Gavin was dead.
His body had been found by two teenagers after they decided to explore an abandoned building.
He had been beaten almost beyond recognition at first, and according to the blood splatter and the way the body had been positioned, he had shot himself with a police gun. They were currently after none other than Geoff Ramsey, an ex-cop who turned rogue and was wanted for car theft, murder, manslaughter, and a small handful of other offences.
Gavin's body was unrecognisable at first, but then his dental records showed revealed his identity when it was realised that he had no relations in the country to identify the body.
Michael would have done that.
However, Michael was the King of crime in Austin and was obviously not a relation to Gavin Free. But Michael was his friend- had been his friend.
Lately, Michael's crown had been feeling heavy.
He only had one thing to do now, because he had nothing else that mattered.
At first, after Kerry and Lindsay's deaths, Michael thought he could pull himself back together and get on his game again.
And for a few years, he had. He found a group of 'poker' friends and had grown close to Ray and Gavin.
This was Simon all over again.
But this time, it was more like chess than unbalanced revenge.
Simon had snitched, causing Geoff to make his move by breaking into Michael's house.
Michael then made his move and killed Jack.
Geoff's next move was to force Michael to kill Ray purely out of mercy for his friend.
Gavin killed Ryan on behalf of Michael; so that was his move.
Geoff wasn't happy with that, so he tortured Gavin and forced him to kill himself.
Now it was Michael's turn, and he was going to end this once and for all.
So Michael washed his hands after dousing the cloth in the precise mixture of alcohols and leaving the remainder of the concoction in the empty beer bottle, and he drove to the small wooden building Gavin had been found in two days ago.
Michael had only taken so long to take action because he had collapsed for almost an entire day, heart breaking and head spinning too much for his conscious body to take so he had passed out after drinking his entire liquor cabinet.
The hangover was more of a dull ache added to the numb pain he already felt from the deaths of Ray and Gavin, and it didn't affect his driving or parking abilities so he managed to kill the engine without crashing on the way.
Michael took a deep breath and held it for a few seconds before letting go.
He picked up the carefully constructed molotov in one hand and Ray's lighter in the other.
Taking strong, meaningful steps forwards, he lit the tail of the molotov and stared at the gentle flicker of the flame as it lapped up the cloth for a few seconds. Then he brought back his arm and threw it with all his might at the wooden doors of the wooden building.
"Take that you son of a bitch!" Michael yelled furiously to nobody in particular before growling under his breath an irate "checkmate."
That building was the only place Geoff could be.
A look through Gavin's computer told him that he'd finally been fired after the stunt he pulled that resulted in Ryan's death. And because of that, he was also on the run. He was dumb enough to stay in the same place he made his previous move, like it was some sort of sentimental thing.
Flames immediately engulfed the wood, sticking to it like velcro as it charred the wood and caused the brown paint to peel.
But then a noise from behind him had Michael yelping and almost lashing out, armed with nothing more than a lighter as he whipped around and stumbled backwards.
"I'm not in than building you dumb fuck." Geoff spat, arms crossed over his chest and a cocky expression on his face, almost like he knew what Michael had been through. But he couldn't. Michael had aimed too high and lost too much. Geoff was a dumb fucking cop, he would neverunderstand.
Michael was about to take Geoff by the collar and beat him until he could hardly walk then leave him in the building for the flames of Michael's molotov to claim, then he saw the way Geoff was standing there casually and unarmed. He wasn't even preparing to punch Michael square in the face, which was a first in many many years.
Michael paused, fist clenched and slightly drawn back in defence, unsure of what to do.
Then Geoff spoke, and it was the calmest and most honest Michael had ever heard come out of his mouth. "It's a shame that this place burned to the ground and took both of us with it." He said, and Michael wanted to smack that knowing yet serene look off his face, but decided against it again.
"What?" Michael snapped. "I don't get what you're saying." Better to be blunt than angry, Michael thought.
"As far as I understand, two bodies will be found in there tomorrow morning, burnt past recognition with both of our dental records." Geoff informed, sounding just like he was reciting facts from a news article. Michael didn't like it. Michael didn't like not knowing things. But instead of threatening him or forcing him to talk, Michael talked with him.
"But neither of us are in that building." Michael stated, a confused expression flitting over his features for a couple of seconds before returning to the stoic anger he had before. "And I don't plan to be in there any time soon, or at all would be nice."
"No, I don't plan to die here tonight, and I don't plan to kill you, either." Geoff said, uncrossing his arms and staring at Michael who stared right back, ignoring the annoying orange haze the burning building was casting over Geoff. "Let's just say that I've got connections."
"Why the fuck would you do that for me?" Michael couldn't help but think Geoff was either high, drunk, or really had lost his mind. But Michael supposed that they both had quite a while ago when Jack and Ryan were taken from him, and when Kerry, Lindsay, Ray and Gavin were taken from Michael.
"I think this has gone far enough." Geoff informed, a sadness in his eyes that, under the light of the fire and the setting sun, had Michael thinking that maybe he wasn't a heartless and motiveless and dumb cop like Michael had originally thought. But that was a stupid thought. "We've both lost loved ones, and I plan to keep the number of people who die because of me at the number it's at right now." That was true; they both had lost loved ones, they were certainly more alike than Michael gave them credit for. "We have to disappear."
That was also true. Michael couldn't stay in Austin for one more night. He thought he could walk the streets where the ghosts of Lindsay and Kerry resided and he had been wrong. If he thought he could stay one more second in the place where he had made so many memories - criminal and non (but mostly criminal) - with Ray and Gavin, he would be a liar.
Michael was about to ask why the fuck Geoff would need to disappear, but he supposed the ex-cop had ghosts of his own.
Then an odd thought struck Michael and he couldn't help but make it heard. Because if he'd listened to Geoff's voice and his actions and his tone well enough, he very well could be suggesting what Michael thought he was.
"Together?"
"I don't see why not," Geoff admitted, and Michael's gaze softened before they both walked away from the burning building as equals. Geoff made a quick phone call once they reached his stolen car, but not before Geoff muttered the final part to his sentence with a hollow voice and resigned tone. "I mean, who else have we got?"
