best.

"Seb, I..." His next words were lost to him when he saw the bulk of Seb, lying motionlessly on the floor. Filled with horror, he rushed to him, hands flailing helplessly.

"Seb, Seb. Oh, no, what happened?" He struggled to flip him over onto his back. There was a bleeding hole on his temple and the gruesome look of the wound had Luke pushing the body away from him. Who did this? Oh God, Sebastian too? They have found me..again.

Luke grabbed his phone to call the cops. His palms were sweaty and shaking but when he finally managed to type in the password, he sniffed in relief and made to dial 911.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. Drop the phone facedown and get on your feet."

Luke shook shamefully like a leaf in winter. It was all over now, his hope for redemption completely dashed. I can't die without putting up a fight. He pressed the call button to the cops but the call was halted by a boot, crumbling his fingers to dust. 

 His scream was not heard as a bullet went through his eyehole concurrently. The assassin ended the call to the police and placed a call to Lawyer Leroy. The game was just beginning.