Jack ate his breakfast and sipped his coffee. He smiled when he found the carafe had enough for another cup. He poured that in his cup and sipped it as he planned his day.
The first thing he had to do was get cleaned up, then get to the place he was supposed to be watching. He thought the Vision would give him a leg up in the looking around department. Once he had something to give Guin, he would hit the mansion and talk to his new partner.
Then he would try to head north to look for the crypt. Once he had that in hand, he would try to think of a way to bury the thing.
He took a shower, and cleaned his clothes, before heading out. He didn’t have any silver on him, but he could get some from the bank on the way to the rival mansion. Maybe he could ask for directions from the clerk at the bank.
He headed for the burned out remains of the Bell Tower. He used that to figure out where the bank was from where he stood. He decided to walk down to the tailor shop before heading over to the Exchange. He might as well try to figure out if the clothes were delivered before the inn went up in smoke.
Jack grinned when he saw the shop was still standing. The grin faded when he saw that at least two of the tailors were marked when he looked through the windows. He had thought Ken had turned them in, but here were two more potential informants.
He decided to go in and ask about the clothes. That would let him test the waters. If he had to put off his other jobs for the day, he could do that.
He pushed in, waving at the staff. The women didn’t look as happy as they had the first time he had come through. They might be stuck with no place to go.
They might be running the shop depending on how things went.
“How’s it going?,” said Jack. “My friend ordered some clothes, but the place where we were staying burned down. I just came in to see if they were ever delivered.”
“What was the name?,” said the woman who approached him. She glanced at the tailors in the back of the shop.
“My name is Jack,” said Jack. “My friend’s name is Josie. She ordered some
adventuring clothes. She was wearing a shirt with a lightning bolt on it when we came in.”
“I remember her,” said the woman. “We still have her clothes. We couldn’t deliver them. How are you doing?”
“We found a place across the city,” said Jack. “Josie has a bounty she has to collect on a bunch of guys with marked up faces. We’re slowly working on that.”
“Really?,” said the woman.
“Yeah,” said Jack. “She should have just accepted a smaller job, but she was mad enough to take the whole thing. You wouldn’t happen to have seen anybody like that?”
She looked over her shoulder. Jack looked at the two tailors. They didn’t seem happy at the betrayal. He grinned at them.
“How’s it going, guys?,” said Jack. He walked past the lady. “You know you guys are good as dead. You should take the chance and run while you can.”
The tailors looked at him. Would they break? Would they fly at him?
One fled to the back of the shop. There might be reinforcements back there, a back exit, maybe weapons.
The other came right at Jack. He swung wildly to knock the stranger down. A kick to the jimmys stopped that. He went to his knees. A hand cracked his head against a display case to take him out of the fight.
“Still got it,” said Jack. He walked to the dividing curtain. He pulled it back a fraction to see what was waiting for him in the back area.
The other tailor had blown by what looked like a room full of assistants and out the back. Where would he run to in his state of fear?
Jack didn’t want to chase someone down, but decided that he should do something. And he had Makkari. He activated his watch. He crossed the space and out the back. The tailor ran down an alley, toward the street beyond. The ruins of the Bell Tower were on the left. He could cross through there if he wanted.
Jack caught up with him and knocked him down at the edge of the alley. He made sure to punch him hard enough to knock the fight out of him. He grabbed the man’s neck and walked him back to the shop, returning to normal as he went.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
“So you know what’s going on,” said Jack. “You’re going to have to explain why a tailor is dealing with traffickers.”
“We ordered Lisa from them,” said the tailor. “She’s turned our business around.”
“Really?,” said Jack. “How?”
“Favors for the customers,” said the tailor.
“That’s bad,” said Jack. “I don’t have to tell you that you’re dead.”
“Please,” said the tailor. “Can’t you do something?”
“Why would I want to?,” said Jack. He grinned at the man. “Josie is going to love ripping you apart. The screaming is the best part.”
“Please,” said the tailor.
“Let’s talk to your victim,” said Jack. “She might want a small measure of revenge for you wrecking her life.”
He walked the tailor back through the apprentices. They watched things with wide eyes. A grin and wave of a hand lied that things were going to be pleasant.
“Are you Lisa?,” Jack asked.
“Yes,” said the woman. She looked at the two tailors. One slept off his beating on the floor, the other sweated in his captor’s hands.
“This is your shop,” said Jack. “You own it free and clear. If you have a problem, you can drop a message at the Silver Coin in my name, or Josie’s. I don’t know how long we’ll be around, but when we get the message, we’ll help you with your problem. I’m going to take these two with me. Drop Josie’s clothes at the Coin and tell the doorman who they’re for. They should hold them for us.”
“All right,” said Lisa. She rubbed her face with her hands.
“If the guy at the Coin gives you any problem, tell him that Mister Guin authorized it for me,” said Jack. He grinned. He wondered how the godfather was going to take that.
“I have it,” said Lisa. “Thank you for this.”
“Good luck with the business,” said Jack. “It’ll be a little bit of work, but I’m sure you’ll be able to do it.”
He turned to his two victims. How did he do the rest? He suspected that he had someone in his watch that could carry the three of them easily. He went down the list until he saw something that attracted his attention.
He decided this hero might be the one he needed as a transporter if his power worked the same as his name. He picked Gravity and smiled when he became nearly invisible with a black outline shimmer showing him where he stood. He reached out with his power and grabbed the two tailors. All three of them floated out of the shop.
Jack decided that this hero was what he needed for heavy lifting when he couldn’t use his Hulk. He carried his victims into the air above the city. He ignored the cries from the tailor he hadn’t knocked out.
“Shut up,” Jack said. “I have been dealing with the Montrose since I got here. Pity has flown. It’s time for you to pay for what you did.”
“Please,” said the tailor. “Please don’t kill me.”
“Why shouldn’t I?,” said Jack. “My partner definitely will when she catches up to you. You better come up with something better than please.”
“We were just starting out,” said the tailor. “We needed someone who could draw the customers in. The sex thing came afterward with some of our customers. It built our business up.”
“Maybe you should have found a woman who would do that willingly,” said Jack. “There has to be some around.”
He released his grip and let the two men fall from the top of Gravity’s flight line. He watched them head for the city. He supposed he should have put some English on them so they fell outside the wall.
Jack headed down, aiming for the Coin. He better tell someone there to expect the clothes. He didn’t want the doorman to turn the package away.
Josie would be mad as a wet hen to get her clothes only to lose them again.
He returned to normal. The bouncers hadn’t come on duty yet. He tried the door, finding it was locked.
He knocked. He didn’t need to tell them, but thought it would be rude if he didn’t. He checked his watch. Did he have someone to get through locks? The timer was about half full.
He knew half of his name list could get through the door if they wanted.
The door opened. The manager looked out, glare and puzzlement mixing. Jack grinned.
“Master Quint,” said Jack. “I took on some work for Master Guin. I have a package coming from a tailor shop for my partner. I told them to deliver it here. I want you to guard it with your life when it comes.”
“Why should I do that?,” asked Quint. He had a casino and bar to get ready. He didn’t have time for some independent contractors.
“My partner was the lady that came in with me last night,” said Jack. “She will be peeved if I tell her that her clothes was lost in transit. And guess who she will be peeved at the most.”
“I see how this is going,” said Quint. “I’m not guarding some clothes with my life, but I will hold them for you.”
“Thanks,” said Jack. “Linus said you were a good guy, and he was right.”
“Go away until we open,” said Quint. “I got things to do.”
He closed the door in Jack’s face.
Jack checked his watch. He still had to take care of his checking. He switched to Makkari and ran over to the address from the slip he had been given. He changed back as he took in the place.
Guin’s rival, Donald Corle, owned a townhouse behind a fence with a high gate. Other townhouses surrounded the place so it was one among many. How much money lived in the neighborhood?
Jack took up a position across the street. He made sure he had some kind of cover before he called on the Vision. Black eyes took in the townhouse and broke it down for him.
Nobody was home.
There should be someone, but there wasn’t a butler, or maid on duty. Did this guy live alone?
Jack switched the Vision off. He hummed to himself as he thought. He decided that he had to get in and look around.
It was better to make sure the guy was gone, then he could talk to Guin about what the godfather wanted to do.
He used Quicksilver to get through the gate, and into the house. The place wasn’t airtight against his liquid form. He changed back and searched the house from top to bottom. Everything was gone except for the furniture and furnishings.
But there was a vault and he contemplated opening it and seeing what was inside.