Authors: Mia Hoddell
“He said that he would make sure I was dead by morning if I didn’t leave. He said I was ruining his life.”
Cora saw Rogan tense at her words. He didn’t interrupt, but he looked wary and Cora couldn’t understand why.
“I told him I was trying to leave but couldn’t find a way to get out so he explained about the secret tunnels and then agreed to help me. He came to my room in the evening pretending to be under your orders and showed me where the tunnel was. I was just trying to survive. He seems to really hate me.” Cora shrugged and toyed with the edge of her shirt, a solemn expression on her face as she hoped to win him over by playing the weak-defenceless-girl card.
“WHAT?” Rogan roared, standing up instantly and slamming his hands down on to the desk. He assumed Kirby had helped her but not threatened her.
Despite Cora’s best efforts to control it, she flinched. She didn’t care that she was putting all of the blame on Kirby, he’d made his dislike evident from their first meeting so she wasn’t losing anything.
“Yes Rogan. Your son is the person who is working against you. I wouldn’t put it past him to be the one who helped the people get a note to me in the first place. I had nothing to do with it and therefore you cannot punish me,” Cora sneered, standing up to look him in the eye, her temper flaring.
“I can do what I want with you. You are mine to do with as I please,” he hissed, his words his words filed with venom.
Cora’s heart sank. She didn’t know how to she was going to get out of the situation.
“But, I am prepared to give you one more chance.”
Cora went to speak but he silenced her with a gesture and she shut up. She knew when she would be making things worse.
“There are a few conditions. Obviously if I put you back in the same room you will just run off again, so here’s what I’m going to do. If you reject this option I just go with the original plan of the basement, got it?”
Cora nodded uncertainly, not sure what he was about to suggest.
“I am prepared for you to go back to your old flat and live however you want. But, when I have a job for you, you
will
be back here and you will make it back to the house within twenty minutes. If you’re even a minute late, it’s the basement. If you fail to pick up your phone, my men will find you and you’ll be in the basement and if you argue and don’t drop whatever you are doing to come straight over—”
“I know, I’ll be in the basement.” Cora tried to sound bored and exasperated but inside she was jumping for joy. She was unsure to how she had done it and what changed Rogan’s mind, but somehow she had managed to get a semblance of her old life back.
“Glad to see something is finally sinking into that thick skull of yours. I guess that means you are accepting the terms then?”
“Of course,” she said casually.
Reaching down into a drawer behind his desk, Rogan pulled out a few items: a gun, mobile and a wad of cash.
“These are standard issue for all of my employees. I was going to issue you them this morning but that plan was derailed slightly. The cash is for electricity to charge this.” He pointed at the phone. “And for credit, not that you should be calling anyone but me with it. I’m guessing you know how to use one of these?” He held up the gun, throwing it from one hand to the other casually.
Cora nodded. “Mum taught me before. I have another back at the flat too.” She hadn’t wanted to bring up her mother, especially in front of the man that, in Cora’s eyes, caused her death but she had no other option. It was her mum who had taught her. She had made sure Cora knew every form of self-defence, and got to a high enough level. It was also her mum who took her out shooting in the park when things got bad. She never explained why, but it was slowly becoming clear that her mother was preparing her. Cora had only just turned eleven.
She hated the thought.
“Good. Nick will drive you to your flat and a selection of my men will meet you there this evening. They will follow your every move until I learn to trust you.”
Cora had picked up the items and was heading towards the door as he spoke but as her words registered she spun back around.
“What? That was not part of the deal!” she shouted, finally losing it.
“You’re forgetting that you aren’t the one in a position to negotiate, Cora. I will be quite happy with you in the basement. It’s your choice, take it or leave it.”
Slamming the door on her way out, Cora stormed from the office making sure to show her anger. She was not a pet to be leashed and controlled but that’s how he was treating her. Cora had got more than she ever expected, but all it did was raise red flags in her mind. Something wasn’t right with his compromise.
The constant reminder that Rogan never did anything for someone without racking up their debt and expecting something in return had her on edge. As she moved towards the car that was parked at the front of the house, she tried to think what Rogan could need besides her ability. It was obvious that was not the key because he didn’t need to grant her semi-freedom to have that—he’d already won that battle.
Pulling the door shut on the car, Cora longed to walk home but she thought she had pushed her luck enough for one day when she saw Nick approaching.
* * *
Rogan watched through his window as Cora was driven off. She didn’t look too happy and Rogan smiled to himself as he thought about what he had planned for her. She wouldn’t see it coming and she would never expect it. A fact that only made his smile grow even wider. He was certain she knew more than she had revealed so far and it was his intention to extract it from her.
Shaking his head, he cleared his mind. It was not the time to be thinking about that. He had people to deal with and that started with his own, backstabbing son. Rogan had always known the boy didn’t have what it took to follow his leadership, but he never expected him to be traitorous.
Pressing the intercom button on his desk, he called up to Kirby’s room.
“If you’re not down here in one minute, my men will be using you for target practice again.” Rogan’s voice was low and dangerous as he spoke. His right hand was clenching and unclenching by his hip as he tried to find a way to release his anger without breaking something.
Unsurprisingly, the only response he got from Kirby, was a rustle of sheets. He assumed that meant he was moving but he would find out if he was correct in a few moments. Rogan and Kirby were polar opposites; Rogan’s work ethic was one of the reasons he had reached his position of power, and Kirby’s ability to spend most of his time plugged into a game console, eating or sleeping was incomprehensible and irritating. Very rarely did he lift a finger around the mansion, or venture out from his room but Rogan had long since given up trying.
To Rogan he was useless and a waste of space, time, and energy. However, his son had managed to surprise him. It wasn’t in the way he had hoped for, but perhaps there was a chance for him yet. After all, he had gone after what he wanted and if Cora hadn’t been so careless, he would have succeeded in getting rid of his opponent.
With less than a second to spare, Rogan’s door opened quickly to reveal a disgruntled looking Kirby. His hair was in disarray as if he had been tugging it out in frustration, there were dark circles under his eyes and a few orange crumbs stuck to his dirty, white T-shirt from the crisps he had been eating. He looked a mess but everything about his attitude said he didn’t care.
“You couldn’t have waited five more minutes? I was in the middle of an important mission on Assassin’s Creed. I died because of you and your bloody orders. You know I’m not one of your recruits, right? You don’t get to order me around like that and I don’t have to do your bidding. I’m not a child either, I’m twenty-one for Christ’s sake. I have a life of my own.” His voice was filled with spite and malice as he moved towards Rogan to collapse in the chair Cora had recently vacated. He had surprised himself with the ferocity of his words.
“No, Kirby, it couldn’t wait. This is more important than one of your old video games. And you may not be one of my recruits, but you are my son and you would do well to realise that is the only reason you’re still here. If any of my men were as useless as you then they would have been long gone. Also, being my son means I expect more. You are meant to be in training to take over this business. You have everything paid for, everything given to you. You have never lifted a finger and I’ve only ever asked one thing of you. Grow the hell up,” Rogan’s voice was as tight as his fists that were still clenched.
Kirby wasn’t fazed. He had been in front of Rogan many times before and his words had long since stopped having an effect on him. He had heard it all before: he was useless, not fit to breathe, a disgrace to the family, not fit to learn the business. The list went on and although Kirby hated him for it, the bigger part of him was disinterested. He didn’t want to rule a criminal organisation, he just wanted to inherit the money and play his video games in peace.
“You don’t need me, you—”
“I wouldn’t have had to find an alternative if my son had been worth something in the first place!” Rogan shouted, leaning over the desk which caused Kirby to recoil slightly.
He may have been no use to his dad but that didn’t mean he was free from his wrath.
“That’s not what I called you down here about though. You already know how pathetic you are. What I really want to know is how you thought you could help Cora escape and that information wouldn’t make its way back to me?” Rogan steadied his voice as he lowered himself back into the seat.
“I didn’t.”
Rogan let out a cruel laugh, pretending to be amused by Kirby’s lies.
“I don’t need Cora here to tell me that you’re lying Kirby. Your face is an open book. You made it clear since you first saw her that you hated her. You couldn’t wait to help her leave, could you?”
Kirby’s dropped his stare and he picked at the crumbs on his shirt before reaching up to place them in his mouth.
“I only mentioned about the escape routes, she was the one who found it.”
“Keep lying Kirby, all you’re doing is backing yourself further into a corner.”
“Yeah that’s right, believe everyone else over your own son. He can’t possibly be telling the truth, can he?”
Kirby heaved himself out of the chair and started walking towards the door. “Just get on with your plan and leave me alone. I won’t interfere again,” he muttered under his breath as he slammed the door shut behind him. Kirby had no intention of letting the issue drop but he wasn’t going to let Rogan in on the plans he was already forming.
Let him think I’m weak and useless. He’ll be the one begging me to let him live when I’ve succeeded
, he thought as he headed back to his room to take his anger out on some unsuspecting character who would be an easy kill.
Although Rogan was annoyed by his son’s disobedience, a part of him was proud he was finally standing up for himself. He was nowhere near ready and still had a long way to go, but Rogan hoped there was a hint of prospect in him. It wouldn’t matter either way though, Rogan had moved on with his plan and the new prodigy was already in training. Kirby wouldn’t be able to reach their level of determination even if he focused on nothing else until he died.
Deciding that things worked out better than he could have planned for with Cora, Rogan decided to let Kirby leave without consequence. Even with Kirby trying to ruin him, he had got what he wanted, Cora on a tighter leash. It may not have seemed like that to Cora but Rogan’s concessions had given him more control and compliance in the long-term. He was certain it would garner the information he required.
As he thought it, the sound of crunching gravel pulled his attention to the window where Nick had returned from taking Cora home. Without needing to be told, he exited the car and headed straight for Rogan’s office. There was no denying Nick was his best recruit and one of the next in line to take over should anything happen to Rogan. It was one thing he knew Cora could never have predicted when she sold his life for freedom.
“She’s back at the flat and infuriated,” Nick said with a grim smile as he entered the office. “You know she’s going to run, right?” Unlike any of Rogan’s other men, Nick didn’t have to conceal his emotions. In fact, Rogan regularly consulted with him on business. He was his second after all.
“She won’t get far. I want you to gather five men to go and keep an eye on her. Choose the best all right? She’s important and I can’t have her getting away. If she changes sides it could be a problem.”
Although Nick nodded to show he understood his orders, he was left intrigued. “What do you mean change sides?”
“According to Cora, there is some group of dissidents out there who are hell-bent on bringing me down. It seems they have been helping her.”
“How come we’ve not heard of them before?”
“Because that’s how they wanted it. And I doubt it’s going to stay that way for much longer.”
“Could it be anyone we know?”
“Maybe.”
“So why now?”
“Not scared anymore, have what they need, think they are strong enough? It could be anything. Put the word out, see if anyone has heard anything. Hopefully Cora will lead us to them.”