Lost Game Notes (Novel)

Chapter 25: Hot Water

Alex's eyes flew open, gasping for air. His face was pressed halfway into his sweat-sodden pillow, his hands clutched the blankets at his sides. His heart slammed against his ribs like a wild creature. It was just a nightmare. Still, the love, hate then pain was so real, he could feel all three emotions still raw like an open wound.

Drawing in another ragged breath, he lifted a shaky hand to his side to feel if his stitches were still there. The bumpy cross-stitch told him they were. Fragments of the nightmare haunted his mind, even after Alex managed out of his bed to splash his face with water. He griped the edge of the sink, desperately trying to sort his thoughts. What went where? What was the dream supposed mean? It all made him feel dizzy to the point of throwing up into the sink.

His stomach convulsed, wanting to empty itself. Alex felt warm tears trickle down his cheeks as he turned the on tap at full blast. His darned hair kept falling into eyes. Alex wet his hands and smoothed his bangs away from his face. He stared, hands holding his hair back, at the dust speckled mirror, brought to life by the rays of golden haze peeking through the blinds.

What he saw was a well sculpted face with a set jaw, intense eyebrows and a piercing gaze. For the first time in a long time, Alex looked at his eyes. Really looked at them.

They were ocean blue.

The realization hit him so hard he screamed, then toppled backwards and smacked into the wall. He must have pulled a stitch because red-hot pain flushed in his side. Yet, all he noticed was the blonde-haired, blue eyed boy gaping back at him from across the bathroom. Dawn had even blonder hair and cornflower blue eyes. His mother had blond hair and blue eyes. Either Dawn or Alex had not inherited Lawrence's russet hair and deep-amber eyes or...

Suddenly, the bathroom door flung open and crashed against the wall behind it. Lawrence stood there clutching the door frame, amber eyes sparking, face heated to a blood red.

"Alexander Brooke," he growled, in a voice so deep Alex felt a shiver snake down his spine.

Something was wrong.

Alex spoke through gritted his teeth. "What?"

Lawrence stalked into the bathroom, his movements jerky and forced. He barred Alex's chest with an arm and slammed him against the wall, shoving a piece of paper in his face.

"What in the lord's name is this?" He snarled.

Alex took one look at the neat, crooked writing, the smiley faces that were scribbled in each corner, and his heart plummeted. The words exclaimed:

Congratulations, Lexy! This is the last note! Don't forget to look at the flip-side :)

The note was lowered, replaced with Lawrence's glowing eyes.

Alex's mouth parted, but all that came out was a breathless squeak. A hand flashed out and struck his cheek with such force that Alex's head jerked to the side, and he gasped at the searing pain.

"What the hell is this?!" Lawrence screeched like a dragon, hands grabbing Alex's throat.

"I don't know," Alex wheezed, swallowing. "What does it say?"

For the first time in his life he actually felt threatened by Lawrence. Everything in him told him to run. Alarm bells rang in his head.

The grip on his neck only tightened, Lawrence's weight against him threatened to crush his ribs, his stitches screaming after every costly breath.

"I know you know," Lawrence rumbled, breath tickling against Alex ear. "And you had better tell me, before it's too late."

Alex struggled for oxygen, his lugs became tighter and tighter. He thrashed against Lawrence, struggling just for one breath of air, but to no avail. In a matter of seconds he went limp. When everything in him was seconds from shutting down, he felt the pressure on his neck release, and oxygen rushed into his lungs.

Alex thudded against the floor, gasping for air, trying to find Lawrence through his blurred vision. He shrank in on himself, clamping a numb, useless hand against his side to protect his stitches.

The callous, low voice echoing through the room sent a cold sweat pricking at Alex's skin. "It is up to you to decide to tell me what this note means. Until then, you will stay locked in here without food."

The footsteps faded, right after a faint click set into place. There and then, all the fight, all the hope, zapped out of Alex. He lay crumpled in a heap, sobbing until he had no tears left to cry.


*****


Long, grueling hours after confronting Alexander, anger burned raw in Lawrence's heart. He sat at the kitchen table, a bottle of strong liquid clutched in his hand. A crumpled piece of paper was smoothed down on the table in front of him.

He knew it.

He had known it ever since the beginning, that Alexander would prove as a burden, an obstacle in his course to success. Alexander had done just that, in every way. He had tried to tell Olivia, but she hadn't listened for one second.

Lawrence blew out a long breath, took a swig out of the bottle then eased back in his chair. Who knew what Alex had already told? To his boss, the law firm, or even Mr. Connell? How long had that imbecile been gathering information and spying on him? It was painful to admit that it was the perfect way to get revenge, if Alexander knew half of what he had done.

Lawrence couldn't understand where the note in front of him led, even through he had been staring at the words for hours now. He knew there was more to it. And that was what made his hands slick, repeatedly dropping to the thighs of his jeans to wipe against them.

"Fail again," he heard that voice roar in his head. "After all you did, you still failed, just like I said you would."

"No," Lawrence breathed, feeling his heart beat hitch. "I can't loose yet. Maybe it's not too late."

He fumbled for his phone, cursing himself for having drank half a bottle. He unlocked the phone with the password that was once honey to his soul.

May the best one win.

Who, after all this, had truly won? Or he should ask, who had lost?

Lawrence drew in a few breaths, composing himself. As soon as the line went through, he said in a calm voice, "Mr. Connell, I can't apologize enough for how I lost my cool. We're meeting tomorrow to discuss your case, is it?"

Mr. Connell's voice dripped with bitterness. "I'm done with you, Brooke. If only you hadn't acted like a fool I might still be in my position as mayor."

Lawrence took a second to do away with his smile, sad but yet satisfied. That fat, money-minded pig was bound to loose the court case anyway. "I'm sorry to hear that, sir. And I'm also sorry I wasn't the one to defend you. Things may have worked out better, but I dare say you were in a bad position. No mayor should allow his son such dangerous possessions."

Lawrence heard Mr. Connell gasp in the background, but he went on, with the rising anger inside him fueling his words. "Why, you were probably Jude's best customer! It must feel terrible to be the one imprisoned instead of the one at fault, isn't that right, Mr. Mayor—or should I say, Connell?"

There was stunned silence for a moment, then Mr. Connell spat, "I'll have my revenge yet."

The line went dead, and Lawrence smirked. In fifty years or so, he mused. A buzz from his phone had him looking down. Through blurry, bloodshot eyes he read the capitalized message, sent a second ago:

WARNING: CONAN IS LOOSE. WARNING: DO NOT RESIST. CONAN IS LOOSE.

Lawrence choked on alcohol coming back up, his pulse escalating.

"What the—? You got to be kidding." It was Lawrence struggling to breathe now. "No, no, no."

He scrambled for the note in the table, gaping at the words. "You idiot! It was supposed to be twenty-one years!"

Lawrence leaped to his feet, the world spinning around him. How could he be so stupid as to make such a dumb, dumb mistake? He stumbled down the hall, grabbed his car keys and flew out of the front door. He fumbled to stick the keys in the keyhole of the car door, pinching his fingers at each attempt. Cursing himself, he slid into the seat and started he engine.

He dialed the number of the person who sent the message, barking,

"Where the heck is he? I need to get there imme—"

The phone buzzed in his hands, and he pulled it away to see the screen was blank. No battery. He closed his eyes for a moment. Cool and calm, he tried to remind himself. It was the method that had worked best for him. In reality, be was swimming in hot water and a total wreck. If he didn't find this his man in time, well, he was just going to boil to death.