58. Split Decisions
58
Split Decisions
Matt
We all remain quiet as we slowly make our way inside.
Well, except for Tony.
Tony mutters, curses, and kicks the dirt as only Tony can do. But this time, it makes me feel a bit better.
Once we’re inside, Ryan and Agatha walk to a sitting area on the far side of the room. They motion for us to sit, and even though I’d rather do anything other than sit, I do so anyway—manners and all.
Sometimes, I wish I was Tony.
At first, no one says a word. Each of us sits there staring at the floor or the ceiling or just off into space, seemingly incapable of coming up with words to explain how we’re feeling.
Numb.
Finally, after a long spell of silence, Declan speaks up, his voice strained. “What is all this? Why are we here?”
Agatha lifts her hands in front of her. “This is Dare’s dream.”
I frown. I look to Tony and Declan, who are both frowning. Turning my gaze back on Agatha, I sigh heavily and then reply, “A dream we never knew anything about.”
“Apparently, he’d been planning this for a long time,” Agatha replies, her voice devoid of emotion. “He purchased this property like a decade ago and only just started building in the past year or so.”
Tony squints, his lips pressing together in irritation for a moment before he opens his mouth and asks, “And where is here?”
“Montana.”
Tony grunts in response, hurt evident on his features, though he won’t come out and say it. So, I do. “And why the fuck would he keep this from us?”
Agatha sighs. “I don’t think he was intentionally keeping it from you. He was just waiting for the perfect moment to unveil it.”
“This seems like the worst fucking moment to me,” Declan mutters sullenly.
I nod in agreement but then ask, “But why, exactly, did he build this place? Is that explained?”
“According to the documents, it’s for all the people out there who’ve lost hope. For the countless souls who’ve been saved from one evil bastard or another who need help moving forward.”
“We can’t hold their hands forever,” Tony responds bitterly.
“No, but Dare always thought we could do more,” Declan interjects. “He believed that if we had the ability to provide other services, like medical care, mental health programs, proper education, etcetera, it could help people truly overcome their past.”
“So, this is a cult,” Tony deadpans.
“Oh my fucking Christ, Tony,” Agatha sputters. “It’s not a cult.”
Tony laughs loudly. “Sounds like a cult to me.”
Agatha glares at him and shakes her head. “Well, I see you haven’t changed at all.”
Tony grins at her words, lifting a shoulder nonchalantly. “Why change perfection?”
Agatha’s glare intensifies, but the corners of her lips twitch. A laugh catches me off-guard, and I suddenly feel lighter. As if the weight of the world has been lifted from my shoulders, and I can finally take a deep breath.
“I guess it makes sense, but why tell you and not us?”
“According to the documents, I’m the least likely to be affected by his loss, hence I’m the most appropriate to be able to manage the completion of the project without distraction.”
I groan, looking up at the ceiling as I process this new information. Then Agatha adds, “I don’t know if I was the right person to hand this over to, but it is true that I’m less likely to be swayed by sentiment. Sure, I love Toni and Dare, but my connection to them is different than yours. And frankly, I’m just a different breed entirely due to a lifetime of conditioning to not give a fuck about anything beyond immediate survival.”
I nod, knowing this is true. Agatha’s upbringing within the organization has shaped her in ways most people wouldn’t survive. It’s not that she doesn’t love or feel pain; she feels it differently. But when she says she loves you, she will quite literally lay down and die for you.
“How long have you been here?” Declan asks.
“A couple of days. Once I’d gone through all the documents and had a decent understanding of what I was looking at, I came directly here.”
She stops speaking, her lips pressing together as her breath catches in her throat. She swallows a few times, obviously attempting to get control of her emotions, then, after a deep breath, she continues, “A stupid part of me thought maybe it was all a rouse, that I would get here, and they would be waiting for me.”
The room falls silent once more, Agatha likely reliving her disappointment and all of us reliving our own. Finally, I say, “That must’ve been difficult. I wish we could’ve been here to support you.”
She gives me a small smile. “Probably best that no one actually witnessed any of my ridiculously human behavior.”
There’s a long pause, and then Declan asks, "And Ryan? How the fuck did he get involved with us?”
“That’s a bit of a long story.”
“I think we’ve got fucking time,” Tony retorts.
“Oh, I can answer that,” Ryan replies. “Not long after I treated Carolina in California, Antoinette reached out to me. She had an inkling I wasn't too excited working for the people I worked for, so she offered me a job. A job with a real mission and a purpose.”
I looked to Tony, who seemed less puzzled. “Did you know about this?”
He nods and then tosses his head side to side a bit. “Well, yes and no. Antoinette mentioned that she wanted to see if he’d come to work with us. But I never followed up to see if it actually happened—”
“That’s all good and well,” Declan interrupts impatiently. “But how the fuck did this guy end up here before us?”
Agatha’s lips twitch, her eyes moving to Ryan, who is now looking at the floor. I raise my brows as understanding dawns on me, and I briefly consider not pressing the issue. But then the decision is taken out of my hands when Tony cackles knowingly.
Ryan glares at Tony, which only makes Tony laugh even louder. “So, I take it you were together when this all came to light.”
Rubbing his hands over his face, Ryan sighs, then gives Tony a bland look. “Yes, I guess you could say that.”
Tony looks at Agatha, a particularly smug look on his face. “And what abo—”
She puts her hand up, her face twisting angrily as she snarls, “Don’t even fucking start with me, Tony. I can fuck anyone I want whenever I want, and there’s no one on this fucking planet who can tell me any different.”
Tony starts to say something further but then snaps his mouth shut and nods. Declan laughs, reaching out and punching him on the arm. “I guess she told you.”
Tony scowls and then shrugs. He is not one to take much personally, and most certainly not hard facts from someone he actually respects. “She made a good point, Dec. I’m not foolish enough to argue with that.”
Agatha continues to glare at Tony, but then her features relax, and she almost smiles. Tony sighs, relaxing back in his chair. “In all seriousness, Aggie, who brought you the documents?”
She shakes her head, her shoulders lifting slightly as she responds, “I have no idea. They were delivered by courier, and I was unable to locate their absolute origin.”
“What do you mean you can’t locate where they came from?”
“I’ve searched, snooped, and even gotten outright belligerent, and there’s no trail at all.”
“And you’re sure they’re legal? You’re absolutely certain this is the brainchild and property of Darius?”
“Yes,” she replies firmly. “I checked and tripled checked. It’s all legit.”
Declan nudges me with his knee, drawing my attention to him. He’s staring at me hard, his eyes gleaming a bit madly, and I shake my head. “No, Declan. Just fucking no.”
“Come on, Matt,” Declan croons. “Don’t be like that.”
“Absolutely not. I’m not playing this ‘might be’ bullshit again.”
Declan’s eyes move to Tony, the look on his face pleading. “What about you, Tony? I know you’re game.”
Tony gives Declan an assessing look as he thinks over his response. Then, after a few beats, he says, “Sure, I’ll bite.”
“So, you think it could be him?”
Tony sighs, his head moving side to side. “Never say never is a motto that has always served me well.”
I roll my eyes, annoyance bubbling up inside me at the implication that these two buffoons feel Darius may still be alive and is just hiding from us.
Thankfully, Agatha changes the subject, “How’d Jessica take losing her father?”
I make a face, unsure how to answer the question. Finally, I respond, “That is yet to be determined. I feel it will be something that comes up over time rather than the initial reaction. They had a very complicated relationship, and at the end of the day, he stepped up in a big way. And paid the ultimate price.”
“And where does that leave the Irish?”
“Also, yet to be determined.”
Her eyes widen almost comically. “So, it’s just in limbo? Out in the wild for anyone to steal?”
“No,” I reply with a laugh. “On paper, it belongs to Jessica and me, but the idea that we will take it over is absurd. We’re taking our time vetting people and will make sure the right person is put in charge before we piss off into the wind.”
Declan snorts. “You mean before you piss off to LA to take on an even bigger, uglier endeavor.”
“Well, yes. Basically.”
“I heard about your sudden change in job description from Jayme. You have this big PR management move that’s going to cripple some big names in the industry?”
“That’s about right.”
“What brought that on?”
“Albert Power had an incident with one of his female employees. He reached out to Declan, who put him in contact with me.”
“You take him out?”
“No,” I answer honestly. “We relocated her and made it impossible for him to find her.”
“And what if he manages to find her? You know how clever those bastards can be.”
“Then we deal with him the old-fashioned way,” I reply patiently.“Why not just do that in the first place rather than potentially leave her at risk?”
“Because in this industry, we can’t just off every person who steps out of line. People are going to notice.”
Agatha stares at me for a moment, then sits forward in her chair. “We want to help.”
“We?”
“Me and Lils,” she responds. “Since we’re using The Dead as a front for cleansing the world of human trafficking scum, it would be beneficial to join forces.”
“I’m not sure exactly how that would work, but you know we’ll always take the support, no questions asked.”
She smiles happily, looking exceedingly pleased with herself, but then her eyes narrow, and she frowns as she mutters, “It still doesn’t make sense.”
Tony and I look at each other, and then I look over at Declan, who’s staring at Agatha with the same look of confusion as I’m feeling. Then he asks, “What doesn’t make sense?”
“I think I agree with you, Dec,” she says quietly, indecision on her face. “I don’t want to, and I tried to pretend I don’t, but the more I think about it and talk about it, the more inclined I am to agree with you.”
My eyebrows raise into my hairline. “What? Why?”
“I have a letter for you guys,” she confesses. “I assume from Darius.”
“Really?” Declan asks eagerly.
I give him a dirty look and then turn back to Agatha. “And what does that have to do with Declan’s delusions?”
“I wasn’t going to say anything until after you read the letter because it all seems preposterous, but something just doesn’t add up.”
“Which something?”
“For example, there’s no letter for Antoinette.”
“I don’t get it,” I reply dryly.
“If Darius drafted a letter for you guys just in case he died, there sure as shit would’ve been a letter for Antoinette, too.”
Tony sits up, sliding to the edge of his chair, his expression now as eager as Declan’s. “I’m listening.”
“And managing to deliver shit to me that I can’t trace?”
She’s looking at me accusingly, and I hold up both hands defensively. “Don’t look at me. I swear on everything I’ve ever loved that I have nothing to do with anything that may or may not be going on.”
She narrows her eyes, her lips pursed as she stares me down. Then, she nods and stands abruptly. “I’ll go get it, and we can goddamn well find out.”
She heads toward the door, but when she’s about halfway across the room, I shout, “Hey, Agatha.”
She stops and turns back to me with a questioning expression.
“Did he happen to mention what he wanted to call this place?”
Agatha gives me a questioning look, so I add, “You know. When people are gonna be sent here, where would they say they’re going?”
Agatha smiles the first real smile I’ve seen from her in an age.
Then she replies, “The End.”