-The Man Who Cried Thief-

Locke Cole: adventurer, treasure hunter, and something he never thought he would ever be… bounty hunter. It's what brought Locke to the café in Albrook, sitting at a table in the corner, keeping his eye on the man at the bar. Edgar's warning ran through the Returner's head about how dangerous Francois could be. Edgar feared he was a spy. Locke needed the cash and upon hearing there was a bounty on his head, the treasure hunter had cooked up a scheme to kill two birds with one stone.

Locke had followed his man, keeping patient until the time was right. The café was the perfect place to spring the capture… until a squad of three Imperial soldiers walked in, enjoying their leave from Vector.

Locke cursed their timing under his breath. Francois was pounding his fist on the bartop, demanding another drink. He was already multiple drinks in, slurring his speech, and completely vulnerable at being captured. It was like the fates were mocking the treasure hunter. While the Imperial soldiers had no actual authority in Albrook, they liked to play police in their city of relaxation. While the three troopers were in the bar, there was nothing Locke could do but watch Francois drink himself silly. Locke was sure things couldn't get any worse.

"Well, well, well…" a man sat down at the table across from Locke, "if it isn't the esteemed Mr. Cole."

"Lone Wolf," Locke grumbled, but then put on a sarcastic smile. "Last I saw you, you were floating face down in an underground river with a poisoned dart in your chest."

"Lucky for me, I can hold my breath and play dead for quite a long time."

"And the poisoned dart?"

"Ha! You must be joking. What kind of an idiot would go into an unknown cave without an Amulet?"

"So what's your scheme this time?" Locke kept his eye on Francois, trying to pay as little attention to Lone Wolf as possible. "Seems like every time I run into you, you're either trying to kill me or rob me."

"Ha ha! Not so much today," Lone Wolf laughed. "Today is all about gloating and jealousy. A little revenge for the Tzen Ruby incident."

"You've clearly gone insane," Locke muttered. "Of all the people in the world, you've got nothing to be gloating to me about."

"Oh but I do! Barkeep!" the thief called out. "A bottle of some of your finest whisky and two glasses so my friend here and I can celebrate."

"Planning on running out on the tab again?"

Lone Wolf laughed and took out a large red leather pouch. He decided to taunt Locke some more by dropping it on the table right in front of the treasure hunter. "Why yes I did just come from Jidoor with the spoils of a treasure far greater than anything you could ever imagine, thanks for asking."

The bartender brought over the bottle with two glasses, staring at the coin pouch, "That'll be 50 GP."

"Start us up a tab," Lone Wolf ordered. "We might be celebrating for quite some time."

"So where did this healthy purse come from?" Locke inquired.

"Would you believe it, I ran into ol' Jacques a little while back. He did not have very many nice things to say about you," Lone Wolf grinned as he poured out the first drink for himself.

"That man never knew how to keep his mouth shut," Locke retorted.

"Exactly! He starts going on and on about some lost art that was stolen from Owzer's place and how he'd pay a fortune to get them back. Apparently the old kook thinks they're magical and alive or something like that. Can you believe it? Magic… HA! How a moron like that ever got to be so rich I'll never understand."

"I heard through the grapevine that you were the one who stole them in the first place," Locke laughed.

"You have no proof of that."

"You're the only one who would do so sloppy of a job."

"Grrr…" Lone Wolf reached for his knife, but thought for the better of it. Today he was the one with a filled purse. He raised his glass and took another drink. "What does it matter who stole what? In the end, I returned that rich fart's drawings and he paid me handsomely for it."

"How much was the ransom?"

"5,000. All right here in that little pouch that he even included free of charge. Fancy lookin' ain't it?"

Locke couldn't help but burst out laughing. "Well, you've finally found someone stupider than yourself to do business with."

"Stupider is being the man with empty pockets," Lone Wolf gloated. He grabbed the pouch back, stuck it in his pocket and stood up. "Now if you'll excuse me, I feel like a night on the town is in order to celebrate myself. What's that? For once you don't have anything witty to say?"

"Oh but I do," Locke smiled sincerely for the first time since he had entered the bar.

"And what's that?"

"Thief."

"Thief?"

"THIEF!!!!" Locke shouted as he stood up, pointing directly at Lone Wolf. The treasure hunter's voice was so loud, everyone in the bar turned to look at him, including the three Imperial soldiers. "THIEF!!! Stop him! He's just stolen my money!"

"Er… what?" Lone Wolf looked confused. Suddenly his arms were grabbed by two of the soldiers.

"What is the meaning of this?" the soldier captain asked.

"That man just stole my pouch. It contained all the gold I just earned. It was a new pouch too, red leather, very nice and fancy."

"What?!" Lone Wolf burst out in anger. One of the soldiers that was holding Lone Wolf's arm quickly frisked the villain. It didn't take long to find the pouch in his pocket.

"That's it! That's the one!" Locke cried in delight.

"What are you talking about?" Lone Wolf shouted back at the Returner. "That's my pouch! He's lying!"

"Me?" Locke looked aghast. "He's the liar sir, stealing a poor man's living wages. There's 5,000 in there, go ahead and count it. Just ask the bartender, he can vouch for me."

The soldiers all looked to the man behind the bar. He looked just as confused as everyone else. "I… I did see that pouch. It was lying in front of that man with the bandana, so I'd assume it belong to him."

The captain of the soldiers nodded. "You heard the man, take this thief off to the prison."

"WHAT?! No! You've got it all wrong!" Lone Wolf tried to struggle, but he was overmatched.

"Shaddup!" the three soldiers walked out of the bar carrying the thief with them. Locke could hear Lone Wolf cursing halfway across town.

The treasure hunter finally smiled. He opened the pouch and took out some of the coins. "Thanks for the drink," he nodded to the bartender. Locke then walked behind Francois who was passed out drunk face first on the bartop. Locke picked him up by the arm. "Looks like he's had way too much to drink. I'll take him home." The bartender nodded back in thanks as Locke aided the bounty out of the bar.