If the Money’s Good
Thirty thousand.
That’s what the bounty was on this one.
Some lowlife who torched a civilian complex.
Logan took one last drag of his cigar and crushed it beneath his reinforced combat boot.
The place was nice, considering the district it was in. Dealers and pushers were on most of the corners here. Pimps were trying to push their newest pleasure droids at the doors of every sleazy strip club in the area.
The Black.
The name of the club just didn’t fit. It stood out with its grand lights and well-crafted doors. A haven for scumbags and criminals, Logan wished he would have checked the charts for other possible marks; he could have made a killing.
Wouldn’t expect a punk like the one he was after to be in a place like this; his style ran more for the dives at the far end of the sector.
Logan pulled his coat tightly around him and made his way for the door. The doorman stopped him before he could walk in. He was a cyborg by the look of it, and a piss-poorly assembled one at that.
“Private night tonight, chap” he said in a monotone. Logan could hear the gears in his body whirl as he raised his arm to block his entry.
Logan didn’t need trouble yet, best to let this one roll quietly for the time being.
“Got business.”
“With who?”
“Ya don’t expect me to go slinging names now, do ya?” Logan gave a half smile.
The doorman rolled his shoulders. “You don’t say it, you don’t get in.”
“You want to be the one to tell one of these guys that you turned away an important business partner?”
The cyborg stiffened. The bosses didn’t like to lose business, and if the runt did indeed have an appointment, he could get into a lot of trouble by turning him away. “Your weapons.”
Logan grinned on the inside; these guys should really invest in cerebral implants. He pulled his sidearm out and handed it to the doorman.
“You expect me to believe you only have one,” he asked, eyebrows quirked.
Logan snorted and pulled out another blaster from his hidden shoulder holster, along with the one hidden in a secret compartment on his boot. He looked at the doorman, smiling.
The cyborg sighed and ran a scanner down Logan’s body. He narrowed his eyes at the readings. “You cyborg?”
“Something like that.”
The doorman looked at him closely. “They did good work,” he stopped a moment, adding “You’re not a infiltration unit, are you?”
Logan sighed “Would I carry so many goddamned blasters if I was?”
The doorman cracked a small smile and opened the door. “Ya can pick these up at the front, welcome to the Black, sir.”
Logan shouldered past him and went in.
The place was full of people, some at the bar, others at the booths in the middle of the floor, and a lot in the dark corners in the back.
Logan picked out at least half a dozen marks with respectable bounties as soon as he sat down.
Teach me to check the charts.
He ordered a beer from the human bartender and leaned back against the bar, taking in his surroundings. There were two marks in here that tallied at almost a hundred thousand; he grimaced at the loss as he took a sip of his beer.
“Fuck,” he grunted, putting the bottle back on the bartop “Thought a place like this would have the real thing, not this syntho crap!”
The bartender shrugged. “Real deal costs money pal, and from the look of it, you couldn’t afford it.”
Logan sneered and took another sip of the rancid piss they were passing as brew. The lights of the place flashed in tune to the music they were playing. Dance platforms were at every booth, with several dancers in each.
He reached down and pressed a small button on the forearm scanner he wore. The device flickered on and began feeding information into the contact in Logan’s right eye. He moved his head at a slow pace, scanning each individual. The info that came up listed just about everyone in the place with some kind of criminal record, a prostitute here, gun runner there, even a few lieutenants for various Crim syns.
No trace of my boy yet.
Logan kept the scan up. He also saw a few Black Runs, illegal bounties. He ignored those when he could; they always got messy.
The scan stopped on the far side booth toward the back.
Bingo.
The scan brought up just what he wanted to see.
Subject: St. John Allerdyce
Species: Mutant Human
Height: 5.9
Weight: 9 stone
Mutation: Pyrokinesis
Affiliation: Black Dawn, Reaver, various Crime Syns
Status: Wanted
Crime: Arson, murder, extortion
Guild Edict: Assigned
Reward: Alive, Thirty thousand platinum
Dead, Zero
Logan sipped at his beer. The target was found, now came the wait.
Allerdyce sat in the booth, drinking heavily and laughing, a woman on each arm. They ducked their heads to the table snorting white angel in long lines, and then draining a large gulp from the ale bottle.
Logan remained fixed on him; at the rate Allerdyce was drinking, it wouldn’t be long now. An hour passed and finally Logan’s chance arose. Rising from the booth, Allerdyce walked to the side door in the back.
Logan stood from his stool and threw a plat on the bar for the beer and followed.
Logan swore when he entered the bathroom; it was nicer than some of the places he had lived in, larger most definitely.
Shaking his head, he went and stood at a fresher, right beside Allerdyce.
Logan undid the straps of his pants and did his business; despite it all he did have to go.
Allerdyce had a big relaxed grin on his face as he finished. He zipped up and made to leave. Logan did the same.
Before reaching the door, Logan grabbed Allerdyce by the back of his head and rammed it against the wall. He went down in a heap.
“What the fuck, man!” he screamed, covering his bleeding nose.
Logan stood over him. “St. John Allerdyce, you are wanted for one count of arson and four counts of murder. By the edict of the Hunter’s Guild, I place you under arrest.”
Logan slapped a small pin on the side of his neck and clicked it on. “That’s a suppression chip. Try to remove it and it goes ‘boom’.”
St. John looked up at him as if he were crazy. “Do you know who I am?”
Logan landed a hard punch against the side of his head, knocking him out cold.
He walked over to the sink and rinsed his hands. “Somebody who doesn’t wash his fucking hands.”
Slinging the unconscious man over his shoulder, Logan walked out. He drew stares and he heard questions being asked, but no one made a move toward him. He approached the front desk and the girl behind it gave him a strange look.
“My guns,” he said lightly as he provided his thumb print to match that of the handles.
She still had that look on her face when she brought him his weapons.
Logan slapped Allerdyce on the ass once and smiled. “My boy toy for the night.”
She grimaced and let him sign his guns out.
Walking out of the club, the doorman shook his head “You caused some shit, didn’t you?’
Logan grinned at him, “Not really, poor boy had one too many, is all.”
He didn’t look convinced. “I think you should set him down.”
Logan sighed, it had been goin’ so good so far. “Can’t do that, bub, this guy right here has it coming, and he sure ain’t worth the trouble.”
The sound of a blaster charging rung in his ears. “Maybe, but the boss don’t like people coming into his place and packing paying customers out on their shoulders; it’s bad for business.”
Logan turned slowly and saw the barrel of a blaster pointed at his chest. “So is pulling guns on people.”
“Drop what you’re carrying, or I’m going to be forced to burn a hole through you.”
A normal person would not be able to beat a cyborg in speed and reflexes.
Logan grinned. Good thing he wasn’t one of those.
Snikt…
The blaster fell to the ground in two pieces, the same as the doorman’s cybernetic arm.
Logan planted his claws on either side of the cyborg’s throat, still merely flesh. “That’s it, bub, don’t make me take away what little meat ya still got.”
The doorman grimaced. “I have pain sensors, asshole, that hurt!”
“Just think how bad the rest will feel if I decided to start working ya.” Logan pointed a claw near near the doorman’s eye. “We have an understanding, right?”
Allerdyce moaned and moved a bit. Logan made a face and swung his body a bit, hitting the semi-conscious perp’s head against the wall and rendering him cold again.
“Right?” he asked again, claws still trained on the cyborg.
Slowly, the doorman shook his head yes.
Logan retracted them and walked away.
Down the street in an abandoned lot, Logan touched a button on his forearm control and the stealth switched off on his pride and joy, The Canuck, an older model Stryker Scout ship. Logan had bought it after the War, and rebuilt it from the ground up.
“Daddy’s home, baby.”
The hatch opened and he entered. He placed Allerdyce in one of the holding cells and made ready to depart. He lit a cigar and smiled. Thirty thousand more to a nicely growing pile.
The ship rose from the ground and was off the planet in moments.
Logan reclined in the pilot seat. The autopilot was set; now, just some peace and quiet…
“Logan!”
Too much to hope for.
Logan rotated the chair to come face to face with a holographic image of young woman with green eyes and dark, rich hair with a broad white highlight. “Anna, love it when you drop by unannounced.”
She smirked at Logan. “Yeah, yeah; did ya get yer mark?”
Logan gestured to the back of his ship. “One more sleazy perp ready to be bagged and tagged, thanks to yours truly.”
Anna nodded her head. “Okay, then, that’s a solid thirty grand for you, minus my ten percent representation fee, not a bad score.”
Logan inhaled deeply “Yeah, not too bad. Missed a lot of plats on this one, though. Ya know I saw Wilson fucking Fisk back on that shit hole, do ya know what kind of bounty that guy has on him?”
She shrugged. “If you would check the charts…”
Logan waved it away. “That’s what I have you for, ain’t it?”
“I am your legal rep for the Guild, not your secretary,” she reminded him, with a bit of aggravation.
“Well, get me one, preferably a redhead.”
Anna laughed and started smacking her lips as if she were chewing gum. “Oh, I’m on that now as we speak, Mr. H.” She made her voice high and squeaky-sounding. “Can I get you some coffee, too?”
“Rather have a real beer.”
“Keep up with the pace you’ve been on, and you’ll be able to buy a whole brewery.”
Logan grinned from ear to ear at the thought of that.
“Are you coming back to the Den soon?” she asked, casting a glance over her shoulder. “These Federal guys are getting on my nerves.”
Logan sighed, “Yeah, I’ll be there in a few hours, tell that tight-ass Summers to have his men and my money ready.”
He sat up in the chair and pointed a finger at her, “Don’t let that prick give ya any guff, either. We did his ass a favor by going to that gutter of a planet, I hate Diltora.”
Anna nodded. “I know, I know, I heard the whole thing from Summers. Diltora is outside of Federal territory, that’s why they sought guild help, I still think we should have raised the bounty some for tracking the bastard down for them.”
Logan snickered. “Don’t worry your pretty little head about it, Darlin’, I’ll take care of the finer points when I get back. Have Wade meet me in the hangar, we got to do some work on my baby, and get me some jobs lined up.”
Anna rolled her eyes. “Jeez, don’t you ever take a break?”
“Not when there’s money to be made,” he replied.
“The great Wolverine never stops, does he?”
“Nope.”
Anna sighed; oh, well, more money in her pocket. “I’ll have you something lined up when you get here.”
“Make it the Toynbee Hunt, that little bastard has forty-five thousand on his head; I had my bid in for it a week ago.”
Anna nodded and began going through the guild charts. She came back with that look on her face.
Logan really hated that look.
“What?” he groused.
Anna attempted a weak smile. “Um… the Toynbee file has been closed.”
Logan didn’t quite hear that right. “Say that again.”
“It’s closed. He was brought in two days ago.” Anna braced herself for what was coming.
“SHIIIIIIIIIITTTTT!!”
Anna winced, and started rubbing her ringing ears.
“Who the hell did that, I had a week bid on that contract, and I sure as hell know they didn’t think I was up to the job!” Logan was up out of the chair pacing around. “Was it a certified mark?”
Anna checked. “Yep, it was one of the Guilds, legal and all.”
Logan stopped pacing for a second and thought. There wasn’t anyone he knew that could outbid him on a contract, especially not since he had put in for it a week ago. It would take someone with either a better record than him or…
It dawned on him.
“Who brought Toynbee in?”
Anna hung her head low, at this moment she would rather have been in any other person’s shoes in the universe than her own.
“She did it again, didn’t she?”
Anna did not move, did not speak, did not even breathe…
“Just tell me, Darlin’, is it who I’m thinking it is?” Logan’s teeth were grinding so hard, it was a wonder sparks weren’t flying.
Anna looked up at him with a shy smile and quickly nodded.
“GODDAMMIT, STORM!!!!!!”
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