Dial H for Heroics

Jack thought he looked okay. He had built some clothes out of thin air to resemble a black suit like MIB. All he needed were the shades. He could work on that later if he needed them.

He stepped into the office. Elaine looked up from her desk. She squinted at him.

“Do I look okay?,” said Jack.

“I suppose,” said Elaine. “I think it’s better than what you usually wear.”

“That cuts, Elaine,” said Jack. “What you doing?”

“Reading about the Dark Rider,” said Elaine. “I think I have something that you can use.”

“Go ahead,” said Jack. He waved his hand for her to keep talking.

“These books I found have mentions of paths that the Dark Rider used for his previous attacks,” said Elaine. “I need to mark down the paths on the map. I think there may be a source somewhere you can use to start your search.”

“That’s great,” said Jack. “I knew it was a good idea to hire you.”

“Did you?,” said Elaine.

“Not really,” said Jack. “But I didn’t have anything to lose. I have to go talk to this mobster. Tell Josie I will be at the Silver Coin, maybe trying out my Longshot, or Domino. Worse case, I might have to use the Human Torch.”

“Will she know what any of that means?,” asked Elaine.

“Maybe the Human Torch,” said Jack. “Everyone knows who the Human Torch is.”

“I don’t,” said Elaine.

“I’ll tell you about him when I get back,” said Jack. “Stay out of trouble, and keep an eye out. These clowns might try something while I’m out.”

“I only have to hold them off until Mistress Fox returns,” said Elaine. She petted the crossbow on her desk. “After that, the situation will turn in my opinion.”

“Tell her not to set for another syndicate busting quest,” said Jack. “One is enough.”

“I’ll try,” said Elaine.

Jack offered a grin. He tugged his jacket to straighten it. He headed downstairs. He stepped outside and made sure the door was locked. He thought all of the shutters were down except for the one over the door. He supposed if someone was waiting for him, they could take his key from him. Then they could just walk in.

Maybe he should think about an alarm for when they were away from the hole in the wall.

He called on the Falcon and glided over the city. It took a bit, but he found the casino tucked away in the middle of what could be called Downtown. He landed in an alley and switched back. He let the watch recharge before he walked over to the door.

A line was stalled at the door. Jack nodded at the bouncers at the door. He recognized a third man as the gate goon from the mansion he had threatened to burn down. The man nodded without a neck when he saw Jack standing there. He gestured for one of the doormen to let the visitor pass in front of the rest of the que.

Comments were answered with stoic expressions that said shut up.

“This is a nice place,” said Jack. He looked around as the goon led him across the floor. “How much do you have to rig things?”

“Don’t know,” said the goon. He nodded at a bald man on the other side of the room. “That’s Quint. He runs the place for the boss. He would know about anything like that.”

“Cool,” said Jack. “Maybe I can pick up some quick gold after the meeting.”

“The boss is upstairs,” said the goon. “What’s the deal with you?”

“What do you mean?,” asked Jack. He paused at the bottom of the stairs to look at the goon who could make two of him.

“You are about to meet one of the most powerful men in the city,” said the goon. “He could have you assassinated like that. You should be scared.”

Jack frowned in thought. He nodded. He should be scared. He didn’t know why he wasn’t except the promise of what Josie would do.

“Turn around for a second and look at the floor,” said Jack. He gestured at the gaming area. “You see all the guys with the tattoos on their faces?”

The goon looked at the crowd. His eyes tracked across the room slowly. He nodded.

“My partner made an unbreakable vow to kill all hundred thousand of them,” said Jack. “They’ll be dead before we pull out of the city, one way or the other. She did that over a personal attack. She doesn’t really like me that much, but if she thought this was something personal against her, there’s no telling what she would do to you.

"All I want is a talk. Maybe ask about the lay of the land. Then I’m going to get dinner and go home. I still have to find some monster in the North before it becomes a problem and heads down here to the city if it can reach down this far. I don’t want to find out if it can if you know what I mean.”

“Are you kidding?,” asked the goon.

“The goons that held the house I’m holding got what they deserved a little faster than the rest of these,” said Jack. He put on his grin. “You don’t have anything to worry about because you’re not marked.”

“I’m glad for that,” said the goon.

The minion led the way up the stairs. He nodded at the guys on guard in their livery. Jack thought the coins as buttons on the double breasted jackets were a nice touch. His plain suit didn’t look that impressive next to that.

One of the guards knocked on the door. Someone inside made a noise. He opened the door for Jack and the goon to step inside. They did, and the minion stepped to one side to get out of the way of any trouble.

“Hello,” said the man behind the desk. He seemed like a former goon made good. His suit was good quality in blue and silver. He had smoothed his hair down with oil. “I’m Mory Guin. I employ the men you injured, and own the house you threatened to burn down.”

“I’m Jack,” said Jack, grinning. “Your guys tried to extort me after I told them I wasn’t giving them any money. I thought about really hurting them but I didn’t want to ramp up into a war with your organization. I just want to be left alone to conduct my business.”

“And what is your business?,” asked Guin. He gestured for Jack to sit in a visitor chair.

Jack walked over to windows over the gaming floor. He looked down on the people burning their money below.

“I have a couple of jobs that I have to do,” said Jack. “My partner has decided that she is going to wipe out the Montrose to the last man. When we get done, we’re heading home. You’ll probably never see us again unless we get called back to do another job. Apparently an acquaintance of ours has been coming here for similar jobs before we got the call.”

“Do these jobs interfere with my business?,” asked Guin.

“The Montrose one, probably,” said Jack. He turned from the window. “The others most likely not unless you’re in cahoots with a bog hound, and a Dark Rider of Sachuminou. I also am supposed to find a lost princess.”

“Those are bigger menaces usually handled by adventurers,” said Guin. “I only deal with those types of things when they get close to Hawk Ridge.”

“I don’t know how close these will hit,” said Jack. “I just know I’m expected to stop them. I don’t want to take you on, or deal with you other than under friendly circumstances. But I can’t have your goons showing up at my place demanding money. That’s out. And for Pete’s sake, tell them to be a little better with their money collecting on my street. My partner might decide to put an oar in and she bears grudges.”

“Understood,” said Guin. “What will you give me for this?”

“Saving the city isn’t enough?,” asked Jack.

“Not really,” said Guin.

“What do you want in exchange?,” asked Jack.

“I need a job done, and my men say you’re a wizard,” said Guin. “I think you can handle this for me, and I will extend my protection to your whole street.”

“What’s the job?,” said Jack. He rubbed his chin. He should have seen this coming.

“I think one of my rivals is getting ready to go to war with me,” said Guin. “I want him dissuaded from doing that.”

“And you think I can do that?,” asked Jack.

“I don’t need him killed,” said Guin. “I just need him looked at so I can figure out how to apply my own pressure.”

“And if you can apply this pressure, he works for you,” said Jack. “Is that what we’re talking about?”

“Essentially,” said the mobster.

“If he’s in with Montrose, he’s dead,” said Jack. “There’s nothing I can do about that.”

“That will be up to you to find out,” said Guin. “No one has seen him in the last few days.”

A knock sounded on the door. Guin looked at the interruption. He waved at his doormen. One opened the door. Two men were shoved in the room. The mobster gestured for them to sit down.

“Mister Kray?,” he asked of one of the men at the door.

“These two started fighting on the floor,” said one of the giants. “We thought it best to separate them and bring them up.”

“This man sold my daughter,” said the obvious aggressor. He pointed at the other newcomer.

“I don’t know what he’s talking about,” said the other man, sweating on his facial tattoos.

“How did you get that face?,” asked Jack. He pointed at his own.

“I don’t know,” said the tattooed man. “Why? What does it matter?”

“You got that from a hex,” said Jack. “So Mister Guin and I are talking about a deal but I don’t really think he knows what he’s buying into. So I’m going to ask you what happened to the girl. And you’re going to tell me. If you lie, or refuse to answer, you’re going to have a problem. You guys might want to step back. This might be a little messy.”

“If you kill him, you have to dispose of the body,” said Guin. He put everything on the top of his desk in a drawer. He gestured at his men to move to the door. “The room is soundproof. No one will hear him.”

“You might want to move, grandpa,” said Jack. He waved the other man to stand beside the goons. Old leather and cotton creaked as he moved.

“What did you do with the girl?,” asked Jack. He didn’t grin.

“I don’t know anything about any girl,” said the proposed victim of violence in his chair. He looked up at Jack. “That guy is mad. I’ve never seen him before in my life.”

“You should have saved your lie,” said Jack. He touched his watch. Something like a giant wolf stood up in his place. Teeth as big around as thumbs and hooked together like a crocodile’s parted to bite.

“I sold her!,” said the potential dinner. “I sold her!”

Jack became normal. He shook his head at the man.

“Where did you sell her?,” said Jack. The who wasn’t that important. He would be talking to the guy soon enough as it was.

“Down by the Gold Exchange,” said the tattooed man. “There’s a building there.”

“That’s where you took the girl?,” asked Jack. “What was supposed to happen after that?”

“What do you mean?,” asked the ex-boyfriend. “I handed her over and took the money so I could win back what I lost here.”

Jack covered his face with his hand for a moment. He punched the man in the face. The man rocked back in his chair.

“He sold my daughter?,” asked the other man. He reached for the knife that was no longer on his belt.

“I’m going down to see if I can get her back,” said Jack. “If you don’t mind holding this guy here as a show of good faith, I would appreciate it. Either I, or my partner, will be back to collect him when I get done.”

“So you’ll help me with my problem?,” said Guin.

“As long as you’re not making things worse for me, and accept the limitations on things, I’ll look into it,” said Jack. “Fair dealing gets fair dealing.”

“I understand,” said Guin. “Take the old man downstairs and put him somewhere he can get something to eat and drink while he waits. Take this other man to the other office to wait.”

“You can’t do this,” said the tattooed man. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“You owe me a considerable amount of money that I will have to write off,” said Guin. “You sold another human being and didn’t pay what you owe with the money you got. I have been informed that anyone with the markings that you have are marked for death. I have nothing to lose by dropping you over the wall. If Jack hadn’t asked me to hold on to you as part of our negotiations, I would have Linus and Charles show you what I do to welshers.”

“You still might be able to do that,” said Jack. He grinned. “Back home, they used to bury people in the ground and let poisonous insects do what they wanted.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” said Guin.

Jack didn’t question where he would get the insects. There had to be something in the surrounding forests that could be used. And Guin could probably ship in anything he needed if he wanted to hurt someone bad enough.

“Can you find my Natalie?,” asked the distraught dad.

“I don’t know,” said Jack. “I’ll see what I can do.”

He tried not to groan at the sound of quests being accepted in his head. He shook his head. He should have known something like this would happen. It was best to get on it if he wanted to have things settled.

Jack headed downstairs and crossed the floor to the front door. He paused by the bouncers.

“I have to do a job,” he told the one on the right. “I’ll be back as soon as I get done.”

“I’ll keep an eye out,” said the man. He waved the next couple inside to lose whatever they could.

Jack jogged down the street, working the dial to get Makkari. He summoned the red and white speedster. Two blinks later he stood in front of his door. He let the Eternal go so he could use his key to get inside.

“Hello, milord,” said Beatrice from the living room as he entered.

“Hey, Bea,” said Jack. He pulled off his jacket. “Is Josie around?”

“She’s upstairs with Elaine,” said the oldest girl. She pointed up at the office.

“Thanks,” he said. He jogged up the stairs and stuck his head inside the office. He pulled off his tie. “I need a favor, Jo.”

“What’s going on?,” asked Josie. She exchanged a look with Elaine. “Elaine told me that you were out at one of the casinos after dealing with some goons.”

“I’m working for the local godfather,” said Jack. “There’s a missing girl. I said I would find her. I’ll tell you about the rest on the way.”

“I thought we weren’t going to get involved,” said Josie. She smiled.

“This guy and the girl’s father showed up at the casino,” said Jack. “I have to get my adventuring clothes. Loverboy sold the girl to get money to gamble. They’re both waiting for me at the casino to see if I can work some kind of trick for them.”

“All right,” said Josie. “Loverboy was involved with Montrose, wasn’t he?”

“He’s got the Jack Makeover,” said Jack as he went to his room. He stepped inside and closed the door. “He doesn’t have long to live if I’m reading Guin right.”

He pulled the black and red t-shirt and jeans from the storage space he had built. He quickly changed and put his suit away. He liked that suit. It had come out better than he had thought it would.

He stepped out of his room. Josie wore a poncho over her clothes. He glanced at it.

“I got it on the way home after we ate,” said Josie. “The girls have a teacher now. We’re supposed to meet him tomorrow.”