Dial H for Heroics

Jack watched as wagons full of women rolled away from the warehouse. Linus had gathered up the drivers and got them moving under his boss’s authority. The women who had no way to get home were guaranteed shelter for the night at least.

“We should ask who owns this building,” said Josie.

“We should wait for the relief,” said Jack. He put away his thoughtful face. “Then give them the pincushion treatment.”

“I think the hole in the wall would be a dead giveaway something bad happened,” said Josie.

“That can be fixed,” said Jack. He smiled again. “It’s too bad we’re already settled out by the wall. We could take this building. It has a lot more room for us, and the shops are closer.”

“So we just take bigger and bigger places as we work our way up the ladder?,” said Josie.

“We’re already taking whatever gold we can find,” said Jack.

“I don’t think the girls will want to move every three days,” said Josie. “Plus I’m starting to like the place we have.”

“We still have unfinished business at the Coin,” said Linus. His face didn’t betray any emotion of what he had overheard. “Mister Pear and Evan will need to be settled now that we have most of this cleaned up.”

“How do you want to do this, Jo?,” asked Jack. He wanted to deal with Evan himself, but it wasn’t his quest. And the family arrangements could be a problem.

“We leave everything as is,” said Josie. “Montrose will know we took the women by morning. There’s nothing we can do about that. They’ll probably know Guin was involved somehow. He’s involved in the fight whether he likes it or not, and someone will associate us with his interests. So right now, we let whomever owns the building clean up the bodies and try to straighten up the damage. We have to look out for the girls, and finish our other business too.”

“What do you think, Linus?,” said Jack. He was Guin’s rep on the scene. He should offer an opinion.

“I agree,” said Linus. “I know a guy that can watch this place to see who starts

working on fixing it.”

“You do?,” said Jack.

“He’ll be able to tell Mister Guin who the money is,” said Linus. “And following the money is always good when you want to get to the heart of things.”

“That’s smarter than you look,” said Jack. He grinned. “I can see why you’re the right hand man.”

“I work at it,” said Linus. “Let’s get the rest of this over with so I can get to sleep. It’s been a long day for me.”

“I got this, Jack,” said Josie. “You can’t carry more than one of us at a time.”

She called on her dark magician. She clapped her hands and they stood in front of the casino. There were less people in line trying to get in as she reverted back to normal. If she had to fight her way out, she wanted the watch to be at full charge.

The Green Arrow would have a lot of hard angles to use for her shots if it came down to that.

Jack followed Linus up to the door. His quest had cleared for Natalie Pear. He nodded at the bouncers. They nodded back. He had access now because he was associated with them. Everyone else would have to wait until some of the crowd inside cleared away.

Or thrown out because of drunkenness, and bad behavior.

“How’s it going, guys?,” asked Jack. He watched as Linus waved a man over and whispered in his ear.

“Slow,” said the right hand bouncer.

“This is my partner,” said Jack. He pointed at Josie in her poncho. “She probably won’t be around all that much, but if she is, just don’t let her drink too much. She’s an angry drunk.”

“Got it,” said the bouncer.

Josie frowned, not catching the words but knowing they were about her. She gripped Natalie by the arm so the girl wouldn’t run off. They had done their part to show what they could do. Once was enough.

“I sent for my guy,” said Linus. “He’ll be set up on that place by sun up. We’ll know what’s going on in the next few days.”

“Thanks, Linus,” said Jack. “That will make things easier for us.”

“Just be ready if they decide to go after the boss,” said Linus.

“We need some way to talk to your boss when we’re not around,” said Jack. “We might not be in the city while we’re running these other quests down.”

“We need cells,” said Josie. “How do we do that?”

“I don’t have an idea,” said Jack. “I certainly don’t know how to build one.”

“Let’s stick to the immediate business,” said Linus. “Then we can worry about

messaging.”

“Good point,” said Jack. “I’ll have to think about it.”

Linus led the way across the casino floor. He waved at someone standing across the room as they went. The other man nodded.

Jack figured that was Mister Pear or Evan’s keeper being given the high sign to bring their guy to the office. One more talk would finish this round of negotiations.

He wondered what crimes Mister Guin sponsored other than legalized gambling and protection rackets.

He may be legit and this was just the way business was run in the city.

Jack nodded at the door men on the office. They nodded back. They examined the others with him, eyes sliding over Linus.

“This is my partner,” said Jack. “If anything happens to me, she’s the one to go to cover my obligations.”

Kray nodded. Jack thought it was Kray.

He knocked on the door with the palm of his hand. A sound came from inside. He opened the door.

Mister Guin leaned back in his chair at the small group entering his office. He

gestured to the visitor chairs. Jack went to the windows and looked out over the floor. Josie followed suit. Natalie sat in one of the chairs. She looked wrung out by what was going on.

“Josie, this is Mister Guin,” said Jack. “He’s a big wheel here in the city. Mister Guin, this is my partner, Josie. If something happens to me before I find out what’s going on with your rival, she’ll figure it out for you.”

“That is acceptable,” said Guin. “The rest of our current business?”

“Linus did most of the heavy lifting,” said Jack. “There were women in cages waiting to be processed at the location. And a few watchmen. Linus helped us move the ones who couldn’t move on their own out of there, and he put a watchman on the building so we can figure out who owns it without a record check.”

“That brings us to Evan Fros,” said Guin.

“Can’t you spare him?,” said Natalie.

“I don’t think that would be good in the long run,” said Guin. “He owes me money and he has no intention of paying off his debt. And he is willing to do anything to gamble, even sell his loved ones. I don’t think that should be rewarded.”

“And he would do it again to the next woman who trusted him,” said Jack. “That’s why he got the tattoos on his face. You’re not the only one he sold to the Montrose.”

“Why would you want to stay with someone who doesn’t value you?,” asked Josie.

“I don’t have anyone else,” said Natalie. “My father doesn’t care about me.”

“He cared enough to try to stab your boyfriend in front of a bunch of people

downstairs,” said Jack. “Just because he doesn’t tell you he cares, doesn’t mean he doesn’t. Someone who didn’t care wouldn’t do that.”

“And he has been waiting for you downstairs for a while,” said Mister Guin. “I would suggest you take this chance to work out your problems outside the Coin, and come to some kind of agreement. And stop choosing idiots as paramours. It will make your life easier in the long run.”

“Natalie?,” said the old man. “Can you come home?”

Natalie twisted in her chair. She looked at her father. They both had tears on their faces.

“Go home,” said Mister Guin. “Put your life in order. If things had gone another way, you would not be here now, and trapped in a situation you couldn’t get out of without help. Take the chance to restart.”

“Thank you,” said Mister Pear. “Natalie, please.”

“You’re right,” said Natalie. “I’ve been a fool.”

“Mistakes happen,” said Jack. “Linus will get you a wagon. Be a little more careful.”

Linus rolled his eyes to say I am not your errand boy, but he put up with it and waved the Pears out of the office.

“Evan,” Jack asked.

“He is in my other office waiting for things to be settled,” said Mister Guin. “And it looks like not all of it is as settled as I would like.”

“If it makes you feel better, ten guys won’t be knocking at your door,” said Jack.

“Thirteen,” said Josie. “Three more died after we started sorting things out.”

“What happened there?,” Jack asked. He had a good idea what had happened. Those three women had known where to find their enemies, and did for them. It wouldn’t be conclusive without finding the bodies, but it was a good explanation.

On the other hand, they could have someone else hunting Montrose too, and he was using the Makeover to make sure his targets were real targets.

Jack thought either was fine as long as they didn’t cross him, or Josie, while they were working on these quests.

Josie shrugged. The quest just told her that part of the organization was gone. It didn’t tell her what happened.

“Let’s get done with the rest of this business,” said Guin. “Then we can sort out what we’re going to do for the future.”

“Shall we?,” said Jack. He made a gesture with one arm.

Guin led the way out of the office. He walked down the stairs at the head of his entourage, waving at customers as he went. He noted the tattooed guests and hoped his new partners didn’t decide to kill them on the premises.

Jack put on his grin as he looked at the moving targets. He could feel the frown on Josie’s face and hoped she didn’t do anything rash. He knew he couldn’t stop her if she wanted to go to town.

One quick Human Bomb in the middle of the casino would kill more people than what he could block with anything he thought he had on his watch.

Maybe he could break the wave with the Angel, but he wouldn’t want to risk that on a quick draw.

Josie had always been faster than him.