The Loving Silence

Chapter 32

"Thank you, my dear, wherever would we be without you?" Cole gleamed with his arms stretched wide towards her.

"You led them here?" Rue asked, with an anger he wasn't aware he had in him.

"No! No, I swear I didn't! I have told you nothing but the truth. I came here to help you. To apologise for my actions."

"Oh, but you did, didn't you? It was only because of you that we were able to find this meeting place of yours. And thanks to this little gathering, we will at last be able to complete our work" he put his head in his hand and sighed sorrowfully, "Though it is a pity that we have no refreshments to offer our guests. No appetizers or anything. You must excuse us for being such poor hosts."

"You're lying. They're lying. I haven't told them anything. I did not lead them here! I swear!"

"Not true, not true" Cole sing-songed. "You have been helping us quite a lot, you see. You just didn't know it."

"What do you mean?" Mica asked carefully.

"Oh, oh, oh! Our wonderful Adam will be able to explain it much better, won't he?" Cole leered and turned around with an unexpected elegance and bowed gracefully.

There, behind him stood Adam, the man who had tricked Rue into believing he was his lawyer. A short man who now looked much older than he had during their meeting. He must have worn makeup or altered his appearance before the meeting, because the man before him was barely recognisable. Only his eyes and hair was the same, though there was clearly less of it and the shade was much lighter. It was turning grey around his ears and face, and it was thinning out at the top of his head.

His eyes danced with amusement as he met Rue's glare. The young man's anger did not phase him in the slightest. "Long time no see. How's your mental health? Close to a breakdown yet? You know, I think you can probably get a discount at the looney bin on account of your grandmother. They may even have held a place open for you." He laughed wholeheartedly at his own idea of a joke, but no one else joined in. Cole smirked, but said nothing.

"Shut up!" Marcus growled. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

Adam just chuckled, but otherwise paid him no attention. Instead he turned to Cole and raised an eyebrow expectantly. "Was there something you wanted to ask me?"

Cole was now sitting on one of the filthy bench. He had laid out a few napkins underneath himself, as if that would somehow make it sanitary, and sat there swinging his legs back and forth as he inspected his nails once more. He seemed more like a child, be it a deranged one, than an adult.

"Yes!" He clapped his hands once and clasped his fingers. "These silly people were wondering how we found this place. And the girl won't accept her part in all of this. Even though she has been instrumental to this whole affair. So would you mind explaining these matters to them? Would you, pet?"

Adam's brow twitched upon hearing the nickname. "What does that get me?"

Cole laughed, clearly pleased with his response. "That's my boy! Never do anything for free that you could get paid for." He winked. "Very well, you drive a hard bargain. We'll pay you double."

"What!? Are you insane? If you do that, there will barely be any left for us! I am not giving him my share." Nash yelled.

"I don't understand you." Cole frowned, still
not looking up from his nails. "You're not making any sense. Your share of what exactly? You ought to have realised by now that I have never been in it for the money."

"What?" Nash inhaled. "What happened to the reward? The money the old broad offered us to do this job in the first place? You said she paid us in advance, but that you would not feel right using the money until we finished the job." He frowned as the pieces were coming together in his mind. "Come to think of it, why didn't she ask for the money back when we failed? We never finished the whole job, so why didn't she?"