Gaude's daily routine had not been broken for a little over ten years.Every morning, he disassembled his handguns and put all the parts together again. Afterwards, he oiled them and made sure that the cartridges were full. Truth was, it had been years since he had had to draw his weapon and fire in defence of anyone. After being assigned to Ceneau Johns, most of the tasks he faced each day were of a more menial nature. He drove his young boss around the city and to events. He served as protection, which too often simply involved standing still in his dark suit and looking tough—an easy skill to acquire after having been trained at the academy. Gaude had worked for Ceneau for so many years, he could no longer trace the memory of being assigned to him back to the beginning. However, if there was one thing he had come to know about the young man, it was that he disappeared whenever he felt overwhelmed.It made the man unique compared to the rest of his kin. The Johns were balls of ra
Rey arrived at the church half an hour before the groom's brothers.He was dressed for the occasion: chukka boots and a black Armani suit that fitted him like a glove. Only a handful of guests were present to witness the ceremony, and they were all dressed like him. Ceneau was yet to arrive at the church and the air was already tense from the waiting. His mother had already assured them that Ceneau was on the way, but Rey doubted it. He knew a lie when he heard one and he could knew a poor liar when he saw one. Ceneau's mother was a terrible liar. Her face was a mask of worry.Sean, Tate and Lloyd whispered frantically among each other at the second time row. Hamish sat with his father at the front row, in his tux, as urbane as always. He smiled and shook the guests when they approached him, as though there was no problem at all. Guests milled about, greeting each other and sharing hand shakes.In the heart of the hustle and bustle, an unsettling hush spread amongst the Johns like r
"Where to next?" Reynolds asked the taciturn man.The silence in the car was sharp and bladed. Coupled with the fact that they still had no idea where Ceneau was, Rey could not help but feel stifled.Gaude glanced at him. "A bar a little further down.""What's there?""Ceneau, hopefully."Rey gave the man a dirty look and he relented. "It was somewhere Ceneau, Tate, Sean and Lloyd used to visit when they were younger. It has long since been overtaken by a biker gang and all sorts of people, like a rendezvous for the worst kind. The brothers stopped visiting the place a long time before then. Their taste changed. It is luxury hotels and expensive vacations now. But not Ceneau. Whenever he is in the country, he goes there.""The gang, they don't make trouble for him?"The bald man shrugged. "They could try if they wished to. I am often with him though. It would end poorly for them. But they don't even go near him. They stay away; leave him in peace. He says it is a haven, that place."G
"The Johns are a beastly people." Gaude told Ceneau quietly, while looking straight ahead.If they were not the only persons in the vehicle, Rey would have turned around to check for the person who spoke. He had never heard one of the Johns family aides speak ill of the family or the patriarch. The act itself seemed like treason.Gaude ground his teeth. "They lie, cheat, steal, kill, all to get what they want. It is their nature. And they make us to be just like them, too. Only more violent. More prone to do harm. The things we have done for them." He mused, shaking his head."So why don't you leave?" Reynolds asked.Gaude looked at his as though he was slowly losing his mind. "What?"He repeated himself. "Why don't you leave? Find your own path. Haven't you had enough?"The guard shook his head. "You don't just leave when it comes to being in service of the Johns, Mr Reynolds. Clearly for all your skill you still know little to nothing about these people. Besides I do not know any ot
"I could use a guy like you." The bartender told Reynolds when they approached the counter."Oh, how so?" He asked. Gaude was still irritated from his encounter with the men and he had for a short while taken a step back. For this, Reynolds was grateful. The man had a soldier's approach to anything and everything, and while violence and force usually got the job done, Rey had long since learned that their were other ways to go around a problem.The woman shrugged. "I saw what you did over there for your friend here. I was going to call my husband, but it would have been a mess. You stepped in and did what you did. Let's just say I am a big fan of your method." She grinned. Reynolds grinned back. She was married and friendly, therefore she was safe. "Well, my method is expensive." He said. He did have to cover the cost of their drinks, didn't he?"The price of peace. It is a small price to pay, wouldn't you say?""Perhaps,"She was looking at Rey the way Kayla looked at him most days
Another figure had emerged from the shadows - Jamie, an old friend of Rey's.James "Jamie" Corrigan was the golden boy on campus when Reynolds was in college. He was not a jock or anything, but you could not spend the day without hearing something about what Jamie did. He was smooth-faced and stereotypically handsome in the way that college girls loved. It helped that his parents were like Riker's —filthy rich. They owned an assortment of businesses in the country and the name Corrigan was a household name. Reynolds struck up a friendship with him by accident of place. Jamie was the last person he expected to see in a room standing next to a man like Riker."Rey," Jamie said, opening up his arms as if preparing to embrace him, but keeping his distance. "It has been too long."Reynolds glanced between both men, his head spinning with confusion. "Apparently, it has. Tell me you are not with him."Jamie offered him a small smile. "I am," He admitted.He had grown a tad, morphing from
"Pay up," Riker told Jamie, making a beckoning gesture with his left hand.Grudgingly, Jamie pulled out a wad of notes from his pocket and slapped it on the counter next to the other man. "You win." He grumbled."Again," Riker laughed.The air in the place smelled like cigarette smoke and alcohol exposed to the naked air. After years of being in cohorts with Jamie, he still could not get over how the man could stand places that smelled of cheap cigarettes and sweat, but barely had the stomach for violence. Both men had made a bet. If Reynolds agreed to work for them, Jamie won. If he refused their generous offer, Riker was the winner. What sane man born of a woman would refuse an offer like that, Jamie had said days before, when they first set their sights on TheJohns Conglomerate. Reynolds Sheen, Riker told his partner. And he had been right.Riker knew Reynolds. He knew men like him. They prided in their righteousness, slick bastards like those, and this got in the way of their
It was mid day when they got to the gallery. The place was just as Gaude had described it: quiet and quaint. It stood between two buildings of smaller statures, and its roof which was flat and square cut a straight line across the sky.Rey and Gaude exited the car and went into the building. There was man at the reception in a blue dress shirt. They told him they were there for Ceneau and he let them up. The elevator made a whirring, electronic noise as it took them up. Gaude filled a large part of the small space with his broad shoulders. They soon found Ceneau at the top of the building. He had his back to them, and he had somehow lost his blazer.How long had the man been there? Reynolds wondered.At the thump of their footsteps in the roof, Ceneau whirled to face them. His tie was missing too. For a man who had a small army of guards ransacking the dirty in search of him, his brother in-law seemed quite at peace with the world."Gentlemen, to what do I owe the pleasure?"Rage,