Like the good old days, the duo had cruised together on Gallagher’s bike. The journey was silent as none wanted to put their Egos aside to even cough. They were all too furious to Compromise their standards. soon they were at tavern and old lovers sat over a desk, with nothing but their pride standing between the both of them. ” What’s it that you have to tell me that couldn’t be said on the road or in the cottage of that old debtor.” He said and placed his fist on the glossy veneer of his table.
” Good. Listen very carefully to what I have to tell you.” She said, gazed around and began to talk again. ” You are a strong man no denials but you must know your limits. You aren’t invincible. The ease to take you off track. The fact that I choose to take peanuts on the Flanks is not a phenomenon you ever should have tackled.”. ” You aren’t as smart as you think you are” she said and hummed softly.
” Can you just hit the head on the nail mam. I haven’t got all Day.” Said Gallagher and shoved his hands his pocket to pick a cigarette.
” Maximus and Dubois aren’t happy to how you have treated them. They offered you the most juiciest deal in the whole of earth and all you want to do is play around it. Aren’t you tired of this thug Life. You should be seeking for an alternate lifestyle. A retirement plan that works. Why the hell would your Ego cause you too loose five hundred Million dollars?” She Enquired and bummed in disgust.
” If the money is so juicy then why don’t you deliver the job? Why don’t the both of pay themselves and get into the jungle to chase a down the beast themselves. They will be billionaires and won’t need to give a dime about me. I risk my life and those of my gang, putting it all on the line. No compensation for the gang that don’t get to catch the beast.” ” As if that’s not enough, They give you the right to operate on my flanks. Next you would come for the whole of bear Creek and I will be left with nothing to hold on to.’
” Bull’s-eye!” ” Tell me Gallagher, what happens when they take it all from you?” She asks him and waited pertinently for his response.
” Before I was Chief protector of the metropolitans, I was doing fine and lived my best life. Even if they hand over the whole of Texas to you. Its won’t bother me a bit.” Said Gallagher and stamped his palm.
” Fury, Ego and stubbornness wouldn’t help you. Get your mojo together and get that damn beast running wide in the woods.” ” Easy does it. Do it and make your cool billions. I chose to work on the flanks for my personal reasons. No bastard can get me out of it. Not you, Not Dubois and not Maximus. If you ego stops you from apologizing to me, then it won’t stop you from bowing down and letting go off the flanks against your wish so you can make that money.” ” But hey, if your ego stops you from doing the two, just know your good days in Texas are numbered.” She said and stood take her leave. ” One more thing. They both know that you are a culprit in the recent spree of killings. They will choose to look away if you take on their job and deliver the beast to them. If you won’t, they send the governments radar on you and only then shall you understand your limits.” She said, gazing into the eyes with the vigor of truth.
” That bastard has betrayed me huh, I give him the mantle of power and what he does is betray me.” Said Gallagher and as suited his beard with his palms. He was down casted from digesting the sane knowledge, that verily, the odds were no longer in his favor. Power had given Dubois and advantage over him.
” I can ask to take your position as the chief protector of bear Creek and I will be given even if you flood the whole streets with Ghouls and Werewolves, the Ghost cop can also take your position and uphold your tempo. A couple more bad gangs can do the same. Now tell me why you think Dubois has betrayed you. He still let’s you have the biggest share of the holding. He brought you in on the biggest deal of your life and here you are trying to ruin it all with your ego! Hmm.” She said and stood up on before walking straight to Gallagher and placing her palms on his shoulder. ” As you can see, we all have giant egos and we hold them in high esteem. Would you or would you not fetch the head of Maximin for us? I want an answer.” She said and smiled to see just how his ego could bend. He was silent as he reflected all the good things he had done for the duo.
” Ingrates. Just ingrates. I should have let you die, that cold morning on the streets when I picked you up and saved your life.” He said to her with a vicious scowl on his face.
” And who would have saved you, if you had let me die.” She asked him still maintaining her smile of mockery. ” And the hundred thousand?” He asked, knowing the job description was no longer a request but an order.
” It’s gone. The hundred thousand has been taken off the deal. It’s an admonition for procrastinating on a good deal. The more time you waste or the more stubborn you choose to be, the more fortune you shall loose.” She said and took her palms of his shoulder.
” Dakota! How dare you let them take off the price?” He asked in rage as he clutched his fist and plunged up like a bull.
” Cause I hate you Gallagher. I hate what you did to me and I hate it that you won’t apologize. That be said are you in for the deal or should we take it to someone at your loss!” She said to him as she walked straight to him without an ounce of fear. He gazed at her with but the purest of hate. He couldn’t believe that the good old days of love and Sacrifice could turn so sour.
” I’m a beast without a conscience. I don’t fear any man. No one can cajole me. No man can play me on my land. Bear Creek belongs to me and I shall die fighting to protect it.”
” Protect it from?” ” Your demons. You fail to see that this is no longer a request. It’s an order. Well call It a merciful Order for now since it’s still has a bounty on it. When I leave this room without a positive answer from you. We shall be back again and it’s only going be with orders. No mercy and no bounty. It’s what you shall have to do to prove yourself as the protector of Bear Creek or loose it all. “She hummed.
” Gallagher, your ego has made you loose a free hundred, would you wait till it makes you loose a billion dollars as well? Think about it. When I return, the offer would be blank. I’m Dakota. I do not bluff.” She said, turned and began to catwalk towards the door In what appeared to be a slow motion movement in the eyes of Gallagher. Every second of her leaving, seemed like a minute, it was a battle of Ego that one of them had to win and one had to loose. He watched her half way to the door, and closer and closer again till the tip of her boot was cutting the invisible line of the open door.
” Wait” he called back, swallowing his pride and loosing the battle of ego.
” What was that ? Did someone talk?” She whispered, turning her gaze from side to side in search of the person who had spoken. A mockery to Gallagher for swallowing his pride.
” What would I gain for bringing in the head of the beast.” He asked her as he gazed at her mocking antics.
” You gain nothing.” She said and hummed.
” Damn you ! You said a billion dollars!”
” Yes I said. Actually it’s five hundred Million dollars to bring the beast or his uncovered palm. His head Is useless and you’re going to get nothing for turning it over. Know the specifications of your ventures before embarking on it. I want to believe I can convey the good news to my camp.” She said in her deep manly voice which she now filtered with some lustfulness to it.
” Dakota at least give me the damn hundred!” He roared in a plea.
” It’s gone. Have a nice day ahead. Dubois and Maximus would be pleased with you.” She said as she left the room.
” Bastards! Bastards! I will kill you allll!” He roared like a beast.