Memphis had been eyeballing me as soon as I entered the Atomic Wrangler but I hadn't paid him much attention because I wanted to speak to James Garrett before I dealt with him. Unfortunately Memphis wasn't in the mood for waiting. The tall man stood and laconically made his way over to my seat at the bar with his posse following. Like most in his line of work Memphis looked like a cowboy from the sarsaparilla adverts but unlike most in his line of work Memphis was pretty on the level. Sure he'd hunt you down with all the intensity, and none of the finesse, of a rabid Deathclaw if you crossed him but he was on the level. The problem most people had with Memphis came when they confused his civility with weakness.
The tall cowboy moseyed up, leant on the bar beside me and tipped his hat at Jessica.
"Ma'am, Sorry to interrupt your evenin' but I need to borrow Jay here." He said politely but in a tone that suggested his intrusion wasn't up for discussion. I looked at the half empty glass of whiskey and quickly drained it, I would need it.
"Wait here, I'll only be a moment."
"Good man Jay, Never have no trouble with you." Memphis said as he slapped me on the shoulder. He tried to keep his hand there but I shrugged it off, I knew where we heading.
#
When Memphis, his posse and me stepped onto the streets of Freeside the sun had almost completely set, only a dim halo remained behind the strip in the distance.
"How's business Jay? Picking up any?" Memphis asked as he walked me around a corner opposite the silver rush.
"Yeah Memphis. I'm rolling in caps, I don't pay debts cause I like your sparkling company. Can we get this over with, I got things to do."
"Ok Pardner, your call." Memphis said as we came to a stop in one of the more secluded regions of Freeside. "Red Lucy wants her caps or she wants you hurt. Do you have em?"
I pulled out the 250 caps Jessica had given me and handed them to Memphis. He quickly counted the caps and clicked his tongue. "That'll go some way but I still gotta lay hands on ya, Red Lucy said you been gettin' off light, sets a bad example."
I shrugged and tried to look calm while Memphis pulled on a pair of knuckle dusters and adopted a boxing stance.
"Ya'll ready."
I took a deep breath, braced for impact and nodded.
#
When I came to a few seconds later I was propped against a wall with Memphis waving a finger in front of my eyes.
"You ok, Jay? I hadda blood ya, Red wanted it."
"Yeah fine, no hard feelings." I muttered. I could feel blood running down my face from a wound above my right eye.
"You'll have a hell of a shiner but the women love it."
"You'd know."
Memphis laughed at the weak joke as I struggled to my feet and pulled out a cigarette. I offered Memphis one but he declined by pointing to the large cigar clenched between his teeth.
"Stay outta the Thorn till you get this squared with Lucy. Hopefully the next time you see me ya can buy me a beer." The Cowboy grinned.
"That would be a welcome change." I gingerly prodded the cut above my eye and wondered what the damage would be.
"Anyway Jay, I got other less trustworthy banditos to track down. Just lay off the gambling for a while and get the caps together." He slapped me on the back then set off towards Freeside.
#
I was feeling like sack of battered Brahmin crap by the time I made it back the Wrangler, of course it was just my luck Hadrian, the Ghoul comedian, was starting up his set. My arrival and condition didn't escape his rotten gaze.
"…and here comes Freeside's favourite resident Shamus. Looks like the date didn't go so well eh? That's a shame he was pretty too!"
I wasn't in the mood so I dropped my hand to .44 Magnum on my hip and left it there while glaring at the ghoul.
"Yeesh! Tough crowd!" Hadrian said before moving on with his set.
Back at the bar James Garrett had appeared and was speaking to Jessica, she was leaning back on the stool in an effort to create distance but Garrett just leaned closer, he seemed to have that repellent affect on women. I returned to my seat and Jessica let out a gasp when she saw my eye.
"What happened? Are you alright?"
"Yeah fine." I said to her. "Hey Garrett, get me a cloth and a stimpak." James turned and started rummaging behind the bar. "A clean cloth." I clarified after seeing him reach for the rag he wiped the bar down with.
"That man seemed nice, did he do this to you?"
"Yep and he is nice, it's just his job is nasty."
Jessica scooted her bar stool closer to mine and lowered her voice. "This guy is very strange, do you think he can help us?"
"Yes and yes." I said quickly as James returned. I tended to my wounds while speaking to him. Garrett was a good source of information because he was often sober around drunks and drunks can't hold their tongues, he also had something to hide which meant I had him by the balls.
"I want information about a package. A very expensive package that's gonna be part of some deal going down in Vegas."
"I don't know anything about…"
"Do we have to do this everytime?"
"Do what?"
I sighed and decided to try a different tactic.
"I found the FISTO." I didn't whisper it but in the noisy bar it was unlikely anyone heard me speak and if they did very few would know what a FISTO was. Still it startled Garrett and he told me to hush up.
"I don't know what you talking about." He said eying Jessica.
"Tell me about the package deal and I'll tell you where to get the… thing."
Garret's beady eyes darted from my face to Jessica's for a few seconds before he finally spoke.
"Ok, Ok. Caleb said he heard about something from Orris. He was taking an out-of-towner up to the strip. He said he was in town for some kind of auction."
"Did he say anything else? Like the dimensions of the package?" Jessica asked a little excitedly.
"Don't know about that you'd have to ask Caleb or Orris."
"How'd you know it's the right auction?" I asked
"I don't but it's all I got, besides how many mysterious package auctions can there be?"
"Good for you that I don't believe in coincidences." I stood up and made a move for the door, Jessica quickly followed.
"Hey! What about my information?" Garret called out.
"Cerulean Robotics, but I ain't going to pick it up. Get some other deviant to help."
#
Orris was one of the many Body Guards operating in the Freeside area, the whole industry was sham designed to screw tourists before they even got onto the strip, a real New Vegas hello. The truth was Freeside was a pretty safe place, sure there where the addicts on the street corners but if you could make it through the wastes to Vegas odds where you could handle yourself or all ready had protection. The Guards were really little more than status symbols for the paranoid.
Orris was a little different though he was relatively new to the Body Guard game but had carved out a remarkable business for himself in a few short months. Of course I knew he did this by staging gunfights to make himself look more capable. I had worked this out by keeping an eye on him for a couple of days but the break only came when I noticed he never bought ammo for his revolver. Instead he always used shells of his own creation which I was able to get my hands on after sweet talking one of the girls at the Wrangler. The bullets were blanks and he wasn't even shooting the usual junkie trash, just his accomplices. The man was more full of shit than Supermutant after a Brahmin sandwich. I wouldn't have too much trouble finding out what he knew.
Or that's what I thought.