GAME ON - GoM 2

9

The firm footsteps of the two men crossed the living room of the house on the cliffs. Alice looked from the kitchen, waited for them to walk out the front door and headed downstairs, to Markus' office.

Due to the slope the house was built upon, the kitchen and the living room were leveled with the ground on the front door side, while the ground on the other side was one floor below. So Markus' large office was a flight of stairs below the main floor of the house, but anyway leveled with the terrain outside. It had a fireplace and a deck opening to the lake. A set of couch and loveseats circled the coffee table before the fireplace. The wealthy oak desk Ian Blake had given Markus was there, with a spinning armchair for him and two more chairs before it. Flanking the desk, the wall opposite the deck was covered by a custom-made bookshelf. Following Markus' design, Pete McKayne had included two cabinets where Markus could lock down documents he considered important.

Alice knew Markus managed some of Blake's commercial state all over the country, which included George's complex opening next month. However, she was still taken aback by the luxurious lifestyle Markus displayed since they moved in together to that house. She'd asked about it once. But Markus had suggested it was too boring and complex for her to grasp. So Alice never asked again.

And now those two thugs popped up. They were in Blake's payroll too, Markus had said. They were in town to handle the marketing strategy for the opening complex. They'd arrived two weeks ago and lucky her, they were staying at the motel just outside Concrete-George's construction crew still kept Betty's Inn full. Alice didn't like them, those two guys. At all. They looked nothing like marketing techs. They'd picked Markus up at Concrete's airport at noon, when he flew back from New York, and they'd spent the whole afternoon locked up with him in his office.

Alice knocked on the office door, waited for a moment and stuck her head in. Markus was turning the key to lock one of the cabinets, and glanced at the opening door. He smiled at Alice, reaching out to take her hand.

"Hey there, love," he said. "I hardly saw you since I got back home."

Sometimes Alice wondered why she couldn't resist his charming ways. But all her unsettling thoughts vanished the moment he held her in his arms.

"I missed you," she purred.

"Me too," he whispered, kissing her.

"What's with those guys, Markus? They look so... shady! How can a classy man like Mr. Blake hire such thugs?"

"Well, he hired me too. Any objection to that?"

Alice giggled. "Was it a good flight?"

"Yeah. New York isn't exactly around the corner, but it was okay. Hope you didn't make any plans for the evening."

"Sandy called earlier, asking if we were going to Stu's after dinner. But I thought you'd be tired, so..."

"Clever girl. 'Cause I want you all for me tonight. All night."

"You silly!"

Markus kissed her again. "How long to dinner?"

"I can have it ready in an hour tops."

"No, no hurry. Make it two hours. I gotta go to town."

Alice nodded with a bright smile and left. As soon as she closed the door, Markus' smile disappeared. He made a call, and his voice was curt over the phone.

"Get everything ready. We're on tonight."