False Finder

by Mia Hoddell

  “So what are you going to do, Mayana? Kill me?” Rogan taunted as she entered the room, pushing Kirby in front of her like a human shield.

  “Eventually,” Mayana said sadistically as her eyes gleamed in anticipation and her gun remained on Rogan.

  Jed followed behind her but he also didn’t move in front of either of them.

  “So what now then? We kill each other at the same time? Because if I’m going down, you’re coming with me.”

  “Don’t be an idiot, Rogan. Here’s how it’s going to go. I kill you, then I kill her.” Mayana’s gaze flicked to Cora as she pointed her chin in her direction. “Then I may kill Kirby here depending on how annoying I find him. He has, after all, served his purpose and I don’t care for him particularly. And after that? Well I’m sure you can guess what happens after that, can’t you?” She ticked each item off her fingers as she listed her plan. When he didn’t respond to her, she continued. “After that I take over the family business. I control everything and finally I’m in my rightful place again,” she said gleefully.

  “We could have run this together, Rogan. We set everything up together and we were going to be a force to be reckoned with but no, instead you chose to shut me out, to get rid of me—your own sister. You threw me out on to the street with nothing. Well you’re about to pay for that mistake. I want my share back and I’m not going to relent this time.”

  Rogan rolled his eyes at her dramatics but in his heart he knew it was true. She would have done the same thing to him if he hadn’t first though. He had seen the plans and they were why he had acted. Just like Cora, it was his drive to survive that caused him to stab his loved ones in the back. He shut off his heart and made his way to the top.

  “Get on with it then,” Rogan demanded, knowing the order would irritate Mayana.

  “I will do it on my own terms.”

  “And what are they? Make me suffer first?”

  “Yes.”

  “Nice to see you haven’t lost your edge in all these years.”

  “Nice to see you have.” She moved closer to Rogan, all the while keeping a petrified looking Kirby between them.

  “Who says I have?”

  “You haven’t? Prove it.”

  Rogan’s eyes hardened but his face remained unreadable while he studied his sister carefully trying to guess what she was thinking. He hadn’t seen her in years though, he had no idea how her mind worked anymore.

  “What are you proposing?” he asked uncertainly.

  Mayana pushed Kirby forward so he stumbled, only just catching himself before he hit the floor. “Shoot him,” she stated bluntly. Her voice held no emotion as she looked Rogan dead in the eye.

  Kirby glanced between the two worriedly. He tried to make a run for it, darting off to the side but Mayana grabbed him, spinning him back into place. Both Cora and Jed gasped, their faces blanched at the thought. It was no secret Rogan didn’t like Kirby but they couldn’t guess whether he would go through with it.

  “You’re not being serious,” Rogan countered.

  “See? You’ve lost your edge. Even after everything he’s done to you,” Mayana sneered and Cora saw Rogan’s finger flex on the trigger.

  “What has he done?” Cora asked, unsure as to whether she wanted the answer.

  “Who do you think let us in here? Don’t you think it’s odd the alarm didn’t sound? Kirby’s been working with us the whole time. He’s the one who provided us with security detail, weapons, intel, basically anything I wanted to know Kirby got for me. He even let us in through his bedroom. You should be proud of your son, Rogan.”

  Cora could see Rogan’s blood boiling as a mass of red started to bleed into his face. But it still wasn’t enough for him to place his finger back on the trigger.

  “What did she offer you for all of that?” Rogan shouted, spitting slightly as he threw the words at Kirby who was stood a little straighter in pride of his actions.

  “She promised me a cut of everything. To finally have what is rightfully mine; something you felt I wasn’t strong enough to cope with. Well I proved you wrong, didn’t I? All those nights you thought I was creeping out to gamble or playing video games when really, I was plotting your downfall.

  “I couldn’t do it on my own. You made sure of that. I was so far down the line of inheritance that it would take me years to track down everyone and kill them. However, when Mayana contacted me and Cora came along, everything just fell into place.”

  Cora could see Rogan was taken aback by the ferocity in Kirby’s words. Never before had he heard him speak or act like that.

  “And you believed her?” Rogan laughed shaking his head slightly but not enough to distort his vision.

  Kirby looked between them, his gaze questioning as he studied Mayana.

  “Of course he believes me. I’m true to my word, I will give him a cut of whatever he wants,” Mayana stated and as Cora listened the words bent and twisted with falseness.

  “You’re lying,” Cora called out from the corner, heads once again snapping towards her. “You’re not planning on giving him anything,” she challenged.

  Kirby turned to face her, his expression set in a scowl of disbelief and Rogan looked at him as if to say ‘I told you so.’

  “What? You think my ability has broken? Tell him the truth, Mayana. What do you intend to do, I’m guessing it was something along the lines of what you have planned for me?” Cora pushed off from the wall, her gun still level with Mayana’s chest.

  “And that is why you’re the one who’s been left the business. You can’t be fooled, can you?” Mayana said, confirming Cora’s accusation.

  “What? She’s telling the truth, you were lying?” Kirby stuttered, taking on his old mannerisms as he found out that he’d been set up and used.

  “They used you Kirby, just like they wanted to use me…Stand with me, only she has to die tonight. I can save you,” Cora stated. He may have been a liar who tried to kill her, but he was still her half-brother. He had been taken advantage of and Cora knew how that felt. She had to at least try to protect him, even if he didn’t deserve it.

  As her words processed in his mind, Kirby’s face started to turn the shade of red Rogan’s had been not long ago. The veins in his head pulsated as he stomped towards Mayana in a blind rage.

  “Don’t do it Kirby. Come over here,” Cora said calmly, seeing what he was going to do, but it made no difference, rage had taken hold of him.

  “You promised! You—” he shouted but that was all he got out before his words were cut short.

  Mayana pulled the trigger on her gun as he stepped into her line of fire. Her hand flew up slightly from the recoil and her eyes remained unblinking as the bullet hit Kirby directly in the heart. Everything seemed to slow after that for Cora.

  Flecks of blood splattered the wall behind him and seeped through his white shirt, dying it red as Rogan watched in horror. His body jerked like he had been punched in the gut as Kirby’s head rolled back, their eyes meeting one final time.

  Kirby fell to the floor with a dead thud, his body still, his eyes open and staring at Mayana accusingly. As his body collided it was like someone had resumed the normal speed via a remote.

  A roar of rage broke from his lips at the death of his son. Mayana had been right, he had lost his edge but only for his family. He may have not thought Kirby was worthy of the empire or strong enough but that didn’t mean he wanted him dead.

  His finger found the trigger, about to pull it but she was quicker. Pulling the trigger a second time, Mayana didn’t hesitate. She didn’t even pause to line up the shot. Instead her gun exploded.

  She only fired once, wanting to cause the most pain possible. The bullet lodged itself in Rogan’s gut. He stumbled back clutching at his stomach as his knees buckled beneath him and he collapsed on to the floor, his breathing laboured.

  Mayana walked over to him, kicking the gun from his hand and sending it skidding across the floor to collide with the foot of
his desk. He had been lining up a shot at Mayana’s head when it was sent flying from his grasp.

  “See? I said you’d lost your edge. There was a time when you wouldn’t have hesitated even for a second if I asked you to shoot someone. That Rogan wouldn’t be lying on the floor dying. The fact that you didn’t shoot me as soon as I came through the door was enough to confirm you are not the man you used to be and now you’ve paid the ultimate price for becoming weak,” Mayana said, her tone filled with mocking taunts that she knew would chip away at Rogan’s life. However, it was too late and any response Rogan tried to make came out as a raspy breath that was indecipherable.

  “What was that?” Mayana laughed and levelled her gun at Rogan’s head.

  Before she had time to question what she was doing Cora raised her arm, gun in hand. The barrel lined up with Mayana’s chest—a killing shot—and she fired. She watched as the bullet hit Mayana straight on target. She saw the look of shock and recognition on Mayana’s face as she glanced at Cora and then down at the bloody wound that had stained even her black shirt, unable to comprehend that she had done it. Dropping her gun, it clattered to the floor as the light in Mayana’s eyes faded and she too fell backwards to the floor. Like windows to her dark heart, the connection was broken and Cora was released from the sight.

  Instantly she was at Rogan’s side, crouched over him. His breathing was faint and had slowed dramatically. Applying pressure to the wound she tried to slow the bleeding, needing to find a way to save him—in that moment she knew she couldn’t allow him to die and not just to fulfil her own personal agenda.

  They had been hurling insults and trying to outwit each other for years but not once had she seen him treat her like a daughter—that was until today. Taking his hand it felt cold against hers. Rogan tried to squeeze Cora’s weakly, the slight pressure registering but only just. It was enough though. In that one gesture Cora had a father. “Sorry, Cora,” he whispered barely, his voice husky as he fought to get the words out.

  Cora squeezed his hand in response. “I’m sorry too. I’ll do it for you, I’ll take over the empire like you wanted me to but you have to live,” Cora promised but she didn’t know if he heard everything as he dropped in and out of consciousness.

  Looking up, Cora’s eyes found Jed’s with a wild determination. “Get someone, please!” she begged, her voice coming out in a strangled shout. “Go and find Nick, he’ll know who can help. Please Jed, I can’t lose him yet!”

  “I can’t Cora, he has to die.”

  “JED! I’ll take over, I’ll be better I promise. Just don’t let me lose the only family I have left. You’ve already cost me a brother and aunt.” A single tear broke free of Cora’s eye, rolling down her face as she begged for Rogan.

  Seeing the desperation in her eyes, Jed was torn. He hated seeing her suffer but this was what he had been working for—he had to see it through.

  “I can’t…I didn’t know about their relationship but it wouldn’t have changed my opinion—”

  “Then get out of here!” she screamed, letting all of her rage come out of her in that final sentence. She couldn’t watch another person die, even if she hated him in that moment.

  Running footsteps sounded down the corridor and Jed took off as Nick entered the doorway. He raised his gun at Jed.

  “Leave him, I told him to go,” she ordered.

  “Cora?” Nick asked.

  But Cora wasn’t in the mood for people to question her judgement. “Just get your ass over here and help me. He can’t die.”

  Nick hurried over to her, his hands replacing her bloody ones with more pressure than she’d have ever been able to apply.

  “Reach into my back pocket, there’s a comms unit.”

  Cora paused, unable to loosen her hold.

  “Cora, do it. I’ve got the bleeding under control.”

  With shaking hands Cora reached into his pocket, leaving smears of blood behind as she pulled out the unit. Holding it up to Nick’s mouth she pressed the button so he could speak. “Andy, Jasper, get to Rogan’s office now. Rogan needs medical attention urgently.”

  The radio crackled with their responses instantly and placing it on the floor, Cora looked at Nick not knowing what to do.

  “Go to Rogan’s desk, in the top drawer there was something he wanted you to have. Cora, go,” Nick urged more forcefully when she didn’t move.

  Dragging herself up off the floor, Cora was shaking as she made her way over to the desk. Rogan looked even smaller as he lay on the floor unconscious and her heart clenched with worry.

  Fumbling through the drawers, she found a sealed envelope with her name written on it. As she picked it up, her bloody fingers marred the envelope but she couldn’t open it.

  “He said to give it to you if anything happened to him tonight. He said to tell you to read it and then make your mind up,” Nick said gently, still leaning over Rogan as two men burst into the room, taking in the scene before them for only a second before hurrying to Nick’s side. “What is it?” Cora asked, not taking her eyes from it.

  “I don’t know Cora but go. We’ve got this and I promise we won’t let anything happen to him.”

  Cora nodded and headed out the door in a dream-like state. She didn’t know what to make of anything and her mind refused to process the events. So, for once in her life Cora didn’t question someone’s orders and went up to her room.

  Epilogue

  Three months later

  Sitting behind the big mahogany desk in Rogan’s office, Cora stared at the letter resting on the wood. Her fingers were tracing over the carvings that she had inscribed there to spite Rogan as a smile formed on her face at the memory. Cora had been shocked to find that he had kept them as she sat there waiting.

  She didn’t need to read the letter to know what it said anymore. The words were inscribed into her memory, forever ingrained in her mind. She had read the letter countless times in the months since Mayana’s foiled attempt to seize everything. She pulled it out every time she sat in the hospital wing and needed support.

  As her eyes glanced over the words, Cora felt her heart ache with the emotion Rogan had put into the letter. It had helped her through everything and she thought reading it once more would solidify her decision. It was judgement day, Rogan had told her to take all the time she needed to make her choice and finally she had.

  Letting herself become immersed in Rogan’s words once more, Cora read the letter for what she said would be the final time.

  Cora,

  If you are reading this now then you know that I’m dead. I don’t know if you know what happened or how—I hope you don’t—but if you do or saw anything I’m so sorry for putting you in that position. I would never have wished such a thing on you.

  I may not have always shown it, been there or done right by you but I never stopped loving you. Please believe me when I say that nothing I did was ever meant to hurt you, it was all for you…to help you. Like I told you before I always wanted a daughter and I couldn’t have been happier when you were born. I wish I had been able to watch you grow up and turn into the woman I am so proud of today. I missed so much and it is one of the biggest regrets of my life that will never leave me. I can’t tell you how sorry I am that I can’t make that up to you. I’m also sorry I’m not there to answer any more questions you may have had. There are probably a million things I should have told you sooner but I’ll stick with the few most prominent.

  You already know I wanted you to inherit the business. You were the strongest even as a toddler. You had this defiant and determined way about you but you were also endearing and wrapped everyone around your little finger. You were special and I don’t mean just because of your gift. Don’t get me wrong that would help you immensely should you choose to take over but that’s not what I meant. You’re special Cora, you’ve been through so much and you’re still fighting—at least I hope you are. Don’t ever let someone take away that spirit from you, all right?

&
nbsp; However, saying that, no matter how much I want you to run my business and continue it, please know you don’t have to. I may have been stubborn in life but it’s only because I thought it was best. If you choose to hand it to someone else (Nick will help), dismantle it and keep the money…whatever you want then that choice is yours. The business is my last gift to you and it’s yours to do with what you wish. I promise I won’t hold a grudge.

  Just so you know I did love your mother but it wouldn’t have worked out. I had Kirby already and I couldn’t leave them. You also don’t have to worry about my wife. I spoke with her tonight and she will be staying in one of my other properties and has been adequately provided for. She won’t bother you.

  I’m sorry for not being able to keep you and for choosing. I hope you’ll be able to find it in your heart to forgive me someday at least, even if it’s years down the line.

  You’ve always been in my heart Cora and always will be. I know you’ll do the right thing for yourself so don’t let anyone influence you.

  Stay strong, know that I love you and am so proud. Don’t take any nonsense from anyone and be exactly who you are.

  All my love, forever,

  Rogan/Dad

  P.S The picture is of your first birthday. Hope it shows I did care.

  Pulling out the picture Cora looked at the familiar image it held. Rogan’s eyes were lit up in delight as he held Cora in his arms. Her mother was there also, a caterpillar cake held out in front with a candle shaped like a one on top of it.

  At first the image and letter had made Cora cry but now looking over it, it filled her with happiness. However, the bubble she had shrouded herself in while reading his words once more was broken by a series of bangs outside in the hallway.

  She looked up as the door flew open with more force than was necessary.