Volume V: The Tragic End of Treason

Chapter 7. Negotiations? Denied.

            Silence remained for hours.

            Hours.                                                            

            Until the doorknob clicked open quietly in the dark.

            And Urban Ransom blindly walked into his fate.

            Dean turned his head backwards to look, but he knew without seeing who had come in. Baroque’s expression never faltered, never betrayed her lineage. She just sat there, cold and empty, waiting. Dean got up to face Urban as he walked in.

            “Hey pal. Remember me?”

            Urban’s eyes displayed neither surprise or anger. He just nodded nonchalantly. “How could I forget? You’ve killed a good deal of my boys. You’re tearing a family apart.”

            “Am I? I could have sworn that was your job.”

            “Mine? You might be more insane that I thought.” Urban crept closer, Dean rose to meet him. “You’ve got nerve to come here and pull this.”

            “Nerve’s only part of the equation.”

            “You killed Toryn.”

            “Where were you?” Dean smiled mockingly at Urban, whose eyes narrowed.

            “What the fuck are you implying? That I had something to do with her death, or that I could have prevented it somehow? I want the truth, you little scumbag.”

            Urban lunged forward and grabbed onto Dean by his shirt, pulling him in. Dean only laughed harder. Urban’s eyes shot around the room, from him, to me, to Baroque. He should have had the odds going for him. But the event was too familiar. He looked over at Baroque, past Dean. He looked at me.

            “Get her out of here. And keep her out.”

            Baroque jumped up from where she was. “You’re not the boss of me.”

            “Since when?” he sneered. She realized that we were all accurate in our perception - she was merely her brother’s property, nothing more. That sealed the deal. She got up and walked out of the room, looking back at Urban quietly over her shoulder.

            “Goodbye, brother.”

            And she left. I moved to follow when Urban’s voice called me back.

            “Lock the door, and stay here.”

            I did as I was told, returning to the outskirts of the room. Urban’s fingers were still securely fastened to Dean, who was still smiling. Urban threw him on the couch that Baroque had been sitting on and pulled a gun. I didn’t know which side to root for. Dean was family, there was no denying that - and Urban was my employer. It was a tough decision. But the Ransom family had to fall. I knew it better than anybody. And fall it would.

            “Now, where’s my big sister and how did she get there?”

            “Ask Vagrant.”

            “Why would he know?”

            “He brought her there. She sent herself.”

            Urban clicked off the safety. “Prove it.”

            Dean smiled wider. He produced a bottle from his pocket, kept safe in a plastic bag. He threw it to Urban in a swift motion. “Check it. Her prints are all over it. She made it herself and everything. Poison’s not the hardest thing to make.”