Sunday Snippet: Good for the Soul

Hello!

Okay, last night I watched the best season finale I've seen from a show in a long, long time. Orphan Black hit every right note over the ten episodes and it's going to be a seriously long hiatus until spring of 2014. GAH!

Tonight's post if from a novella entitled Good for the Soul. Dex Thurgood has some serious issues to work through and Lana Denman is around to help him out.

Here's the tagline:

Dex Thurgood has ideals he upholds and wants to keep it that way. But when he's forced to confront a sinister underground trade leader, he has to face his darker nature to bust up the extortion racket, which won't be easy because Ramsey Markum knows one of Dex's deeply buried secrets. Lana Denman steps up to help Dex deal with the fallout of not being perfect.

And the sneaky peek…

"You're not gonna do it. You won't shoot."

Ramsey Markum held court in the dank and musty dive where he ran the underground trade, flanked by henchmen on both sides.

Dex Thurgood held Markum's gaze, the gun steady in his hand. A stain on humanity, Ramsey had one thing right. Dex wouldn't shoot. Not under normal circumstances. At least he wouldn't have if he hadn't seen, first hand, the evil Markum carried and dispensed depending on the whim of his moods.

"You might be standing in the mud with the rest of us, but you've still got a bit of sheen on you." Markum's tone, smug and confident, grated. "You don't have it in you. You're not gonna shoot me—" 

Dex pulled the trigger. "Looks like you're wrong." Markum hit the floor, his face a frozen mask of disbelief.

The two henchmen, both practical and dispassionate, moved forward, ready to put Dex on the leader board.

Dex placed the side arm on the table and stepped back, shaking his head.

"No. I want no part of this." He looked from one guy to the other. "But the underground can't and won't go away. I get that. But this is how it works now. Ramsey is gone. You'll continue on, business as usual, with two exceptions."

Neither man offered up a protest and so far he had their interest. "No more child couriers. Don't pretend you don't know what usually happens to them most of the time. That ends now." He watched and waited until they acknowledged his words. "From this point on, no one else has to work your fees. Fair trade is one thing, slave labor is another." It turned his stomach to say that, but the system they used, distasteful as it could be, worked for most.

Dex flicked his gaze downward toward Ramsey. "If either of you try to hold anyone to previous agreements, we'll find someone better suited to the job." He looked at the men again. "Any questions?"

Both shook their heads back and forth. They'd be stupid to go against him. Dex pretty much handed them the entire underground trade on a platter. They only had to play fair in order to keep it.

Small price to pay if it kept their pipeline running.

He gave both a curt nod. "Then I suggest you take out the trash."

Dex waited until they dragged Ramsey's body out the side door before he turned on his heel and exited the bar. He kept his eyes straight ahead and put one foot in front of the other until he got to his transport. Safely inside, he crumpled onto the nearest seat and put his head in his hands.

How he'd maintained his equilibrium, he'd never know. He'd just killed a man—pretty much in cold blood. An evil one to be certain, but it didn't give him the right to act as judge, jury, and executioner. Yet he'd done exactly that.

Had he really become that numb?

No. He felt the weight of his decision take up residence in his bones. The cold ball of rage and anger still remained, coiled up tight, in his gut.

It would fade with time, but right now he used it to keep it together. He still had several things to accomplish. He might as well start now.

Heaving a sigh, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a portable headset. He spoke the number to Darcene's room and she answered before the first series of beeps completed.

"You're safe. Ramsey's not gonna be a problem anymore." He heard the relieved sigh on her end. "Get everything together for you and Leon. I'm on my way."

Dex ended the call. Didn't think he could listen to or accept any kind of gratitude from her. He'd made a promise to get Darcene and Leon out from under Ramsey's thumb and he had.

He'd see them safely to their new life and go back to his old one. The rest, mainly how he'd live with himself, he'd figure out later.

Poor Dex. His brain is all twisted with self-loathing and he'll have to get himself straightened out or Lana will do it for him. Dex might not like her methods. J

That's it for this week. Catch everyone on the flip!

ML Skye