The rabbi said a final prayer, and then the ceremony was at an end.
“We are going to have the reception at my house, and then Shiva for seven days,” Sal’s cousin Dinah told me. She was also my lawyer and a spitfire of a woman.
“I’ll be there for the reception, but then I have to go to Dale’s funeral in Texas. I’ll come back here once that is over and spend some time with you all. I’ll drag Jax and Garf also.”
“That will be splendid. You all don’t have to stay for the full days, just come by whenever you want. It will mean a lot to our family.”
“As long as you don’t mind all the bodyguards,” I nodded to the half dozen muscular men that were never more than twenty feet from me.
“No. I don’t mind. You should have had more than two, to begin with,” Dinah’s voice was bitter, and she glared over to where Chip was standing.
“It’s not his fault, Dinah. Sal told him to stay at the bungalow. No one thought this was going to happen,” I said in defense of the ex-SEAL.
“Then you all should have known better,” she sighed.
“As angry as you are, Chip is even madder at himself. Please don’t feel any animosity toward the guy, if he had a choice he would trade his life for Sal in a second. We all would have.”
“I know Leo, I’m sorry. He doesn’t deserve my anger. We just didn’t expect this. Who would want to kill you? It doesn’t make any sense,” she said.
“Let’s talk over here for a second,” I said as I gestured to a spot a few dozen feet away from the rest of the crowd. I nodded to Chip, and the guards formed a circle around us once the woman and I walked over there.
“Did you find anything out?” I asked her once we were alone.
“The Feds gave me his phone records after I threatened to sue the shit out of them. Between them, and the spooks, ugh. Both of them want to be the ones to figure this out, but they kept pointing the finger at each other when I asked them for the phone records.”
“So who did Sal call?” I asked, and I saw Chip step a few feet closer so he could overhear the conversation.
“He called his friends in Israel, Germany, Russia, Switzerland. He made almost eighty phone calls after we talked about the contract. I know most of them, and the ones I don’t know I’ve talked to. They told me the same thing: he was asking about Arnacript and Zarra Zerne.”
“Did they tell you anything?” I asked.
“Nope. They didn’t know anything, but there were two numbers I didn’t know. I called them, and there was no answer. They were the last two numbers he dialed. You should ask your man over there,” Dinah glared at Chip.
“Ma’am, can you give me those numbers, please? I have some contacts and can look into them,” the muscular man said as he stepped toward us.
“Yeah, but do you know who Sal was talking to?”She reached into her purse and pulled out a slip of paper that she then passed to him.
“No, Ma’am. He was speaking Hebrew.” Chip glanced at the numbers and then put the paper inside of his coat pocket.
“The Feds and spooks are looking into those numbers also so I wouldn’t go digging too deep if I were you,” she warned my bodyguard, but the man’s face was expressionless, and he only gave a brief nod.
“How about the contract?” I asked her. The group of mourners was starting to break up, and I saw some people look our way with interest.
“It is a little weird. A few things I red-lined, but they aren’t deal breakers.”
“What was weird about it?”
“They don’t want you to leave their property for the length of the contract. Which is two years, or until you complete play testing. They also don’t want you seeing anyone outside of the company during your work. I can understand some of it, given the current environment of corporate espionage, but it might be a bit too heavy-handed to say that you can't have any visits. Then again, they are offering you a lot of money once you complete the tasks, and I can probably negotiate visits into the contract.”
“What about the treatment for my parents?”
“They aren’t committing that they will cure them, but the contract indicates they will treat them for the length of the term with their best intentions to cure. After the period you’ll be an owner in the company, and you’ll have all the privileges detailed in the corporate charter. Their treatment won’t cost you anything then.”
“What did you red-line?” I asked.
“I know you wanted your martial arts teacher, bodyguards, and personal trainer. So I added that language. Currently, they have all the leverage. If you need to leave for some reason then they will consider you in breach. They could still decide to hold up their end, but they probably won't. Also, if you don’t finish their play test after two years, then they will only give you half of the promised money and interest in the company. So I added language to let you leave when you want, have visitors when you want, and that you’d keep the sum they promised you even if you don’t complete their testing in two years. It is still a truck load of money, even if you don’t manage to complete the testing goals in two years.” I nodded at her words and glanced around the cemetery.
“What do you advise?” I asked.
“Leo, I’m not your manager. Even without my red-lines, the deal is lucrative if you don’t mind living alone inside their facility for two years, or however long it will take for you to finish their test. So, if you don’t mind that, and you think they can help your parents, it is a good deal. However,” she paused as a group of people moved to try and talk to us and my guards gestured for them to wait for a few more minutes, “Sal didn’t like this. Even though he’d make his four percent on it, and it would mean he could retire in luxury, he thought it was too good to be true.” Dinah shrugged when she finished speaking.
“Yeah, I know.” I’d reviewed the contract dozens of times now, and while Zarra’s legal jargon had indicated that Sal would only be given ‘B’ class common stock that wouldn’t carry the same voting rights as mine, it was still a shitload of stock, and worth enough for the man to buy an island somewhere if he wanted.
Sal would have liked his own island.
“Anything else you want to talk about? I have to go home and get the reception ready.”
“I guess that is it,” I said.
“Okay, hon. I’m going to send their lawyers the red-line when I am in the car. They might want to do face to face to argue my changes. Schedule it after Shiva okay?”
“Yep.” I nodded to her, and we hugged briefly.
“I’ll head over in a bit. Going to spend some time here,” I said as I nodded back to Sal’s grave.
“Okay. I’ll see you soon then,” the woman shot a last glare at Chip and then walked out of the circle of muscled men.
“She doesn’t like me,” Chip sighed once she had left. “I don’t blame her.”
“It isn’t your fault,” I said as I shook my head.
“It is, though. I asked to go with him, but he said he’d be back in a flash. Ugh,” the man put his hand to his face and wiped his eyes. “I’m going to find out who the fuck did this and put a bullet in their head. Dale was my best friend, we were on the same team for twelve years, and Sal was like an uncle to me.”
“You know there is a chance that if you came with Sal, there would just have been another funeral?”
“Yeah, but part of me wishes I’d died honorably. I feel like a coward or a failure. If I’m being honest here with you Leo, I don’t like the idea of you doing this deal. Whoever is trying to kill you isn’t going to stop. They hired fucking professionals. You told me that contract won’t let me live on their campus. Do you trust their security to keep you safe? I sure as hell don’t. I couldn’t even keep you safe.” The man pointed to my stomach where he knew my bandages were. The cut that the female assassin had made wasn’t deep, but I wasn’t going to be doing any crunches for a few months.
“We’ll get the changes made. They want me to work with them. I have a strange amou
nt of leverage in the situation.”
“It sounds like you want to do it. Why?” Chip asked with a raised eyebrow.
“I’ve been doing some soul searching. If I keep playing Astafar Unlimited, I’m going to need a new manager. I’m not looking forward to replacing Sal. The idea just makes me sick to my stomach. It makes my heart feel heavy. I’m tired Chip. How much longer can I keep this up? Eventually, I’m going to lose, and the life of a vanquished champion is a tough one. I think this new game has a lot of potential, and I know it will end up kicking Astafar Unlimited off of the podium. I can transition from player to developer and move out of the limelight. I dunno man, this just seems like I can ride off into the sunset, work on a better game, and make more money. They also might be able to heal my parents.”
“That does sound compelling. What about the assassins, though?”
“You said that your contacts believe it was--”
“Wait,” he held up his hand and looked around. My new group of bodyguards was out of earshot if we whispered, but I could see that some of Sal’s family wanted to enter the circle and speak with me. They were kind of waving to get my attention through the row of suited men.
“They are thinking a few different things. It could be someone looking to crash Astafar’s stock. So the Feds are investigating short sales and have a handful of suspects. They are also thinking it could be president Arnesto, but I doubt that. He admitted that he had a leak with his staff about you possibly leaving the game. The other group is that crazy ' Cult of Leo’ fuckers.”
“Ugh. So stupid,” I said as I covered my face with my hands. There was a group of rabid Astafar Unlimited players that were really into me playing their game. Once news of me possibly leaving spread through the internet, a bunch of them made videos burning my shirts and other paraphernalia. A lot of them said on their video feeds that they wanted me dead instead of retiring. Some fans were crazy scary, and a few of them had enough money to hire assassins.
“It could be anybody. They are even investigating Zarra Zerne and her company,” Dale said.
“Why would she try to kill me? She wants me to work for her,” I asked.
“Yeah, I don’t think they have any real leads there. It is kind of a clusterfuck. I know guys in the FBI, and I know guys in the CIA. Each of them is trying to crack this thing for the glory. I think they are just going to get in each other’s way.” He shrugged and looked at the crowd. “Should probably let you mingle.”
“Yeah. Thanks for the talk,” I said as I cut out of the ring of guards and back into the group of mourners.
For the next half an hour I gave and received condolences to and from everyone at the funeral. It was kind of an annoyance since I was going to see most of them at the reception, but I could also understand why people didn’t want to leave the cemetery.
They didn’t want to say goodbye to Sal.
“Leo, I’m sorry for your loss,” President Arnesto said as he gave me a hug. “Sal was a great man, and he will be missed by all of us.”
“Thank you,” I said as I hugged Arnie’s pretty wife, Celia.
“I wanted to let you know that I am doing my best to assist the FBI in their investigation,” the man whispered as he put his arm around my shoulder. “They identified one of my employees who let your private chat session leak, and they have told me that they are close to arresting the initial round of suspects.”
“That is good to know,” I forced myself to say with a smile that I hoped he couldn’t tell was fake.
“I know you have been busy the last couple of days, but did you have a chance to look at the contract I sent over? I’m hoping that a lot of this will go away once we can let all your fans know that you’re going to be working with Astafar Unlimited LLC for the rest of your career.”
“What do you mean by ‘go away’?” I tried to keep my voice calm as I asked. This fucker had a rogue employee that spilled company secrets that may have led to people trying to murder me, and he thought it would just blow over?
“Oh, you know Leo. Your fans adore you. They just want what is best for you. People don’t like change. Part of the reason they love you is that you play Astafar Unlimited. A lot of them don’t want to think you are playing something that they can’t play. Or at least, that is what these cult people are saying on their video blogs. They kind of feel like you are betraying them. Well, betraying all of us really.” Arnie patted me on the back and gave me a gleaming smile.
“I see.”
“So did you take a look at it? I know you’ve got your man’s funeral tomorrow, but how about we do lunch the day after and talk about it some more?” he asked.
“Honey, Leo’s going to need some time. You are being a dick,” Celia smirked at her husband and kind of elbowed him in the stomach.
“Ahhh, sorry, Leo. I don’t want to pressure you. I know you’ve got a lot on your mind.” The man sighed. “I’m just upset about the stock prices. Everyone is worried about you. So if you can help me out soon, I’d appreciate it. Maybe you can say something to the press? Anything to let the people know you are still with us would be helpful. We’ve been through a lot together. You’ll help me out right?”
“Okay,” I said with a nod at the man I had once thought of like a father figure. Shit like this tended to show people’s true colors. All I’d ever been to the man was a dollar sign. Sure, he was coating it in a thick layer of sugar, and I’m sure his contract was as lucrative as Zarra’s, but the dirt wasn’t even over Sal’s body, and president Arensto’s only care was for his bank account.
Wasn’t that what I was also doing? I’d just spent precious moments of my friend’s funeral to talk to my lawyer about my career choices. I was as big of a dick as Arensto.
“Sorry again, Leo,” Celia gave me another hug, and then she dragged her husband away before he could say anything else stupid to me.
I sighed and looked at Sal’s grave. The dirt was almost all back in the hole now, and the workers were starting to fill in the remainder. I watched them for a few minutes and tried to make sense of my emotions. I really wanted to be angry at the world, but I was mostly angry at myself.
I’d have to speak at Dale’s funeral tomorrow. I’d have to explain to his family that he was dead because I was alive. I’d have to--
“Leo,” a familiar voice said behind me, and I turned to see Zarra. She was wearing a black business suit over a gray dress shirt, and her hair fell loose over her shoulders like a waterfall of dark chocolate.
“Zarra, how did you get in?” I was more confused than angry that she was here.
“I’m sorry, Leo. You weren’t answering my calls. I figured you would be here so I asked Elora if I could come.” The woman gave me a half smile and stepped next to me by the grave.
“I’m surprised Sal’s sister put you on the list.” Zarra’s appearance made my emotions further confused. Part of me didn’t want to speak to her while I hacked through this mess, but that may have also been because I didn’t want the beautiful woman to see me weakened by the deaths of my friends.
“It was a nice ceremony. I didn’t know Sal, but he sounded like a wonderful man.” I noticed that she didn’t answer my question, but I had to agree with her about Sal.
“If you are here to talk to me about the contract, I don’t want to--”
“I’m not here to talk about that.” She raised her hands up defensively. “Leo,” she began with a sigh. “I already told you that I thought there was something between us. You hinted that there might also be. I’m just here because I care about you. All that other shit can wait until you’ve mourned the loss of your friends.”
“Last time we talked you made it clear that I needed to ‘shit or get off the pot.' It seemed that you were in a hurry.”
“That was then. This is now. Look, let’s forget about the game and the contract. I want you, so I’ll wait until you’ve sorted through this before I consider working with another gamer. Please don’t feel as if there is any pressur
e from me to make a decision until you are ready to make a decision. Okay?” She gifted me with a smile and raised her eyebrows a bit.
“Okay,” I sighed and then I turned back to stare at Sal’s grave.
I wanted to ask her about Artus. I guessed that the fenia was executed today inside of Ohlavar Quest, but I was still unsure about game time versus Earth time. I opened my mouth to ask her about my virtual friend’s fate, but then I closed my lips. I had enough grief right now in the real world, and there wasn’t anything I could do to save the fenia from the fate I had accidentally bestowed upon him.
Another friend dead because of me.
There was still a crowd around us, but either people seemed to know I wanted to be alone, or Chip’s team was keeping people away. I almost forgot that Zarra was standing next to me until she spoke again.
“I felt a lot of loss when my grandmother died. My parents were always involved with their work. They weren’t really around much. So she took care of me. When she started to suffer from Alzheimer's, I felt as if her soul was dying, but her physical body was just there in perfect health to mock me. I was old enough to take care of myself by then, but I didn’t want her to leave because she’d been my rock. You know?”
“Yes,” I choked out the world.
We were silent for a few moments and then I took a deep breath.
“I was mad at him. He hadn’t reviewed the contract you gave me. I yelled at him and told him to get to work on it. It was the last thing I said to him.”
“You didn’t know it would end like this. The news said you were attacked by three assassins? Was that it? Sorry, I don’t want to pry if you don’t want to talk about it.”
“No. That’s okay. You can ask about it. I still feel terrible about what I said to him. He was my rock, just like your grandma was. I wished our last conversation could have involved me telling him how much I loved him.”
“I understand. That is somewhat of a--”
“Hey, Leo.” Garf interrupted Zarra as he stepped next to me. He seemed to realize who Zarra was and his dark brown eyes widened. “We are about to jump in the limo and go to Dinah’s.”
Lion's Quest: Undefeated: A LitRPG Saga Page 18