Joana slipped into her 'Sexy Sleepwear' lingerie and adjusted her fishnet stockings. She had just finished with one of her customers, sent him out the door nearly limping. She was definitely worth the man's 50 caps. Joana happened to be one of Gomorrah's prostitutes, along with Deborah, who had been in the business with her for a while now, and Sadie, a new girl hired because one of the current prostituted disappeared after a night with Clanden, a friend of the casino. Joana sat on the edge of her bed, deciding to take a breather before taking a bath, but she never got the chance. Someone had knocked on the door.
"Joana here! Come in!" She called in her high-pitched, seductive voice. At this hour the only people who walked into Joana's room were men (and sometimes women) who desired her services. The man who came into her room today didn't look any different. He was wearing a duster with metal plating covering his torso, and a black, wide cowboy hat. Some kind of mercenary man, Joana thought. She had dealt customers like him before.
"I have a job for you." The man stated in a quiet but firm baritone. His voice didn't sound like it got much use. Joana smiled.
"You don't need to be so formal, cowboy, I do this sort of job all the time. You're looking at 50 caps for an hour and 175 for-" Joana began listing her terms, but the man cut her off.
"No, not that kind of job. I should have been more clear, but I'm not sure where to start." Reflected the man, stroking the beard of his goatee and standing in silence for a few seconds, "Do you know of Benny?" he asked. Joana thought for a moment before nodding.
"I'm familiar with him, yeah. He's an on-and-off customer of mine, in fact. Why?" queried Joana. The man in her room then removed his hat to reveal a bullet hole scar on his forehead.
"Benny did this to me. I'm a Courier, and he shot me for an item I was delivering. I'm going to kill him and take it back." The Courier imparted while Joana's eyes increasingly widened. Then she furrowed her brow in confusion.
"What does this have to do with me? If you're gonna take him out personally, it ain't none of my business. Just go into the Tops and blast him." Joana ordered, her voice changing from seductive and melodious to a more normal, annoyed tone.
The Courier related that he sent Sadie, Joana's new coworker, to the Tops disguised as a gambler the day before. She reported to the Courier that Benny hired a cadre of bodyguards who defended him at all times when he was on the main floor.
"And he'll recognize me. You don't just forget a face that you shot a week ago. As soon as he sees me he'll sic the guards and run for it." The Courier finished.
"Alright then, you need to tell me what you want me to do." replied Joana. She didn't know why, but she found herself trusting this man. She was actually considering doing whatever the Courier told her, maybe because he could be her way out of Gomorrah and the Strip...
"Right… Well, since Benny will have guards on the main floor, I need you to get him to his room or one of the suites. I came to Gomorrah looking for a lady to seduce him and get him alone, and I s'pose it helps that you already know him," The Courier was surprised that Joana was nodding along instead of growing apprehensive toward the job, like he thought she might, so he pressed on, saying, "once you get him alone you'll have to keep him there. There're a couple ways you might handle this… if you own any handcuffs-" Joana admitted that she did-"you can restrain him, or maybe lock him in a room. Or if he pours you drinks, and I think he probably will, you can slip this into his and he'll go unconscious for a couple hours." The Courier stated, pulling out a small white pill.
"What's that?" Joana questioned. The Courier explained that the pill consisted of concentrated Cazadore venom, enough to knock a man like Benny out for a good deal of time. Administering the pill would be the easiest way to incapacitate Benny so the Courier could go in the room for the kill. Joana was confused as to how the Courier would gain entry to the room without being stopped by the guards.
"Well, they only guard him when he goes down to the main floor. Benny think's he's safe on the upper levels. The guards won't recognize me like he will, besides I'll be wearing a different hat and some glasses just in case, and I'll go up to his room and take care of business. I just need your help." spoke the Courier, saying the last sentence more softly. Joana's tone changed to one of business.
"I can take the pill and put it in his drink, or handcuff him after getting him in bed, but the job will be risky. I'll need a payment." She demanded. The Courier began to pull out a pouch that presumably held bottlecaps but Joana raised a hand to stop him.
"I don't want caps, I'm thinking of something more like a...favor." Joana declared. The Courier cocked an eyebrow. "No, not that kind of favor. I don't mean sex. I…" Joana glanced toward the door before lowering her voice to barely above a whisper, "I have a lover. You might think it's weird, since I work as a prostitute but it's true. His name is Carlitos Wayne. He worked here, on the floor. We had a secret relationship, I guess. But Cachino, one of the Omertas, found out about it. Cachino made him a scapegoat, accused him of stealing Omerta funds. They were going to kill him! He left the casino, but not the Strip. The Omertas are tracking anyone who leaves the Strip, you see, they'll hunt Carlitos down if they see him leaving, or if they find him… So he's hiding around here somewhere, maybe at one of the other casinos."
"I need you to find Carlitos and get him out out of the Strip. The Omertas will know about it so you've got to defend him. You look like the sort who can deal with a few thugs. Then after you get Carlitos off and deal with Benny, take me to Carlitos. And, well, if it's not too much trouble… well, forget it." Joana suddenly ended.
"What is it?" asked the Courier. Joana paused for a moment, apparently debating internally.
"Well, it will make your job harder, but I feel an obligation to the two other girls who work here. Deborah is like a sister to me, and well, Sadie deserves better than the life of an Omerta hooker. Could you take them along with Carlitos? They can just walk out of the Strip dressed like regular gamblers when the shift ends, and join you."
The Courier thought about the proposition. The man was already a bit familiar with Sadie. He liked the girl's relative innocence and long blonde hair. She had done well on reconnaissance for him, too. His thoughts shifted to the job. He'd have to protect three people, all potentially unarmed, against an unknown number of hostiles to get to the (relative) safety of Freeside, the slummy area surrounding the Strip. He was grateful that the Omertas all wore suits instead of body armor. He would have the upper hand in that regard.
"Deal. I'll get those three off the Strip, I'm guessing that means I lay down fire on any Omertas who follow us out the Strip gates, as long as you get Benny by the short hairs so I can deal with him." The Courier offered.
"Deal." Joana accepted. She told the Courier that she would go to Benny when she got of for the night in a couple of hours. She was a professional. It wouldn't take long to get Benny alone in his room and keep him there. The Courier told her that he would find Carlitos in the meantime, and lead him and the other girls off of the Strip, then come back to the Tops to kill Benny and escort Joana out. He figured that once he got the first three people out, the Omertas would offer little resistance to his and Joana's leaving.
The game was set. The Courier was going to plant his bullet between Benny's eyes before the night was through. Or so he thought.