X-Squad Pawn City

by Hannibal Adofo

  “No, he doesn’t.”

  “The plane. What’s on it?”

  “I honestly have no idea.”

  “Then I strongly suggest you help my people find out, as I am quickly running out of patience.”

  10

  Whistler was upset about deviating from his norm. He never cared about meeting the planes before, and for damn sure didn’t want to start now.

  “All of you need to stay on board,” Whistler said, pointing to the twins, Gemma, and Seven. “Since you escaped the vault, you’ve been hot. No identities have been released, but there’s been plenty of speculation, with names and pictures circulating through the usual channels. And, in case you were wondering, ‘honor among thieves’ is a crock. Best believe if anyone here thinks they’ll get a shitload of cash, they’ll be turning on your asses in a heartbeat.”

  At Whistler’s request, they were all gathered in the big room.

  “You sure about that? Cabin fever is getting to me, man,” Little Lister said.

  “I second that,” Gemma added.

  “Look, the best thing would be if none of you were here in the first place, but it’s too damn late for that,” Whistler said. “I have enough shit on my plate right now, least of which is a plane full of fugitive cop killers.” He looked at the twins. “I came here to tell you this myself, out of respect for your father, but I can’t help you. I can’t help any of you.”

  “All we need is fuel. Silas assured us he would make arrangements,” X-1 said.

  “Yes, he made a generous offer, but I declined.”

  X-1 stood. “That is unacceptable.”

  VP-23 stepped forward. “Is that a threat?”

  “And if it is?”

  “Hold on,” Switch said, then motioned to Skip.

  “We might have enough to take off,” Skip said. “But reaching our destination is another story.”

  “You’re better off taking Lister’s offer,” X-1 explained. “Looks like you’re stuck with us, at least until someone figures out who we are.”

  “What the hell would that have to do with me?” Whistler asked.

  “It has everything to do with you,” X-1 said. “Once you let us land, we became your problem. We’re criminals, international ones at that. What’s to keep us from telling law enforcement that you aided us with our escape? All we wanted to do is leave.”

  “Or you reconsider my original offer,” Whistler stated. “Then I can do much more than provide a few fuel cells.”

  “We have our own issues to deal with, without becoming involved in yours.”

  “I understand why you feel that way, but think about it some more. I can be very generous.”

  Switch deadpanned, “Just get us the fuel.”

  “You the hacker?” Whistler asked.

  “What makes you say that?”

  “You look like a hacker. Even with the nameless ‘uniform,’ you’ve got the look: the shitty haircut, the funky, pale skin, and, no offense, the body type. You’re way to skinny. Like you’ve lived in a basement for twenty years and never worked out a day in your life.” He turned his attention to Fizz. “Or maybe it’s you. Your haircut is pretty shitty too. But I am pretty sure he’s the hacker. I can’t get a read on what you’re supposed to be…”

  “What makes you think I’m not a soldier?” Fizz said.

  Whistler pointed at Bishop. “He’s the soldier. They always have a certain look, even when they’ve gone bad.”

  “You’re good at reading people,” Switch admitted, “but it doesn’t change anything.”

  “I need a hacker; maybe even having a solid-matter one wouldn’t hurt. You must be good, otherwise you would have never pulled off what you did at the vault. I’ll bet I pay you more than this guy who’s acting like he’s in charge.” He pointed at X-1.

  “He doesn’t pay me anything,” Switch responded.

  Whistler motioned to the exit. “Then come with me.”

  Switch shook his head. “I owe these guys my life. If they need me, I’m sticking around.”

  “If he’s staying, I’m staying,” Fizz said.

  X-1 smiled. “Division is clearly not the way to get us to fight your little war for you.”

  “Common sense should get you to fight my war,” Whistler said. “After I fuel your ship, where will you go?”

  “That was never your problem. Let us worry about that.”

  “Fine. I can spare a few fuel cells and we will assist your pilot with any maintenance he may need. It will take some time, so in the meanwhile, I suggest you all think about my offer,” Whistler said before exiting the plane.

  Bishop looked at Switch. “Don’t stay on my account.”

  “You got me out of the detention center.”

  “We got each other out, so as far as I’m concerned, that makes us even. The rest of us are wanted, but you never left the plane. You might still have a life after all of this.”

  “I’m still a fugitive, Bishop,” Switch explained. “The escape alone could get me sentenced to the vault. Why do you sound like you want me to leave?”

  “I want you to do what’s best for you,” Bishop said before turning around and walking out of the room, feeling some confusion in his gut.

  “Maybe we should consider helping Whistler,” Quato said. “He’s always been trustworthy to us and, right now, it’s not like we have much of a plan.”

  “Once we have fuel, we will make one,” X-1 told him. He looked at Switch. “I appreciate you staying. We do need you, but if you want to go, I won’t stop you.”

  With those words, X-1 walked out of the room.

  The Listers and Quato took this as a cue to leave themselves, with Little Lister saying, “Damn, I was looking forward to getting off this fucking thing,” as they walked out.

  Switch looked at Fizz. “What do you think?”

  “You think he would take Gemma?”

  “No, but at some point they’re going to figure out she is the key to the whole thing.”

  Gemma stood. “Don’t stay on my account. You’ve done enough for me already.”

  “I’m stuck here as well,” Seven stated. “So my opinion doesn’t count for much, but if I were you, I’d take the offer.”

  “I’m staying,” Fizz said.

  “If he’s in, I’m in,” Switch added.

  “I think your loyalty is misplaced,” Seven rose to her feet. “You’re all being loyal to X-1, but he holds Lionheart’s best interests at heart…which means that may override any ties he has to the group. But you know what else that means? If any of you get in his way, he won’t hesitate to take you out. That’s just what the nameless do. Trust me, I know.”

  Switch was more than curious about what she meant and if it had to do with her past. Since they had broken her out of the vault, she’d been pretty quiet, if not mute. Even Bishop didn’t know how she came to be in the vault or what she did before becoming a prisoner. He wanted to ask, but instead he watched Seven walk out the door.

  11

  Dean, another member of the security team, approached Benji as quiet as a six-foot-eight, three-hundred-and-fifty-pound man could be.

  “We’ve got trouble downstairs, boss,” he said.

  When Benji was in a drinking mood, which he was, it was better to leave him alone, but the man didn’t think that he should wait for him to finish. VP-23 was there too, but he wasn’t drinking.

  Benji gave Dean a look. “Yeah, and? Don’t I pay you to handle trouble? If it’s too much for you get Sly, he should be around.”

  “I think you should see this,” Dean said.

  Benji swallowed down his drink and took a glance at the naked woman dancing on his stage before rising to his feet. “I need to talk to Felicity anyway.”

  Dean made a face.

  “What?”

  “Probably be better you see for yourself. It’s pretty bad.”

  …

  Downstairs, Benji’s place oozed luxury and opulence, once the elevators opened to w
hat looked like the lobby of a five-star hotel.

  The rooms lining the hallways were immaculately designed; some had different themes and names, like the red room, the bondage room, and what have you. Each room could be rented by the quarter hour.

  Benji had spent a massive amount of money. It was tough keeping the place so nice. Hiring good maids and a competent concierge wasn’t the easiest thing to do in Pawn City. Hiring an assassin, though, that would be easy.

  Dean stayed silent as he led Benji down the hall to one of the rooms. He opened the door and stepped aside.

  Benji stepped in, followed by VP-23, and immediately saw Felicity’s impossibly red lips and deep brown eyes. The problem was that her face was on the wrong side of her body. Someone had twisted her head a full one hundred and eighty degrees.

  Needless to say, she didn’t survive it.

  “Someone check the surveillance?”

  “Boss, you banned surveillance, remember?” Dean said. “No cameras allowed in the rooms.”

  “No shit, but her client had to walk through the lobby to get to her. If he met her upstairs, he had to take the elevator down.”

  “There was a glitch.”

  “What kind of glitch?”

  “Lost about an hour.”

  “Oh really?” Benji said. “The exact same hour someone tried to rip Felicity’s head off?”

  “Yeah.”

  “And that doesn’t seem odd to you?”

  “You don’t really pay me to think, boss.”

  Benji conceded that Dean had a point. He had told his men those exact words plenty of times. “It would take a strong person to turn somebody’s head completely around like that. Anybody like you been in today?”

  “Like me? Like someone from Nebraska?”

  “No, like a stimmer, you idiot.”

  “No, I would’ve noticed. You do pay me to watch for threats, and people like me can be unstable sometimes.”

  Benji nodded. Dean was probably on the money. He may not have been too bright, but he was damn good at his job.

  “Clean it up,” Benji told him. “And keep it quiet.”

  He left thinking he may need to talk to Whistler again.

  12

  Seven was looking for Bishop looking as she walked into his room. She enjoyed her time with the ex-soldier. He didn’t ask questions and stayed quiet most of the time, and quiet was what she preferred. And, unlike X-1, Bishop seemed like a caring human being.

  He didn’t talk to her about business or have directives for her to follow. He usually never offered up anything about his past. Seven didn’t ask and didn’t want to.

  Earlier, Bishop had opened up, alluding to something that had happened to him. He knew the men giving Whistler problems, General Grieves and Major Ferris. He talked about them as if they were just random acquaintances that he knew from his stint in the military, but she knew it went much deeper than that.

  Bishop wasn’t in his room, to her surprise. She moved from his room to the kitchen, where he often could be found, but instead she found Quato and the twins.

  “Have you seen Bishop?” she asked.

  They all shook their heads.

  Seven then took her search to the armory. Like most military men, Bishop had a thing for weapons, and X-1 had them in numerous shapes and sizes.

  He was nowhere to be found. She did, however, notice one of the multi-firearms, a few other guns, and a significant amount of ammunition were missing.

  She quickened her pace through the plane and soon bumped into Skip. “I’m looking for Bishop. Have you seen him?”

  Skip shook his head. “Not lately. He was on the observation deck earlier, probably to keep an eye on the guys installing the new power cells. He said he thought they looked shady.”

  “Thanks.”

  She made her way to the deck feeling hopeful.

  The observation deck had a hologram cloak. It was why she could stand outside and not worry about being seen. She moved to the edge and peered out into Pawn City.

  “Looking for Bishop?”

  She turned to see X-1 standing there. It bothered her he could get so close without her noticing.

  “I am. Have you seen him?”

  “No.”

  “I have a bad feeling.”

  “Yes. He appears to have raided the armory.”

  “You know?”

  “Of course. It’s my job to know everything”

  “Something about Grieves and Ferris bothered him.”

  “It should,” X-1 said. “He was nearly convicted of child killings because of them. And was convicted of double murder as a direct result of that trial. Ferris was the officer responsible for the child killing those charges. And the main witness for the prosecution’s name was Grieves.”

  “That can’t be good.”

  “I surmise he took some of my weapons and left. I have no doubt he plans to kill them.”

  “How did you know all of that about Bishop?” Seven asked.

  “It wasn’t that hard to find. Plus, I do extensive research before committing to work with anyone.”

  “What do you know about me?”

  “We aren’t exactly working together,” he replied. “Your presence here is an anomaly.”

  “Yes, but we have a common cause.”

  “For the moment.”

  “We need to get Bishop before he gets killed.”

  “He made his choice.”

  “You’re fine with it?” she asked.

  “No, but he did what we asked him to do with helping to rescue Gemma. I am not holding any of you hostage here. He is free to do whatever he wants, as are you.”

  “Even Gemma?”

  “For her own sake and for the sake of my employer, it is best that she remain under my protection.”

  Seven nodded. “But I’m free to leave the plane?”

  “It would be a foolish thing to do, but yes.”

  “I assume you’ve done your own research on Grieves and Ferris?”

  “I had Switch do it,” X-1 said. “He’s better at it than I am.”

  “Does Bishop have a chance?” Seven asked.

  “Slim to none.”

  “Have a chance at what?”

  They turned to see Fizz standing with Gemma.

  “Tell them,” Seven said to X-1. “I’m going to go for Bishop.”

  “Are you also planning to steal my guns?”

  “Borrow, yes. I would like to borrow a few guns, if you please.”

  “Do you want the intel I have on the general?” he asked.

  “I’m just going to bring back Bishop.”

  “No, you’re not. Get the intel. At the very least, you can give it to him when he refuses to come back.”

  “Can the two of us take them out?” Seven asked.

  “No, but take the intel anyway. And do something to change your appearance—make yourself look a little less like a wanted felon.”

  Seven nodded and walked back into the plane. “I’ll be back.”

  “I hope so,” X-1 said. “When the ship is fueled, we will be leaving, whether you’re on board or not.”

  “Is someone going to tell us what the hell is going on?” Fizz asked.

  “No,” X-1 followed Seven into the plane. “I don’t think any of us will.”

  13

  Grieves was pleased to see Darlene grace the entrance to his quarters. He could see why Whistler kept her around. If he didn’t need her skills, he might consider taking her for himself. Maybe later, when she saw the wisdom of the Lord Inferno’s plan, she could be his.

  He’d had some research done on her and found she would be an excellent addition to his army. Not only, as a hacker, were her skills up to par, but she had been trained for years in a private corporate army, so she had some practical skills as well as being a tech.

  He noticed her eyes were on king, his hybrid lion, a big cat with a little grizzly DNA. He could tell she was afraid, and rightfully so.

  Without s
tepping into the room, she said, “Evan sent me.”

  Grieves waved his hand to dismiss the escort who’d brought her here. “And why is that?” he asked.

  She held up a cube controller. “I’m told your asset inside saw one man get off the plane. He sent a hologram.”

  She booted up the cube with a voice command, and an image of Bishop Mason appeared in the room.

  “The Lord Inferno has smiled upon me once again,” Grieves said.

  Darlene could tell he was waiting for her to respond, but she didn’t want to engage him and ask him any questions, so instead she kept it to information only. “Another asset sent in a report that said he took care of a potential problem.”

  “What problem?”

  “A former member of your cult. She’s been neutralized.”

  “Ambitious, but I like that,” Grieves said. “Relay the message that if he also wants to neutralize the man he saw exiting the plane, I would be most grateful.”

  Darlene nodded and left, going back to her workstation to follow through on his command. She hadn’t gotten far when she heard Grieves say, “Make sure the asset sends images. This is a man I would enjoy seeing executed.”

  Grieves watched one of his soldiers walk her back to the room they’d set aside for the tech team, enjoying the view of her backside, before he went to find Major Ferris. The major would want to know that the man who almost killed him was finally about to get what he deserved. Grieves wished he could do it himself, but he didn’t become the general of the Inferno army letting his feelings get in the way of his decisions.

  14

  “What’s going on?” Switch asked as he joined Fizz and Gemma on the observation deck.

  Fizz pointed down to a shapely woman walking away from them in a very short dress. She hauled a very big purse, which made sense, since the skintight skirt she wore didn’t have much in the way of pockets.

  Switch’s mouth dropped to the floor. “Is that Seven?”

  “Yup,” Fizz couldn’t help himself but stare.