Prey

Chapter 2

"Friendship needs no words - it is solitude delivered from the anguish of loneliness."

-Dag Hammarskjold

The business world was a complex one. The deals under the table, the desperate bribes paid to save face, and the lengths that the dedicated tycoons would go to for a slightly increased profit, or to cover any unsightly scandals.

And yet, these very same tycoons would recoil, and perhaps marvel at, the sight of Keenan’s empire.

For even they had never thought it possible to have sunken that low.

Keenan. The big boss. The head honcho. The ever elusive man of mystery.

His name was on everyone’s lips, but his identity was unknown to most—even many of those who worked under him.  You’d have to have been someone special to have met with him face-to-face without the encounter ending with a bullet lodged in your brain.

His intelligence was expansive, such that it was quite a shame that he hadn’t put it to use in perhaps a different industry.

Fear was his power, as he evoked fear in others to stay in control, and stay out of prison.

Like any clever leader, he had a chain of lackeys below him who would do the dirty deeds for him. And take the blame.

He knew how people thought, and this knowledge was what helped him keep them under his thumb.

He was known for his notoriety, but truly known by very few.

And due to his luck—or lack thereof—Dakota Collins was one of those living few.

The moment that Keenan had heard about this kid was the moment that he trapped him. He knew there was something special about him. In time, Dakota’s charisma and charm would prove to be incredibly profitable for Keenan…

And Keenan would do just about anything for a profit.   

Smirking, Keenan set his feet upon his desk. His HQ was set in a large, abandoned warehouse. Abandoned was certainly far from what it truly was, but he did everything he could to make it appear that way.

‘People are so easy to buy. Almost too easy.’ He laughed to himself.

Keenan glanced at his shiny Cartier watch, his grin growing larger. Pulling out his cellphone, he sent a simple text message.

“Send him in.”

Less than a minute later, he head the dial tones of a keypad, and a satisfied Beep! signalling the successful unlocking of a door.

A very serious, and very bulky guard walked in, escorting a young man with sun-kissed skin and sandy blonde hair.

The guard looked to Keenan for instruction, who in return curtly nodded, indicating that his presence at that moment was unnecessary. Without a word, the guard exited the office, with the door shutting behind him.

The blonde-haired man shifted awkwardly, unsure of what he should or shouldn’t have been doing.

Keenan could be a very particular man.

“Dake, my man! What are you standing around like that for? C’mere and sit down. I won’t bite, but I can’t promise that my gun wont.” Again, he chuckled at his own joke.

Dakota half-smiled and took a seat across from Keenan. “So, what can I do for you today, Boss?”

“Enough of that ‘boss’ bull, eh? What’ve I told you about being formal?” Keenan gestured to Dakota and himself. “You and I, we’re buddies. Good friends… wouldn’t you agree?”