Snafu

Annex - Part 2

"I still don't understand how I fit into this," Cole muttered.

"Well, you presented an opportunity – the little whore that Gideon took a liking to, easily manipulated into doing what I needed him to because he was drowning in debt and already groomed to throw away his agency for the sake of paying it off. I knew you would cooperate, and I knew the first thing Gideon would do would be to tattle to Mommy about what I'd done and get her to come back to the States to fix things," James said, "Which he did."

Cole's cooperation had come more from the threats such as the gun to his head than worrying about the money, but he did not feel like this was the right time to point that out, so instead, he encouraged James to continue telling the story, if only to get this ordeal over with. "Except she did not come back."

"No, she did not. I should have known," James sighed. "She wouldn't come back for a mere family squabble like this. She's testing Ezra to make sure he can handle it."

Cole could scream. He'd been slowly – and happily – forgetting the whole mess that got him into this situation with Gideon. And now he was faced once again by the fact that these people thought his life was worth less than a mere family squabble. He was a doll for them to dress up with their perceptions – whore, gold digger, pet – and play with until his arms popped right off. All of them thinking the situation was hilarious, at best, and too much for Gideon to be able to handle without his brains getting addled by his cock, at worst.

"Okay, well, still..." Cole waved his wine glass in a circle, "Why are you telling me all your failed nefarious plans? Sounds like you don't have much use for me anymore."

In retrospect, it was probably not the best idea to point this out to a man who just told Cole he planned on murdering his family members. But James just smiled and said, "Oh, I can think of plenty of uses for you yet."

Cole shuddered.

"I needed to adjust my plan once again," James continued, "to make sure my mother comes back this time."

"So that you can murder her," Cole muttered into his wine glass.

"And the only way to do that is to put one of her children in danger. Not real danger, of course." James put up a hand as if to reassure Cole, although nothing he pledged could possibly ever be believed. Especially when he said he was planning on killing one of those very children. "I already said I don't want to harm Gideon or Rina. Gideon is the obvious target here. I'd rather not get Rina involved in the family business and Gideon is the baby boy of the family, so if he disappears, Mother will certainly come running home."

"I'm not going to help you." Cole drained the rest of his glass, wishing suddenly to not hear the rest of what James had to say. And terrified that he was being so open about his plans since there was nothing to stop Cole from running to Gideon and telling him all of this. Which meant there had to be something James was hiding up his sleeve to make him feel confident enough to tell Cole.

"I can't believe I've sat here long enough to listen to all this in the first place." Cole muttered, "You don't have anything to hold over me anyway. Gideon paid off my debt."

"Yes, he did. How noble of him." James uncrossed his legs and sat back, arms spread wide, confidence oozing from his smirk. "But if you think that is the only thing that I can leverage you with, you are sorely mistaken."

"You mean threaten me," Cole spat. "Are you here to put a gun to my head again?"

"How crass." James pouted. "You underestimate me. I've found something much more creative. All that debt came from somewhere, right? You walk around acting like an orphan, but all that debt came from saving not only your life after the accident but also your father's."