The Last Laugh

Part 6

TW: Graphic Violence

Miles woke up to find himself sprawled out on top of the bed, wearing everything he had been wearing the night before besides his shoes, which looked to have been hastily kicked off before he crawled in bed. The party didn't end until what seemed like 3 a.m. Lucky enough for Miles and Mark, they had a plane to catch later today. Running on a consistent lack of sleep wasn't anything new. Miles looked over at the nightstand '4:56 a.m.' red clearly on the alarm clock's digital display. Their flight wasn't until 2 p.m.

Miles pulled off his shirt and pants and tossed them to the floor, quickly curling up underneath the frilly, gaudy, bright comforter to try and find himself a bit more sleep before having to pack back up. A headache started to pound against his skull.

The sound of rolling gunshots made Miles bolt out of bed, horrified screams billowing from the main floor. Miles hastily pulled on a pair of pants and whatever shirt he could find, grabbing his hand gun that he had stuffed away in one of his drawers while he was at it. Carefully, Miles twisted the door knob, sticking his head out into the pitch black hallway, looking at the door next to him where Mark's room was. Miles crouched and made his way over to Mark's room. "Mark?" Miles whispered into the door.

"I'm right here." He responded, cracking his door open to follow Miles. "The fucks going on."

"I don't know.." Miles responded as Mark charged his gun. Miles swiftly made his way over to the staircase, keeping an eye on every single corner as he continued to hear what sounded like the bosses wife crying. The two carefully made their way down the staircase and onto the main floor. A small light shone out towards the end of a long hallway just past where the kitchen sat.

"Sofia?" Miles called out, keeping his gun cocked as his eyes darted around the dark rooms. She wailed in return, screaming out what sounded like 'he's been hit'. Miles ran towards Sofia's voice, finding himself in what looked to be the bosses bedroom. And there he lay, facedown, a pool of blood spilling from his gut– both of his security guards standing over his body, their faces stricken with horror as they tried to figure out how to sit him up. At least they didn't get his head. Miles quickly scanned the room, seeing bullet holes lining one side of the bed, blood and down feathers trailing to where the boss lay. 

"Oh my god.." Mark whispered, staring at what had to have been a now lifeless body. "What happened?" Mark fell to his knees, desperately palming at the bosses neck to find his pulse.

She pointed to the large bedroom windows that lined the far right side of the room, they were shattered. The panes of glass that weren't broken were sprayed with bullet holes.

"I don't know how I wasn't hit.. I sleep towards the windows.." She stood there, her face stark white as she stared down at her husband.

"Do you have a pulse?" Miles asked Mark, looking at the sad mess below him.

"A faint one. Sofia you need to call an ambulance now." Mark demanded. "Look I'll protect you, but we need to find a phone." She pointed her shaking hands to the bedside table where a bright red phone sat. Mark quickly ran over to the phone, twisting the rotary dial.

"Charlie, isn't it?" Miles talked to the security guard. He nodded back. "I need you to walk the perimeter of the house. Check inside and outside. Make sure there's nobody here that shouldn't be." Charlie nodded back and walked out of the bedroom, his colleague following.

Miles tucked his gun into his waistline and walked over to Sofia, placing a hand on her shoulder to try and comfort her. "Please come with me into the kitchen. You don't need to look at him like this.." Sofia hesitated for a second, then eventually followed Miles, looking back at her husband as she left the room.

"Is there anyone you think that could've done this?" Miles asked, searching the large kitchen for a glass.

"Middle cabinet to your right." Sofia calmly stated. Her stature seemed to have changed almost immediately after she left that room. Miles followed her advice and found some small glasses then proceeded to fill one up with water from the tap, handing it to Sofia. She took a small sip. "I won't say he didn't have enemies. But I don't think any that could've done something like this.."

"Did he talk to you about anything new, or any new people you hadn't heard of?" Miles pressed.

"He didn't talk to me about his work, told me it was best I didn't know." Sofia responded, taking another sip of her water before furrowing her brows.

"The only thing new was you. You were coming to town." Sofia stood up, slamming her glass onto the table. "You're the problem, you got my husband shot." Sofia started to charge at Miles, grabbing at his shirt.

"You're the fucking reason we had this party, how can I know it wasn't you? Did you want his title? His money?" Miles grabbed Sofia's hands, pulling her off of him.

"Sofia, you've known me for how many years? Treated me like I was your son– now why would I do this." Sofia stepped back and fell onto the floor, starting to sob. Her back heaved as she tried to speak, words sounding like 'I'm sorry' spilling from her mouth. Miles bent down and patted her back, offering a hand to help her stand up. "It's okay, Sofia I just need to know anything you know– so I can help."