[b]Ryan Ginesburg[/b] Ring… Ring… The sound cut through the empty blackness, pulling awareness back from deep within the confines of Ryan’s troubled mind. The ringing grounded him in reality; the blissful nirvana that came from accepting death was suddenly gone. Opening his eyes, Ryan found himself still in his room at the Chateau de le Rhone, his gun fell from his limp hand and clattered onto the floor. He was still alive, and the damn phone kept ringing, who the fuck was calling him? It quickly dawned on Ryan that the ring wasn’t coming from his personal line, it was his line to Jack. After all of these years… Ryan ran to the desk and pulled out the phone from the top drawer, “Jack.” He answered. “Ryan. It’s been a long time.” Came Jack’s voice from the other side “I can’t believe it’s really you. It’s been almost three years now since you retired.” “Yeah, I know. I’m sorry we couldn’t keep in touch, but you know why we couldn’t. How have you been?” Jack asked, sensing something wrong in his old friend’s voice. “Not long after you left the game I put my gun down too. To be honest, I don’t give a shit anyways, so I might as well tell you the truth, it’s been a long, hard fall to the bottom. I’m just not as strong as you always were, I just can’t do it anymore.” Ryan replied, to apathetic to even lie. He could have said everything was fine, but why pretend? None of it mattered. “You pick up the needle again?” Jack replied, hard as a rock. Ryan’s words had hit him much deeper than he let on though, there was only one person he cared about in the whole world, and that was Ryan. “No.” Ryan could hear a sigh of relief across the line as he uttered the syllable. “Good. I need you, Ryan. I’m being hunted, and I don’t have anyone else in this whole goddamn world that I can trust, ‘cept you. I know your pain, and you know mine. There’s no one else who will ever really know me. Don’t you fucking dare die on me now, cause I didn’t drag your ass through the desert for you to piss it all away!” “I’m so sorry Jack,” Ryan cried, tears running down his face “I’m just not strong enough…” “Please, Ryan!” Jack interrupted, “Don’t let that son of a bitch take the only friend I’ve got left away from me. All I need is for you to go to Switzerland and take care of a few banking issues, then it’s up to you. Either join me in America, or forget that I ever existed. But please, I need your help. There’s no one else who I can turn to for this…” “Okay, I’ll do it. Give me the details.” - [b]Jackson Hallibern[/b] “Alright, and one more thing. I need you to call up your old friend Brain Jagielski… I know you guys haven’t talked in years, but you told me he runs a gang in Justice, right? Well I’m going to need to start laying down connections. I need an employer who can protect me. Can you set up a meeting?” Jack asked “I can try.” Ryan answered, “Communications silent until I’ve finished business in Switzerland though. If Brian accepts, he’ll call you, not me. Till then, just let me be. I won’t fail you.” “Thank you Ryan, I really appreciate this.” “Yeah. Sure.” Ryan finished, before hanging up the phone Jack put his hands down and rest himself against the table. Ryan had been a mess. Jack knew it wasn’t his responsibility, but couldn’t help but feel like it was his fault for leaving. Either way, The Ferryman had more immediate problems than criticizing his past actions. It was almost time to head over to the Rosewood Café to meet with Mr. Chang.