by Mia Hoddell
“What do you want then?”
She could hear the curiosity in his voice as he spoke, probably because Cora had never sought for his help before. And as much as Cora hated what she was about to do—it physically pained her to force out the words—she had no choice.
“How do you fancy two more employees?” Maybe he would be less inclined to ask for payment for the favour if she made it sound like she was helping him out.
“I’m always willing to expand, you know that. Who are they and why are you referring them to me? What do they have over you?”
Damn he knew her too well, she cursed mentally.
“They have nothing over me. This is purely revenge. Do you want them or not?” she asked, her tone rising in agitation.
“Let me guess, it’s the people who sold you to me?”
Cora didn’t respond quickly enough to come up with a lie. All she heard was a throaty laugh from down the phone.
“I wondered how long that would take you. What do you want me to do?”
He may have asked the question but Cora knew he wasn’t open to everything. In fact there was probably very little that he would go for. She would have liked to have traded them in for her freedom like with Nick but that wouldn’t work a second time. Instead, Cora went for the only thing she knew he would accept.
“Nothing. I just want you to order Alex or Miles to bring them in. They think you want them so I’m sort of stuck with how to get them to you. You’re men won’t budge without a direct order,” she sighed, disgruntled.
There was a long, silent pause as Rogan considered her request.
“All right, put one of them on. And Cora?” he said just as she was removing the phone from her ear. “Remember this. You know every favour comes with a price.”
A shiver ran down her spine at his words. “Maybe Rogan, but don’t bank on me returning anything.”
Before he could reply she passed the phone to Alex who stood taller, held his head higher and took on a serious look. It was strange how Rogan’s men reacted to him, even when he wasn’t in the room with them. Alex ummed and ahhed a bit before giving a final “yes sir” and hung up.
Passing the phone back to Cora he smiled slightly—although the effort looked like it would crack his face. What he was thinking was how she had easily got her way and why Rogan had readily agreed—he knew she was someone special. “Looks like you got your wish. One of us stays with you, the other takes them.”
Nodding in satisfaction, Cora turned and entered the room where Miles looked across expectantly.
“Alex’s going to take them in while you stay with me.”
Miles looked across for confirmation from his partner and receiving a subtle nod he released Sam, who up to that point had still been in an arm lock.
Sam and Jaz went to put up a protest but they were quickly silenced by a look from Cora.
“By the way, if they try to run, feel free to shoot them,” Cora said, flashing them all a smile as she watched Alex round them up and lead them out the door.
“Will do,” he replied as he shut the door on their hateful stares, breaking the connection with Cora.
Cora couldn’t help it. As soon as the door was shut, she doubled over in a fit of laughter, relieved that what she had done worked. It was also a great feeling to know she had one up on them. They may have sold her out first but she was highly valued in Rogan’s empire for more than one reason. They would be lucky to get a cleaning job within the organisation. They would not be treated like her and they would get away with nothing. She may not have physically hurt them but taking away their freedom like they had wanted to do to her seemed just.
Finally her laughter subsided and as she unfurled she looked across at the clock. Knowing her flat had been cleaned and was ready for her, she headed back home, Miles following her and shadowing her every step. As they reached the campus green, Cora was more interested in the figures of Sam and Jaz getting increasingly smaller in the distance behind her. She was in fact so interested in watching them walk to their fate that she wasn’t looking where she was going.
Her body collided with another solid mass, throwing her back and causing her to stumble into Miles’ waiting arms. Placing her back on her feet, he made sure she was stable again before making a move towards whatever she had hit. She assumed it was a person if Miles was getting involved.
Shaking herself out, she glanced up only just stifling her gasp.
“Miles it’s okay. I know him,” Cora said, grabbing a hold of his arm to stop him moving over towards Jed who was picking up the content of his bag which had spilled everywhere. Thankfully Miles paused and seizing the opportunity, Cora rushed over to crouch down next to Jed.
Helping him gather his things she said, “What the hell are you doing here?” in a frantic whisper, making sure Miles wouldn’t overhear.
“Tomorrow night. Be prepared. Mayana’s taken things too far; the note explains it better.” With the last of his belonging thrown hastily into his bag, he pulled it on to his shoulder and left before she had time to question his cryptic message.
Were Mayana and her group coming for her tomorrow night? Cora didn’t have the answer. And what note did Jed mean? Confused, Cora pulled herself to her feet, motioning for Miles to follow her back to the flat.
It took her nearly the whole journey home to figure things out, but as soon as she reached her door she swung it open, heading straight for the bathroom where she could lock herself in. She didn’t bother with the smell of disinfectant and she paid no attention to the clean and empty floor where the body had fallen. She didn’t want to remember that and she didn’t have to. Things were back to normal.
Shutting the bathroom door behind her she held her breath as she reached into the pockets of her jeans, silently hoping she had guessed right. As her fingers dug deeper, her left hand scraped against a sharp corner of something that hadn’t been there when she put them on that morning.
Grabbing it with two fingers, she slowly removed the item with a crackle as the piece of paper creased and unfolded. Cora refused to look down until the paper was fully out of the pocket.
Bringing it up to her face she saw the familiar orange colour and blue scribble written on it. She had to give Jed credit for his cunning and sleight of hand. She hadn’t even felt him put it there.
Unfolding the corners, Cora continued to hold her breath, feeling the burning in her lungs at the wait. Finally the note was open and the words visible.
She’s made her decision. Everything will be decided tomorrow night. If you’re at Rogan’s I suggest you leave before nightfall.
Mayana has taken things too far, I don’t agree with her choices and her methods are extreme now she’s lost you. She wants you dead too—always has. She will stop at nothing to get her hands on Rogan’s empire.
Stay safe,
J
Chapter 26
Staring at the orange scrap of paper, Cora read the note a few times as she tried to understand the information that was in front of her. It was obvious what it was telling her but Cora didn’t want to believe it was true. Checking and rechecking Cora made sure that every word was locked inside her head and what she thought she had read was actually there on the page.
There was only one attack Jed would warn her about and that was their rebellion against Rogan. What she couldn’t understand was why he would warn her if he was part of Mayana’s group. That was the only part that didn’t add up. Okay, so he had said he didn’t agree with her choices and helped her numerous times, but Cora doubted his loyalty had changed sides so quickly. She didn’t believe that was possible.
Maybe he only wants me safe like he stated and is giving me a warning.
The more Cora thought about it the more confused she became. She didn’t know what Jed was asking her to do. Whether to stay away totally, make sure she wasn’t there when a fight broke out or warn Rogan.
Taking a deep breath, she forced everything inside her head to stop spinning. T
he information was overwhelming and Cora felt a strange sense of nervous confusion building deep within her. She didn’t like problems she didn’t know how to solve. Pushing the information into the back of her mind, Cora decided she would wait until she could be alone to think about it. She’d already had an eventful night and she didn’t want to waste more time worrying over things she couldn’t control when she could sleep.
Slowly, Cora emerged from the bathroom to where Miles was sitting on her sofa. As her eyes met his, she tried to look calmer than she felt but even she could feel that it was unconvincing. Looking at her, Miles had a confused expression on his face, probably due to her hasty retreat to the bathroom, but thankfully he didn’t call her on it.
Instead of moving to sit next to him, Cora headed towards her bedroom door. She was slightly hungry but it was near midnight so she couldn’t be bothered to find something in the empty cupboards. In a normal situation she would offer guests a drink, although in her mind Miles wasn’t a guest. He was someone who was forced upon her by Rogan and that meant she was past common courtesy.
“I’m going to bed. You can either sleep on the sofa or in that room there.” Cora pointed at Misty’s old room, answering the question that had already formed on his lips but not been voiced. She saw him nod and not waiting for a more developed answer she turned into her room, shutting the door behind her. She just wanted to sleep by that point.
However once she had climbed into her cold bed, wrapping the sheets up around her neck, her mind refused to release her to sleep. Instead her thoughts went over and over what Mayana had planned and what it meant for her as she stared at the ceiling of the moonlit room.
The way Cora saw it, she had three options. The first was that she do nothing. She would stay away from Rogan’s and let events unfold as they should. The second was going to Rogan’s, warning him and leaving. And the third was warning him and staying.
There were pros and cons to each option. What Cora was left to do was figure out which one she could live with—the key words being that she would live. She felt no obligation or desire towards warning Rogan. Whether he was her father or not—something he hadn’t confirmed, denied or even hinted at—it wasn’t going to affect her decision. She had lived most of her life without a parent; she wasn’t going to start needing one now there was the potential to lose one all over again. She didn’t owe Rogan anything.
Another motive was that as long as Rogan lived, he ruled his empire. As soon as he died, it got transferred to her. She would be responsible for hundreds of people and thousands of decisions. His organisation included countless legitimate businesses as well as the illegal ones and each came with its own set of issues; would she run it, disband illegal sections, how would she rule? The list was never ending and taking control would also put her in Mayana’s sights as the new target that needed eliminating.
That was not something Cora wanted.
As long as she kept a low profile, didn’t draw attention to her existence and stayed away from the mansion she was safe. Jed had stated that if she wasn’t in the house she would be safe from the attack.
As her mind considered the first option to stay out of everything—the one that happened to be looking the most appealing—a possible flaw started to arise. One of the leaders had to die. Cora preferred that Mayana died as she reaped significant benefits from that. She would have to hide, watch her every step and live a paranoid life if Mayana lived. If Rogan died, Mayana would send every person under her authority against her and suddenly her contract with Rogan wasn’t looking so bad.
If she signed everything over to Mayana she could kiss her life as she knew it goodbye. She would be working for her—that was if Mayana didn’t follow through with her threat to kill her after she reached her limit of usefulness. However, if Cora let events unfold and Mayana won then she was as good as dead and her life was over. Either way her options sucked.
Cora wanted to hope Rogan could win and that he would withstand a surprise attack. But, Cora didn’t like leaving life choices down to fate. Her past experiences only concluded that it never worked out in her favour. Cora liked to be in control of her life: she had sold out her friend, blackmailed numerous people, fought for her life and each time she had got what she wanted. All Cora wanted was to survive. That was all she asked and leaving a decision that big up to something as unpredictable as fate was wrong.
In a roundabout way Cora was talking herself into something she didn’t really want to do. Having thought about it, Cora realised she was only left with one option.
Sighing, Cora rolled over to face the nearly bare wall. She had removed all the pictures of her and her mum when she died and Cora found out the truth about her. Cora didn’t want to remember her mother; she blamed her. After all, it was her mother who had allowed Cora, her daughter, to become embroiled in this deadly situation from when she was a baby. It was her mother who had revealed Cora’s ability against her will and put her on Rogan’s radar. She was sure that if her mother had not told him, her life would have been very different. But it was hopeless thinking that way.
Cora mentally shook herself out of the depression that was quickly descending over her mind and influencing her thoughts. Her mother had always been useless. She never cared about Cora in a maternal sense and that was something Cora had accepted a long time ago. She showed her how to survive and defend herself but that was as far as their connection went.
With a sigh, Cora returned to studying the wall. The only remaining frames that hung there were two group pictures of Cora and her supposed friends. They had been taken on their first day at university. The first was when they had all met in their student accommodation. The second outside on the university campus before their first lessons. In both everyone looked happy. They didn’t know what was wrong with her then or that ultimately they would betray her, destroying those smiles and changing their lives forever. That picture was a moment that was gone.
As she stared at the image Sam and Jaz stood out from the rest and Cora could feel anger starting to grind inside her.
Everything had changed because of them.
The whole mess was their fault.
She should have beaten them to a pulp when she had the chance.
As raging thoughts consumed her, Cora could no longer take looking at the picture.
Throwing off her covers she stomped over to the wall, yanking the picture off its hook and before she could think what she was doing she spun, releasing the picture and sending it hurtling into the opposite wall.
The glass shattered with a satisfying crash, shards covering her floor and the frame lying face up in a broken pile.
Turning back to the other frame, it too faced the same fate. Cora roared as she threw it, releasing every emotion that had built up inside her.
She watched as it hit the wall and shattered like the first. It felt surprisingly good to let go, she thought as she exhaled feeling a resounding sense of calm and clarity wash over her.
“Cora, are you all right?”
Ignoring Miles’s voice from the other side of her door, she moved towards the frames. Stepping carefully, so as not to cut her feet on the broken glass that twinkled in the moonlight, she leaned down. With her hands shaking slightly, she retrieved the pictures from the twisted frames, then crossed to a chest of drawers behind. Quickly she retrieved a plastic lighter from the assortment of candles she had on hand for when the power went off. Opening her window, an icy gust of wind blew across her pyjama clad body that did nothing to protect her. A shiver spread over her body, starting at her shoulders and moving down her back as she caught her breath. Cora shook herself out and then with steady hands flicked on the lighter. For a moment she stood just admiring the way the flame transformed from blue at the base to a warm orange glow at the tip. Dancing in the wind it was like it had a mind of its own.
As Cora watched the flame, she brought her other hand and dipped the corners of the photos into the fire. Instantly they ignited, a blacknes
s seeping up the image as it erased the picture and with it Cora’s memory of the time. The parts that had already turned to ash were starting to flake off around her feet and when the flames began to scorch her fingers, she hung it out the window, and dropped it, only for a breeze to take it sideways and inflate the embers into an orange glow that contrasted against the night. When she could no longer see the remains, Cora pulled herself back into the room.
With both images destroyed and carried off, Cora sighed, the darkness that had descended over her lifting.
But she knew it had only been a distraction so her mind could formulate what it also knew she needed to do: warn Rogan. She wasn’t thrilled by the idea but for her to survive her only option was to fight beside him and make sure he survived. First she needed some answers though. It wasn’t like she was going to get any sleep, so slamming her window she started to pull on some clothes when a small knock rapped against her door again.
“Cora, is everything all right?” Miles’ voice came from the other side of the wood, more worried than the first time.
Pulling a jumper over her head, she moved to open the door. She didn’t spare Miles’ half naked body a second glance as he stood there, dressed only in jeans. Instead she looked him straight in the eye as she spoke.
“Get dressed and be ready to leave in five minutes. We’re going to Rogan’s,” she ordered, brushing past him to retrieve her shoes and guns.
Chapter 27
Cora jogged as far as her leg would allow and then walked briskly the rest of the way to Rogan’s mansion. The adrenaline helped her cope with most of the pain so at least she could walk normally. She had managed to not only build up a sweat but also her anger. She was determined to get answers to every question whether Rogan liked it or not.
Unlike Cora, Miles wasn’t charged with emotion. He was feeling tired and just wanted to go back to sleep rather than take a midnight run. Because of that fact, he hadn’t been able to match her pace like he would normally have and was quickly dropping further and further behind her.
