Authors: Mia Hoddell
His comment about Cora’s mum was aimed to hurt her and it did. Even though she resented her mother at that precise moment she still felt winded by the memory.
“What makes you think I haven’t got something else to hold over you? You’re not exactly in the most law abiding occupation. You have plenty of secrets.”
Rogan’s eyes clouded with anger as he tried to list anything that could possibly work for her but he couldn’t see how she could have known any of it. Throwing back his head, he laughed sinisterly. “Don’t keep it to yourself then, what have you found to ruin me this time?”
Cora ignored him. Once again she scratched into his precious wood like it was his face in an attempt to provoke him.
“You’re bluffing. You’d relish telling me if you had something, but you don’t.”
“You can believe whatever helps you sleep at night, Rogan. Go ahead and test me, we’ll see who’s right.” Cora hoped that he didn’t take her up on the offer. She had nothing to give him so lying was her only choice.
“Tell me—what—you—know.” He spoke slowly, his jaw clenched as he tried to reign in his anger. Raising his fist, he went to slam it down on the desk to get her attention but at the last second she looked up with a smirk.
“You’ll find out soon enough,” Cora threatened, twirling the pen around her fingers once more.
Rogan had had enough of her threats. He had restrained his innate tendency to deal with problematic people with violence because she was special. She had a gift that he needed and was the only one of her kind—at least the only one he knew about. It was only for that reason he tolerated her behaviour. Anyone else would have been disposed of and Cora loved exploiting her advantage.
She loved to taunt him, taking him right to his limit of anger before backing off. Normally she was good at reading when to stop. However, this time she had gone too far and Rogan had made sure she had no other options available to her.
Suddenly the irritation he was feeling towards her flashed to anger. Reaching over he snatched the pen from her fingers, putting an end to her art instantly and threw it across the room. It hit the wall with a crack, before bouncing and rolling back towards the desk. Leaning forward, both arms propping his strong body up on the desk, Rogan glared at her.
“I tried to be cordial. I agreed to your insane demands but this ends here and now. You
will
sign this contract stating you are employed by me or things are going to get very bad for you, very quickly.”
Cora matched his stance, pulling herself up and meeting his gaze with unwavering eyes.
“Get this into your head now as I’m not going to say it again. I am not, nor will I ever let you own me. I will never sign that piece of paper.” Cora kept her voice level, matching his tone with equal determination. She didn’t have a plan for how to get out but she knew she would never sign his contract.
“Is that so? I beg to differ.”
A flash of uncertainty flickered before Cora’s eyes as he spoke, not sure where he was going with his comment. It didn’t fail to escape Rogan’s notice and on the inside he was smiling with joy at his forward thinking.
“You can’t force me to sign it!”
“Am I that crass? I won’t have to force you.”
Picking up a remote from the top of the desk, he pointed it at a painting that was hung on the wall to the right of Cora. It moved to reveal a flat screen TV and with the click of another button it flickered into life.
As the image became clearer on the screen, Cora gasped in shock. Her hand moved to cover her mouth in disbelief and her head was shaking, not wanting to believe the truth that was before her eyes.
“Still don’t want to reconsider my offer?” Rogan asked triumphantly, knowing he had won.
When his men had brought the girl back, Rogan had started to doubt his plan. Cora had already sold one friend out in return for her freedom, so what was going to stop her from doing it again? She had also known Nick a lot longer than this other girl. Nick had been like a brother to her and still she signed that piece of paper without a moment’s hesitation the second time he had found her. Rogan remembered it as if it had happened weeks, rather than years ago.
* * *
“Do you really think I need more money, Cora? Come on, you’ll have to do better than that. I own this city. You aren’t able to buy your freedom from me,” Rogan said as he circled the chair Cora was on like he was tying her up with invisible rope and reining in her options.
Cora sat there in a frustrated rage, never taking her eyes off him until he moved behind her.
“Just use a bloody lie detector like any fascist would. You don’t need me!” she shouted, making a move to stand up but a strong, restraining hand pushed her back onto the hard wooden chair. She could feel the power in his grip and rather than start a fight she couldn’t win, Cora decided to bide her time.
“You know why I won’t do that. Just like your mother, you’re never wrong. You see a lie one hundred percent of the time. Machines are fallible, they can get it wrong. Besides, it makes my life easier having you around—less hassle.”
Cora swore under her breath at the mention of her mother. If it wasn’t for her then Cora wouldn’t be pinned in a room with the one man she loathed more than anything and fighting for her freedom.
“Just because she worked for you, it doesn’t mean I have to. You can’t control me.” Cora bit the inside of her lip, trying to stop at least some of the retorts from spilling out in anger.
“Wrong again. I can do whatever I want, and no one can stop me.”
It was true, Rogan could get away with murder—he already had. He was the leader of his cartel and no one else would interfere. They may have kept in contact but full control of the area lay with Rogan. “One year. Give me one year and I’ll pay you whatever you want. Just name your price,” Cora said, thinking on her feet as she saw the stubbornness in the tight line of his jaw. She knew when to give in—or at least appear to. There was nothing she could hold over his head this time.
“Money isn’t an incentive. It was never a factor in my thinking.” He leaned back against his desk, arms folded across his chest defiantly.
“One year, the money and Nick works for you,” she blurted out without thinking it through. However, as soon as the words left her lips she saw an opportunity. There was a spark of intrigue in Rogan’s eyes at the offer but he concealed it quickly.
“What would make you think I would want your friend as a replacement when he isn’t of any use to me like you are?”
“He is. He’s just like me. Why do you think we’re such good friends? He’s the only one I can confide in.” Cora lied, hoping he believed the false sincerity in her voice. Having been able to detect liars from the age of four, it definitely gave her a few pointers on what to do when needing to lie herself. There were three rules she kept to:
1) Keep eye contact. People assumed liars always looked away. It wasn’t a fact that was true, but if the majority of people believed it, then you went with it to protect yourself.
2) Keep it simple and to the point. Don’t add too much detail or you will get tripped up. Don’t add too little or you will appear suspicious because of your vagueness.
3) Be confident because hesitation will get you found out.
She hated herself for what she was doing but Cora pushed the thought out of her mind. The time to think about the consequences would be when her plan had actually worked and not before.
“Really? Well that changes things. Okay, you get one year and your friend belongs to me indefinitely.” Pulling out one of his many contracts, he handed Cora a pen and not giving herself time to doubt her actions, she signed her name and in doing so signed away her best friend’s life.
* * *
Rogan smiled at the memory. He knew she had been lying from the beginning. If there had been another False Finder living in his territory he would have known about it. Cora thought she had been clever and outsmarted him, but it was all part of his bigger plan. The idea of tracking Cora down and catching her again was exciting for him. It was obvious she planned to disappear with her year—or at least that’s what he would have done in her situation. What she didn’t know was that the next time she would be left with nothing to offer him and no friends. He had played her, and in his opinion, he got the better end of the deal. It may have taken him a few years to find her but it wasn’t of drastic importance. In her absence, he had found torturing worked just as well as a False Finder, so his business had never been compromised.
What he didn’t know though was whether Cora would take the bait like some helpless animal walking into a snare. It didn’t matter as Cora had run out of lies herself and would have to sign to survive or watch her friend tortured. Rogan had his doubts, but when he saw her reaction he knew instantly she would comply. It wasn’t just the shock of seeing her best friend tied up in the basement with four of his men surrounding her that made Cora gasp. It was the fact she knew she was beaten.
“So here’s the situation. You can either refuse to sign and my men get the order to do whatever they please with your friend, Misty. And then I will force you to sign a contract. Or, you could save Misty a lot of pain and trauma, and yourself a lifetime of guilt, if you willingly sign the contract and work for me. The choice is yours and because I’m feeling benevolent, I will give you ten minutes to consider my offer.” He leaned in closer. “Refuse to sign and I’ll let the dogs loose.”
Cora stood there batting her eyes as she tried to comprehend her options. Sinking back down into the chair, she knew Rogan had her cornered and she could hear the truth in his words; Rogan never bluffed. She couldn’t allow Misty to go through any torture Rogan had planned for her if she wasn’t going to be free anyway. But that was Rogan’s plan.
He had built his empire on exploiting people and giving them impossible choices where he was the only winner. Rogan never gave you options that let him come out of the deal a loser. There was always a catch and Cora knew it well. He was always one step ahead. He was smart, ruthless, conniving…a predator. He owned his world and when the war had hit he saw an opportunity and was ready.
Of course, he was already making large sums of money from his casinos up and down the country, but when the number of punters dwindled to only the seriously addicted, he still had a lot of debts to call in. Rogan had it all planned out. Those who could not afford to pay off their debts worked them off. However, what the people signing on to his workforce didn’t realise was it was a lifetime contract.
They were desperate and desperate people very rarely read the small print, let alone hire a lawyer. Rogan gave them a way out that seemed a better option and his force grew rapidly. They weren’t having to pay anything back, were getting food and some got shelter, so nearly every one of them eagerly took up his offer before the deadline expired.
That was another reason Rogan got his way almost always; he gave short deadlines for a decision to be reached. It caused people to panic and make rash decisions. Rogan didn’t need money really, the one thing he desired most was to build an empire and the desperation people were feeling gave him the perfect opportunity.
The recession and war had enabled him to take control of people’s lives and he hadn’t released his grip. Rogan had grown his cartel and business so he controlled nearly all of London. Everyone knew what he was capable of. No one wanted to be indebted to him. But people couldn’t survive without him. Anyone who tried to usurp his power he quickly moved in on and made the problem disappear. Violence was the hammer he used to forge his new world order.
Cora knew what it meant to be indebted to Rogan and she wanted to buy herself more time because of it.
“I want to see her first,” she demanded as Rogan moved towards the door to await her decision. His hand paused, outstretched and halfway towards the handle.
Turning slowly, his head spun in Cora’s direction, his eyebrows raised in disbelief and question as his body followed behind. “And why would I allow you to do that? It doesn’t help me in any way.” He spoke slowly, a teasing smile creeping on to his face as he saw Cora’s annoyance.
“Don’t play dumb Rogan, you and I both know I don’t make rash decisions and I’m not desperate like all the others you get in here. I want proof and I’m not signing anything until I see and talk to Misty,” Cora said, walking around from behind his desk to face him head on.
Rogan’s eyes lit up at her words. It was the closest he had ever been to recruiting her and he wasn’t going to let it slip through his fingers.
“Well? Are you going to take me to her or not?” Cora asked, getting frustrated as she cocked her hip out in annoyance.
“What’s your plan if I say no?” Rogan looked at his watch casually, which only irritated Cora more.
“You wouldn’t dare.”
Rogan shrugged nonchalantly in response, neither denying nor confirming her comment.
“You believe what you choose to believe.”
Before Cora could think it through, she snapped. Her fist went flying towards Rogan’s face quicker than she expected and she could do nothing to retract it.
Rogan lifted his arm to block her a split-second before the punch was about to land. Deflecting her blow, he diverted her fist to the side and using the momentum she had built up he gripped her wrist, spinning her around and pinning it behind her back. Leaning on the space between her shoulder blades, he shoved her body against the door, his six foot three frame towering over her.
“Don’t you ever try something like that again,” he said, his tone lowering to a dangerous level, his head close to hers.
“Why not? What are you going to do? It’s not like you can afford to lose me so I don’t have to worry about being disposed of like normal employees,” Cora shot back, trying to act more confident than she felt which wasn’t easy when she could smell the wood her face was pressed against.
There was a controlled power to the grip he had around her wrist. She could sense that he would only have to make a slight adjustment to his hold to be able to snap it like a twig.
“You may be of more use to me than the others but that doesn’t mean you’re untouchable. I only need you coherent and that leaves a lot of options, regarding pain, open to me. It’s in your best interest not to test me.”
Cora gulped but tried to disguise it as Rogan finally released her. She turned back to face him, quieter than usual.
“No smart retort this time?” Rogan provoked.
“Take me to Misty, Rogan. I swear I will fight my way past every one of those men out there if you don’t. I’m sure they only have orders to restrain and not hurt me, so it shouldn’t be too hard. I’ve done it once before, haven’t I?” Cora smirked at him, regaining her confidence at his challenge.
“True, but you won’t.” There was no question in Rogan’s voice and not even a slight hint of doubt which irritated Cora immensely. However, if he was underestimating her, it would only work to her favour later on when there would be an opportunity.
“Whatever helps you sleep at night, Rogan. Now, I want to see Misty or I promise I won’t even consider signing that piece of paper.”
“Fine, follow me and don’t try anything along the way. Only you can stop Misty from suffering so I suggest you be on your best behaviour.” He turned his back on her, opening the door and leading the way down the corridor.
“What made you think I wasn’t already giving you my best behaviour? I haven’t beaten anyone up yet, I haven’t tried to escape and I haven’t said that much.” She was taunting him, trying to bait him into retaliating so she could get him off guard but it wasn’t working.
Aware to what she was doing, Rogan remained quiet and kept walking towards a door at the bottom of the hallway that led to the basement. It was obvious Cora knew how to play the game but Rogan knew better.
Pulling out a ring full of keys and cards from his pocket, he flicked through them until he found the right one. Then unlocking the door, he flicked on the light and led Cora down the old, wooden steps.
Cora was assuming that there would be a big open space at the bottom of the creaky stairs. She also imagined it to be as modern as the rest of the house—like a military bunker with high-tech lighting and machines. However when she reached the bottom she was both slightly relieved and disappointed to find it was just a small, cell-like room with stone walls.
The bright lights that were designed to play with a prisoner’s sense of night and day illuminated every square foot. The room was empty except for Misty sat on a wooden chair in the middle and four men—one in each corner.
As they descended the last few steps Misty looked up with hopeful eyes and Cora didn’t wait for Rogan to say anything.
Breaking into a run, she wrapped her arms around her friend’s neck as Misty started sobbing. It was clear she had been crying before but that didn’t stop her balling her eyes out on Cora’s shoulders.