In the End It was Frank's Game

"She's not going with you Lavalliere," Frank told him.

"I'm not talking to you old man!" Marc shouted back at Frank.

"Come on Brooke, let's go!".

"No Marc, I can't go with you tonight," Brooke answered him.

"Brooke, come here and get in the car! Let's go, now!" Marc shouted at Brooke.

"LaValliere, she's not going with you. You've lost the game. You're a loser. Now get the hell out of here loser and leave us alone," Frank said to Marc.

Being told that he was a loser in front of a group of people, who most likely were some of his fans, instantly enraged Marc.

"I'll show you who's a loser, you piece of shit," Marc shouted as he got out of his SUV.

Frank told the people who were waiting for their cars to step back because the situation might get dangerous. Then he moved around the front of the SUV to drivers side where he confronted LaValliere who was brandishing a large, semi-automatic pistol.

LaValliere was raging mad. He had lost Brooke and now he had been publicly humiliated.

Frank studied LaValliere and his behavior reminded him of a scene in the Masai Mara in Kenya when he observed a lion and hyenas fight over the lion's kill.

Like that lion, LaValliere had stalked Brooke for hours and then he overtook her body, mind and soul. She was his, and he was taking her to his home to consume her for his sexual pleasure. But before that could happen Frank stepped in and snatched her from him. Now, LaValliere, like the lion, had only one thing on his mind and that was to get her back, and he didn't care what he had to do, even if that meant killing Frank Walker.

"Brooke is going with me and I'll kill you if you try to stop her," LaValliere shouted.

Frank had backed up a few steps and was now standing no more than ten feet from Marc. His arms and hands were raised, palms up, and fingers extended in a non-aggressive, non-escalatory, but self-defense manner.

"Put the gun down," Frank said.

"Bullshit old man, you have fucked up my game and I'm going to kill you."

"Put the gun down before you get into even more trouble," Frank said in a calm, firm voice.

"I'm going to show you who's in trouble old man! I'm going to kill you and then I'm going fuck your wife," Marc shouted and pointed his pistol in Frank's direction.

LaValliere was so caught up in his ranting and raging and that he hadn't noticed that Frank had lowered his right hand and put it in his pants pocket.

In that pocket Frank carried an Sig Sauer Micro-Compact semi-automatic pistol. It was loaded with eight rounds of 9MM Critical Defense ammunition. One round in the chamber and seven rounds in the magazine.

Frank was licensed to carry the Sig and he routinely trained to use it in a self-defense situation, like the one he was in now.

Now, it had been years since Frank had to shoot a man, but when he served in the military he was in combat and he did in fact kill several men, with a pistol, and at close range. So now, confronting an armed and violent Marc LaValliere, the memories of those experiences came rushing back into his mind and he instinctively knew how he needed to handle this life threatening situation.

So, with his hand in his pocket and gripping the pistol, Frank made the decision that he was going to end this confrontation now. And he made the decision that he would shoot LaValliere. His raging, lethal threats, pointing a weapon and his close proximity to Frank made for a situation that justified a shoot-to-stop decision.

And with that decision made, Frank muted out LaValliere's ranting and raging. He calmed himself and controlled his breathing. He concentrated on what he had to do which was to smoothly draw the gun from his pocket, raise the gun into a firing position, lock-on to LaValliere, and rapidly fire two accurate shots. All movements of the gun had to be precise. And the entire process had to be done in less than three-seconds. Otherwise LaValliere would likely return fire and then they would be involved in a gunfight, a situation that Frank wanted to avoid.

Laser focused on LaValliere, Frank pulled the pistol from his pocket. It was a smooth draw, exactly what he needed. But in that second that he was raising his gun into the firing position, three rapid gun shots rang out from behind Frank's right side. In the same instant Frank saw LaValliere's body flinch as it was hit by bullets, and then he watched LaValliere slump to ground.

Reeling from the unexpected gunshots, Frank thought, "What the hell?" and he spun around to see the shooter still aiming a handgun at Marc's body that lie on the ground.

Frank quickly gained control of himself and then spoke to the shooter.

"I think you got him. You can put the gun down," Frank said.

"He was going to kill you," the shooter said as she lowered the gun to her side.

"Yea, that's what he said," Frank replied.

"Who are you?" Frank asked her.

"I'm an off-duty police officer and I work security here," the shooter told him as they quickly walked over to LaValliere.

"Oh, okay, Well, I'm glad you are here." Frank said.

"Yea, I'm glad I am here too," she said.

Frank and the security officer kneeled down next to LaValliere who was alive and conscious, but groaning from the pain brought about by the three gunshot wounds.

"What happened," Marc moaned.

"You've been shot. Lay still." Frank told him.

"I've been shot?"

"Yes, you've been shot," Frank said.

"Who shot me,"

"I shot you Marc," the officer told him.

Marc looked at the officer

"Marjorie?"

"Yes, Marc," she said.

"Oh fuck Marjorie, why, why did you shoot me," LaValliere said while gasping for his breath.

"Because you were going to kill this man," Majorie told him.

Marc was breathing hard and he was losing blood.

"Oh god, I'm hurting so bad, please get me some help,"

"I've called for EMTs. They're on the way. Be still and hang in there," Majorie told him.

LaValliere was breathing hard

"I wasn't going to kill him. It's just a game," Marc gasped.

"Pointing a gun and threatening a man is not a game," Majorie said to him.

"Majorie you know it's a game," he said to her with a weak voice.

"Marc, how many times have I told you that your game is going to get you killed?" she said to him.

"I know, but it's just a game. It's just a game. I was just playing a game," he gasped.

"Oh god, I'm so cold. Why am I so cold?" LaValliere said.

Then he looked at Frank and said, "Please sir, I'm so thirsty, please get me some water."

Frank turned and shouted to the onlookers to get some water for LaValliere.

LaValliere was rapidly bleeding out and Frank knew that even if the EMTs arrived right now there is nothing they could do to save him because he had already lost too much blood.

For a few more moments LaValliere continued to beg for help but then he went silent. He was unconscious from loss of blood. Then, just a few of minutes longer, his breathing stopped. Frank checked his pulse, and checked it again, and there was none. He was gone. Marc LaValliere had passed.

It was well after 11:30 PM when the police allowed Frank and Brooke to leave the restaurant and lounge. They, and the other witnesses to the confrontation and shooting, had been interrogated by police officers, detectives, special investigators, Internal Affairs and even an assistant DA. Frank and Brooke each gave a statement about their contact and involvement with Marc LaValliere. And Frank gave a separate statement supporting the off-duty police officer's decision to shoot LaValliere and he officially declared that she saved his life.

But finally, after an evening that started out as simply as attending a birthday party and ended with them involved with a local sports star being shot and killed, Frank and Brooke were on their way home. And they rode along for a while in silence, neither of them uttered a word.

Finally Brooke broke the silence.

"Frank" she said.

"Yes," he answered.

"Are you disappointed that you didn't kill him?" she asked.

Frank didn't hesitate a moment and answered, "Yes."

Brooke thought about his answer and how his response was immediate and without any reservation. And she heard the anger in his voice.

Frank had been denied satisfaction and he was angry at how the situation with LaValliere ended with a security officer doing the killing.

When Marc confronted them in front of the restaurant Brook knew without a doubt that it was now Frank Walker's game. And she knew that, most likely, it would not end well for Marc.

LaValliere was a young prima donna with an ego, a temper and a gun. Whereas Frank Walker was a seasoned corporate fixer who made his living taking down powerful men and women. And he was pissed that this grown man, who played a kids game for living, had the audacity to try to steal his wife, right before his very eyes. And there was no way that LaValliere was going to escape the consequences.

Brooke was well aware that Frank was armed and she knew that he had intentionally lured Marc into a situation where he would likely kill him. Telling Marc that he had lost the game and calling him a loser was nothing but bait, and, of course, Marc took it, and that sealed his fate.

So, for all practical purposes, Brooke knew that Marc LaValliere was a dead man even before he stepped out of his SUV. And as she watched the confrontation between her would-be lover and her husband she was much distressed because she would be the cause of Marc's death. If he had not picked her and she had not agreed to go with him, he would still be alive.

But for some uncanny reason fate stepped in and the off-duty officer shot and killed LaValliere, innocently thinking that she was saving Frank's life, but instead taking away Frank's chance to make LaValliere suffer the consequences for trying to steal his wife. But, also saving Brooke from having to live with the knowledge that her husband killed Marc over her.

"Well, I'm glad you didn't kill him," she told him.

"Because?"

"Because it was better that the officer killed him."

"Why?" Frank asked her.

"Because it would have been messy for us," she said.

"You mean with the police?"

"Yes, and the media," she said.

"Yes, if I had killed him, the police and the media would have tried to make it messy for me but it would have been a clear case of self-defense. He was behaving erratic. He had a gun, and he pointed it at me. He threatened to kill me more than once. And he was only about ten feet from me. So, it would have a been a justified, self-defense, shoot-to-stop situation whether the police and the media liked it or not," he said to her.

"Yes, but the media would have questioned and analyzed why you killed him instead of wounding him," she replied.

"Of course, it's their job to ask questions, speculate and offer up a critical opinion. But the fact is that he was armed with a lethal weapon and capable of killing me, even if he was wounded. So, for my own protection, my own self-defense, I would have had no choice but to go for stopping shot," he replied.

"Oh," she said, pondering what he had told her.

"It's still going to be messy with the media, even though I didn't kill him. They'll put some of the blame on me," Frank told her.

"And they'll put some of the blame on me," she said.

"Yes, they will. So be prepared for them coming after us. Our lawyer will help to a point, but only to a point. You can be assured that media will spin it so that you and I are the reason he was killed. And, there might be lawsuits and counter lawsuits, but don't worry, we'll work through it. And we'll come out on top. Because, in the end, he seduced you, he attacked us, he threatened me, so we're the victims." Frank told her.

Then he added.

"But just remember, he was a football star and a local celebrity, and here in our beloved South football stars are regarded as gods, so in the media's mind he is innocent of any wrong doing. So just understand that over the next few days all we'll see and hear in the media is poor, poor Marc LaValliere is dead. It will be reported that he danced with a woman and her jealous husband created a situation that caused him to be killed by a security guard. But eventually the real story of Marc LaValliere will come out and the media will go away. Because they won't be interested in reporting the story about a sports hero who had a fetish for picking up married women and taking them to his home for a night of sex," Frank told her.

"That's what I want, I want this whole thing to just go away," she said.

"It will, eventually," Frank said.

They rode on in silence for several more minutes and then Frank asked Brooke, "Are you disappointed that you didn't go and experience your night of fairy tale sex with him?"

Brooke was surprised and taken aback by Frank's question and she gave him a - how dare you ask me that - kind of look and started to say something but then she paused, for several moments, and considered how to answer his question. Then, in an expressive voice, she said to him, "No, darling, of course not."

It was the lie that Frank expected.

A simple "no" would have been sufficient and believable, but the long pause and the, "darling," coupled with, "of course not," was too much and confirmed what he suspected and that was she was thinking about the loss of her fairy tale experience and she wanted to conceal her disappointment from him. But, the look she gave him, her voice and her choice of words betrayed her.

But Frank was not surprised because he knew that LaValliere had awakened Brooke to the notion that she was more than a wife, that she was a woman, and that it was her right to indulge in sex with a man other than her husband.

While they were dancing LaValliere talked to Brooke about sexual things that usually go unspoken, even between a husband and wife. Brooke listened and the things he said aroused her imagination. And LaValliere convinced her into believing that the perfect way to experience these unspeakable things was with a partner with whom she could be completely free, open and uninhibited. A partner with whom she had no emotional tie. A partner who knew the ways of debauchery, and would guide her in exploring the erotic side of her sexuality.

So the seed of infidelity had been planted and Frank knew it. He knew that she was now open to having sex with other men. Even though, earlier, she promised that she would never let a man near her ever again. That was just a sidestep to get her out of the situation she was in. When Frank stopped her from leaving with LaValliere, he heard it in her voice and he saw it in her actions. Her behavior screamed, "I want to experience sex with another man." It was just that she didn't want to pay the price, tonight.

But that was tonight.

So, knowing all of this, Frank realized that he could never trust her again. And as he drove them on toward home he wondered if he could live with not trusting her and accept the possibility that one day the opportunity for her to go with another man would present itself and Brooke would, most likely, seize that opportunity.