The Cold Road (Book 1)

Chapter Thirty-Four.

'You murderous bastard!' croaked James. His body was a mass of bruises. It ached to breath or move, but he struggled to raise himself to his knees. When he found himself unassisted by a kick back to the ground, he straightened up. He turned to fight, pulling his arms up, hands rolled into fists, ready to take on Belberra. The barrel of his gun faced him and his hands dropped.

'I'm glad we get to have this little talk, James,' said Belberra, flailing a hand behind him to find the chair that had slid across the room in their struggle. His hand caught it and he rolled it over, sitting down on it. 'The masks are off, no more hiding. We both know each other as we've always known each other; we just don't have to pretend we don't.'

'Who was pretending?' sneered James, looking around the room for anything that might help. The office was built for keeping track of records and watching the employees below. There was one chair and all the drawers he assumed would either be locked or contain only paper.

'Hah, yeah, you're right. You never pretended,' agreed Belberra. 'You always knew. Tell me how, boy.'

'What?' asked James, turning his attention back to the man in front of him. The door was right behind Belberra. If he could dive forwards and avoid being shot, he could send the man wheeling down the catwalk.

'Tell me how you knew about us? Paul let things slip, but that weren't until he fell under pressure. The pressure you pushed on him by knowin' what we were up to.'

James shrugged. 'A feeling. He never looked right. Words, the annotations of them. Words and the body movements behind them.'

'You guessed?'

James looked at the gun. It had one bullet in the chamber, a further 6 in the clip in the handle. Fully automatic. All Belberra had to do was pull the trigger. 'You admit then what you and Paul have done. What's done this then?'

'You're in a unique position, Jimmy boy. I was gonna approach you after tonight with an offer. I had planned members to approach you earlier in the week, but they were weak and feared you more than I. After tonight they'll be punished.'

James stared at him, his mind caught upon the words he thought he had heard. First Belberra admitting there were more people in the group and that he had talked to them earlier in the week. But, mainly, he was caught up on the subject of an offer.

'You want to offer me a position?'

'Yes.'

'To do what?'

'Help me. You know what I have done to this town?' Belberra asked, rising to his feet and gesturing with one hand. 'I own it. People, the 'Cult' as they like to be known, think that what they've done is for the god of winter. They're so caught up in make believe, boy, that they fail to see what I've really done. Which is take this town.'

'I don't understand.' James stared at Belberra in bewilderment. Join? Help? 'How do you control the town?'

'I control everyone in my little 'cult'. Do you know how? I've made them give me something under the guise of somethin' else. Take little Paul for instance. He gave me his bratty child. He thought that's what I wanted. He wanted to please me. In return, I'd watch out for him and his business and give him what he desired. What he really gave me was his business, unbeknownst to him. He also gave me the leverage to keep both his business and himself under my thumb. Understand?'

'You manipulate people into thinking they are helping themselves, but really they are helping you and giving you control of the rope in which they hang themselves,' said James.

'I own this town,' repeated Belberra. 'I own half the shops and own the full commerce. I own half the police, which gives me unlimited access to anywhere I want and access to people that I may wish to benefit from. I own Perette and his business which gives me access to people and businesses outside of town, and thanks to the police I have connections in high places to get the businesses I want.'