A Fortune I Seek

Chapter 5

Mr. Abbot sat behind his desk, much quieter than the snickering oaf he had been when I first met him. The red undertones of his plump cheeks were now gone and it made the pale roundness of his face seem much more unhealthy.

Gone were the nervous giggles and naive humor. His voice had grown considerably deeper, darker, more sinister, "Your parents guaranteed absolute success, they assured me that you would complete the mission without fail."

"I will. But the boy knows the whereabouts of the Founder's Treasure, I'm sure of it." Every time I mention the treasure, Mr. Abbot's left eyebrow twitches and his posture stiffens which then makes his scowl carve deeper into his rotunded expression. Bel was apparently telling the truth about one thing at least.

Mr. Abbot puts on a good act.

The joyful moron we had interacted with had been a fabrication. The unhappy weasel now sitting behind that desk was the real Mr. Abbot. From his drastic shift in personality, I was beginning to think that maybe Bel had been right about everything – that it was really Mr. Abbot who killed his brother.

And if Bel has been right about everything else, it isn't hard to believe that he might be right about the treasure as well. But I am keeping that particular theory locked away tightly because I refuse to be so disillusioned as to believe a dumb treasure might actually exist then have my hopes crushed when we all walk away from this myth empty handed.

"This is unacceptable." Mr. Abbot pushed up from his chair and wandered in circles behind his desk, back and forth, "I paid you a considerable sum to kill the boy, not form an alliance with him. I was promised a murder and that is what I expect."

Bel's suggestion wandered through my mind, "It is only a temporary setback, Mr. Abbot. Either he will lead me to the treasure and I will take it out from under his lifeless corpse, or he is wrong and there is no treasure. In which case, I will kill him anyways ... just perhaps, a bit slower and a bit more painful to make up for wasting my time."

"Yes, that is all good and fine, but I wanted it done immediately."

His apprehension was borderline suspicious, "Why the rush? A body is a body, sir."

"You would not understand." Mr. Abbot decided with a frantic wave of his hand, "I will require a refund."

I stood up as well to match him, not in hight but in control, "That isn't how this works."

"Be warned little lady, if my money is not returned then I will be forced to-"

"Forced to what? Call the cops and tell them that the assassin you hired to kill someone isn't honoring an illegal contract?"

His glare deepened.

"Mr. Abbot, please try to understand. This is a big opportunity for all of us."

"Somehow, I am getting the sense that it will most greatly benefit you."

"The boy will do all of the work, he is going to lead us to the greatest treasure of all time and all I have to do is keep his scrawny ass alive." Where Bel's monetary persuasions did not work on me, it was quite obvious that Mr. Abbot was a man driven by compensation despite his careless attitude towards it during the meeting with my parents. So I played on his weakness ruthlessly, "You could make your twenty thousand back easily, in addition to so much more."

"More?"

"Imagine it, sir. Imagine the payout. A priceless discovery that you can claim all for yourself, no one will even remember your brother's name once you reveal the Founder's Treasure."

That made Mr. Abbot's angry glare seep with smug triumph.

It made me sick to be standing so close to this swine of a man, "And at the end of the day, you will still get your corpse."