FOURTH MOVEMENT
"You stupid bastard, you're cheating!" one of the old men said to the other.
"I am not," another said.
"I'm cheating," said the other.
"I don't care about you, Carlos! This asshole here is my problem now!" the first one said pointing at the one he accused before. "The deck's not supposed to have 5 aces!"
"It does in the game we're playin'," Jobim said.
"What kinda game is that?!"
"I remember all kinds of games," Carlos stated. "Remember that one we used to play as kids?"
"Yeah, and that bastard cheated at that too!" "I'm cheating too, you know," Carlos admitted, staring off in the direction Spike and Faye approached.
"God, we can't play a decent game of cards anymore!" Antonio. "You both cheat!"
"Hey," Spike said, soon at Antonio's side with a smile. "Do you guys know where we can find a guy named Gill?"
"I remember all kinds of guys," Carlos stated. "Antonio, remember that guy we knew when we were kids? The one with the mustauche and the cowboy hat?"
"Just shut up, ya old geezer!" Antonio barked. "That's the guy from that show!"
"Gill, Gill," Jobim repeated, as if he were processing a directive.
"Yeah, his name's Gill Whitney," Faye added, approaching the card table. "We, uh. need to have a nice chat with him."
"Isn't that the guy that's been wanderin' 'round Baker Street?" Antonio asked his friends.
"Baker Street? Nah, that's the mailman," Jobim said, putting a card at the bottom of the deck and choosing another.
"I remember all kinds of streets," Carlos stated. "Remember that street we got our shoes on? There was a weird guy wanderin' around."
"Huh? What kind of guy?" Faye asked, wondering if it could be a lead.
"Well, he's kinda funny looking, like he ain't shaved for a bit," Jobim said.
"And he smelled!" Antonio said. "Far be it for me to judge, though. Oh, and a young girl was following him around. I guess it could have been his girlfriend."
"Girlfiend? Nah, more like his daughter."
"I remember all kinds of daughters," Carlos stated.
"No you don't, you old fool, you never were married!" Antonio yelped.
"Great, this is real helpful," Faye told Spike. "Come on, these old guys are out of it, we should just keep looking around the park like those other bounty hunters. Maybe we'll be lucky and find him and the kid."
"Yeah, we're not going to get much information here," Spike admitted, turning from the old men as they continued to chatter and argue.
The park was crawling with bounty hunters that day. It seemed the tip Morrison had given Spike wasn't very exclusive. It was ridiculous. Bounty hunters looking high and low for Gill and Christine Whitman, and none of them had any logic to ask the people around the area. Spike figured that most of them were out-of-towners, like himself (he was a perpetual one), and too arrogant or confident. However, he did spot a few faces he had seen before, and wondered if they had taking the same initiative. Still, asking was getting him much information. So far they questioned a teenage boy and his girlfriend, a married couple on a picnic with their infant, and now these old men. Each seemed less helpful than the last. Spike was beginning to question Morrion's credibility. And Faye was, too.
"Sure that friend of yours had any clue what he was taling about?" Faye asked, pushing some hair from her face. "I don't want to have to stand around all day while that guy's actually catching them."
"Well it seems that Gill spotted some of us and decided to head off. He might not even be in town, anymore." Spike reasoned.
If she hadn't been standing where she was, it would have been hard to make out anything. At first she just glanced over at the trees to zone out. She didn't want to hear Spike's excuses. The bounty was a good sized one, and she was thinking of how she'd spend her portion of it, if and when they caught up with Gill Whitman. Often times it helped motivate her, having things in mind that she wanted to spend the money on, but most of the time that ended in disappointment. They certainly tried their best, but always ended up cheated in the end. Bounty heads caught by police, accidently killed, caught by other bounty hunters, or they just let them go out of their own miserably sympathetic feelings. It all didn't add up to living the good life, and barely a decent one. Still, if she hadn't been staring in that direction, Faye wouldn't have caught a glimpse of a man within the wooded area. A small silloute stood behind him. At first she shrugged them off. Just bounty hunters, probably.
Something set off a switch in her head, though, as soon as she heard a small cry from the trees. The small silloute had fallen to the ground, a large branch having broken under its feet. The man helped that silloute to its feet, and upon further inspection, Faye saw it was a girl. She walked in the direction of the area, while Spike was staring at her with a blank face, a cigarette in his mouth. She began to mouth something to Spike, but mid-way it appeared the man spotted her. She ran down a slope to the trees as the man and the child took off, and by this time Spike was well on his way behind her.
"Faye, did you spot him?" Spike said, trying not to let the other bounty hunters hear him. Of course, this meant that neither could Faye.
"Hey!" Faye finally yelled to the man in the trees, reaching for the gun she had in a small, almost seductive holster. "Stop right there! Don't make this difficult!"
"Shit, Faye," Spike said with a groan. The others all turned.
"Hey, does that woman see something?" a short stubby one wondered, pointing at Faye. He had looked around the entire east side of the park that day, one of the first bounty hunters to arrive. He had received a tip on his computer from an anyonymous source. When it appeared to be a pretty popular tip, he gave up looking all together, figuring it was a ruse.
Spike drew his gun, and ran toward the woods, where Faye had already entered and gave chance. As soon as he hit the trees, he knew for sure she had seen them, because she was still shouting for them to stop. Why had they stayed at the park? It was a careless move. With finesse he dodged branches and jumped over large rocks and logs. He thought he should call out to Faye, but it was hopeless. She wasn't going to stop any time soon. He was very confident with his movements and did them as though it were natural, hopping around the forest. Spotting a large tree blocking his path, he quickly lept up to one of the branches, and from there into a clearing. Where the hell was Faye?
And then he felt a change in the wind near him, and something clicked. Spike turned, and was met with an large force, sending his head back and the rest following. As he fell to the ground, his mind wandered to the placement of his gun, which had begun to fall apart from him. When he reached the ground, Spike quickly took the gun in his hand and aimed up. A man in a dark coat with sunglasses and a sniper rifle stood above him. Spike felt his head for blood, fearing the worse, but the man had only hit him with the other end of the gun.
"Who the hell are you?" Spike asked, his gun aimed at the man as he stared down the small barrel of the sniper rifle.
"Just your friendly park ranger," the man grumbled.
"Is that so?" Spike kicked up his feet and hit the rifle. The man pulled back to keep it in his hands, and Spike jumped to his feet and lunged at him. The sunglassed man smelled like the sewer and the smell motivated Spike to push him away, after disarming him. The man took out a back-up, a revolver that hit the ground almost as fast as the man drew it. A loud roaring shot had gone off just beforehand, and the man hit the ground with a thud. Spike stood scratching his head.
Then he felt the coldness of a gun on his head. His eyes wandered to behind him and caught a faint smirk. Then he smiled and turned around, aiming his weapon at Morrison Tinwheel. The man grinned and put his arm down, the gun then pointing at the ground. After exchanging greetings, Morrison took a look at the man he had shot. Spike watched carefully as Morrison touched the corpse only with his boot, turning it over.
"Yep, great shot, right between the eyes," Morrison bragged. "Talk about your feirce competitors."
"That was no bounty hunter," Spike said.
"Maybe he wasn't," Morrison admitted. "Not that it matters, the guy's dead, now. So, I spotted your friend a few minutes ago, she was chasing Gill and his daughter."
"Why didn't you chase as well?" Spike wondered.
"I already know where they're going," Morrison replied. "It's no problem. I was sure you were here too and wanted to talk to you."
"This is serious," Spike said. And his face was cold. "Something is going on here."
"Maybe its just a coincidence. There are a lot of crazies in the world, Spike," Morrison said.
"Yeah," Spike agreed. "There sure are."
---^^^----
Faye darted down the alleyway, pushing past the narrow spaces left between the enormous dumpsters. She could see the man and the girl clearly across the street. She let out a quiet curse, as she made her way to through the alley. She should have already gotten them. A few yards back, they had stopped when Christine tripped and fell. When Gill chided her, she refused to move. Gill yelled at his daughter while Faye caught up, but then a jogger slammed into her. Now she was finally catching up again, and there was traffic in the way. Not likely to use the cars as stepping stones like Spike would, Faye waited at the crosswalk. It was sort of absurd, but Faye felt tired.
"Come on," she said quietly. "Just give me a break this one time."
She noticed a change in the weather. It had become increasingly humid and her clothes began to stick to her. This made her fiddle with them. She took notice of the fact that Gill and Christine hadn't ran from where they were on the other side. What were they doing? She was nearby, and they were right there! Still there, when she'd be there soon! Faye shook her head. They were mocking her, weren't they? She clenched her teeth. Now they were approaching a street vendor. This was going to cause her to really throw down on the man when she caught up, regardless of the fact his daughter was with him. She hated such arrogant behavior. Then, upon further inspection, it seemed that they hadn't noticed her yet. The girl was eager to get food, and Gill told her to hurry up. She complained that she always had to hurry, and that her mom never made her hurry. Gill sighed and stood by. Still, he hadn't noticed Faye. She smirked. Soon Gill grew impatient and took his daughter by her hand, pulling her along. Their pace quickened as they turned the corner, and were soon out of Faye's sight. The "WALK" flashed and Faye ran across, but collapsed when she made it to the sidewalk. She had spent all her energy. She wished that she were on the Bebop, taking a nice bath. The vendor helped her to her feet and she looked around. Finally she resigned the chase and told the man she'd take a hot dog and a soda. She stared at the sky, and frowned.
Where the hell is that Spike? Faye thought. He was supposed to be behind me!
The sun flashed across her face and she looked a way. By then the short street vendor reach out with his hands, ready to hand Faye her food and drink. It cost exactly one woolong, and Faye was glad she still afford something. She cursed Spike again as she took the hot dog in her hand and its smell was vaccumed into her nose. She bit down on it and began to chew, careful not to analyze what a vendor dog was made of. Perhaps it was a 'dirty water dog', but she didn't care, because it tasted good to her, and the soda was the sweetest she had ever tasted. Her mind wandered again to the thought of a relaxing bubble bath, and she sighed.
---^^^---
"So, you're Jet's partner?"
It was something Spike was used to hearing. Yes, they had done a check on this Spike Spiegel character. A bounty hunter? Where does he operate out of? Does he work alone? If not, who does he work with? Jet Black? Jet Black. Jet had a lot of friends, especially in ISSP, and hearing the inevitable question didn't surprise Spike. He smiled and nodded at the detective questioning him. The tall lanky man called over to another detective, who left the people he was questioning. The lanky detective told this detective that Spike was Jet's partner. This detective - Jun Yumizaki - was eager to ask Spike some questions.
"So, Jet's partner," Jun stated, changing the usual question to the inevitable realization. "I talked to him this morning."
"Oh," Spike said with a shrug, lighting a cigarette. "So you're that contact he met with."
"Spike Spiegel, age twenty seven," the tall lanky detective began. "Bounty hunter, practices Jeet Kun Do stule of martial arts. Operates out of the Bebop, and old fishing ship from Ganymede. Listed partners are a Mr. Jet Black and a Miss---"
"Miss Trouble," Spike cracked. "Miss Obnoxious, Miss--- damn, she's probably still chasing after that bounty head."
"That's why we came here," Jun explained. "We received a tip on the net, but I guess all the bounty hunters did too. Our hackers are still trying to track the tip."
"We weren't here more than a minute before we heard gunfire," the other detective recalled. "You got a lot of enemies?"
"Hm," Spike thought. "Maybe, I'm not exactly Saint Nick."
"This guy you shot---"
"I didn't shoot him," Spike corrected, pointing to Morrison, who leaned on a nearby tree.
"Well, the guy Mr. Tinwheel shot, the one who attacked you ---"
"I could've taken him," Spike insisted, taking a drag.
"Yes, well nevertheless," the annoyed tall detective continued. "The man Mr. Tinwheel shot wasn't your run-of-the-mill thug. His name's Eastman. Professional Assassin. We've been looking for him for years, but he's like a shadow in the dark; difficult to see and impossible to catch."
"Guess the shadow's dissapated," Spike joked. "How much is his bounty?"
"Well, it was fourty one million woolongs," Jun replied. "I mean, now he's worth nothing to you."
It was true. That's the way things were in the ISSP free bounty system. A "cowboy" had to bring in the bounty head alive, or they wouldn't be worth a thing. The reason was supposedly to prevent bounty hunters from becoming too violent. Spike shrugged and took another drag. 41 million woolongs was much larger than the bounty on Gill Whitman. Luck simply wasn't on Spike's side when it came to bounty chasing. Morrison heard the news and cursed, but shrugged it off after a few moments and left the shade of the tree to talk to Spike.
"Hey, Spike!" Morrison said. "I'm gonna head out now. Nothing to do around here. I'm tired of answering questions and waiting around while others are out there tracking Whitman. I wouldn't want that partner of yours grabbing up my bounty money, those 18 million woolongs are mine."
"Think they're gonna let you leave so soon?" Spike wondered. "You just shot a guy dead."
"Whatever." Morrison shrugged, and turned to leave. "A shame I couldn't collect that 41 million, but I'd better let it go. You too, don't even mention it to your partners. See ya around."
"Mister Tinwheel," Jun began. "We really need you to stay here so we can--- "
"Shut up already," Morrison said with a sneer, as he walked off. "I'm outta here."
Spike let out a small laugh as he took the cigarette from his mouth and threw it to the ground to stomp it out. Morrison would be back on track soon, but Spike wished he had asked about the tip from the net. Where on the net had Morrison found it? Spike figured that it didn't really matter, but once he was back on the Bebop, he'd have Ed track it anyway. Spike fiddled with his collar. It was humid.
END OF FOURTH MOVEMENT
"You stupid bastard, you're cheating!" one of the old men said to the other.
"I am not," another said.
"I'm cheating," said the other.
"I don't care about you, Carlos! This asshole here is my problem now!" the first one said pointing at the one he accused before. "The deck's not supposed to have 5 aces!"
"It does in the game we're playin'," Jobim said.
"What kinda game is that?!"
"I remember all kinds of games," Carlos stated. "Remember that one we used to play as kids?"
"Yeah, and that bastard cheated at that too!" "I'm cheating too, you know," Carlos admitted, staring off in the direction Spike and Faye approached.
"God, we can't play a decent game of cards anymore!" Antonio. "You both cheat!"
"Hey," Spike said, soon at Antonio's side with a smile. "Do you guys know where we can find a guy named Gill?"
"I remember all kinds of guys," Carlos stated. "Antonio, remember that guy we knew when we were kids? The one with the mustauche and the cowboy hat?"
"Just shut up, ya old geezer!" Antonio barked. "That's the guy from that show!"
"Gill, Gill," Jobim repeated, as if he were processing a directive.
"Yeah, his name's Gill Whitney," Faye added, approaching the card table. "We, uh. need to have a nice chat with him."
"Isn't that the guy that's been wanderin' 'round Baker Street?" Antonio asked his friends.
"Baker Street? Nah, that's the mailman," Jobim said, putting a card at the bottom of the deck and choosing another.
"I remember all kinds of streets," Carlos stated. "Remember that street we got our shoes on? There was a weird guy wanderin' around."
"Huh? What kind of guy?" Faye asked, wondering if it could be a lead.
"Well, he's kinda funny looking, like he ain't shaved for a bit," Jobim said.
"And he smelled!" Antonio said. "Far be it for me to judge, though. Oh, and a young girl was following him around. I guess it could have been his girlfriend."
"Girlfiend? Nah, more like his daughter."
"I remember all kinds of daughters," Carlos stated.
"No you don't, you old fool, you never were married!" Antonio yelped.
"Great, this is real helpful," Faye told Spike. "Come on, these old guys are out of it, we should just keep looking around the park like those other bounty hunters. Maybe we'll be lucky and find him and the kid."
"Yeah, we're not going to get much information here," Spike admitted, turning from the old men as they continued to chatter and argue.
The park was crawling with bounty hunters that day. It seemed the tip Morrison had given Spike wasn't very exclusive. It was ridiculous. Bounty hunters looking high and low for Gill and Christine Whitman, and none of them had any logic to ask the people around the area. Spike figured that most of them were out-of-towners, like himself (he was a perpetual one), and too arrogant or confident. However, he did spot a few faces he had seen before, and wondered if they had taking the same initiative. Still, asking was getting him much information. So far they questioned a teenage boy and his girlfriend, a married couple on a picnic with their infant, and now these old men. Each seemed less helpful than the last. Spike was beginning to question Morrion's credibility. And Faye was, too.
"Sure that friend of yours had any clue what he was taling about?" Faye asked, pushing some hair from her face. "I don't want to have to stand around all day while that guy's actually catching them."
"Well it seems that Gill spotted some of us and decided to head off. He might not even be in town, anymore." Spike reasoned.
If she hadn't been standing where she was, it would have been hard to make out anything. At first she just glanced over at the trees to zone out. She didn't want to hear Spike's excuses. The bounty was a good sized one, and she was thinking of how she'd spend her portion of it, if and when they caught up with Gill Whitman. Often times it helped motivate her, having things in mind that she wanted to spend the money on, but most of the time that ended in disappointment. They certainly tried their best, but always ended up cheated in the end. Bounty heads caught by police, accidently killed, caught by other bounty hunters, or they just let them go out of their own miserably sympathetic feelings. It all didn't add up to living the good life, and barely a decent one. Still, if she hadn't been staring in that direction, Faye wouldn't have caught a glimpse of a man within the wooded area. A small silloute stood behind him. At first she shrugged them off. Just bounty hunters, probably.
Something set off a switch in her head, though, as soon as she heard a small cry from the trees. The small silloute had fallen to the ground, a large branch having broken under its feet. The man helped that silloute to its feet, and upon further inspection, Faye saw it was a girl. She walked in the direction of the area, while Spike was staring at her with a blank face, a cigarette in his mouth. She began to mouth something to Spike, but mid-way it appeared the man spotted her. She ran down a slope to the trees as the man and the child took off, and by this time Spike was well on his way behind her.
"Faye, did you spot him?" Spike said, trying not to let the other bounty hunters hear him. Of course, this meant that neither could Faye.
"Hey!" Faye finally yelled to the man in the trees, reaching for the gun she had in a small, almost seductive holster. "Stop right there! Don't make this difficult!"
"Shit, Faye," Spike said with a groan. The others all turned.
"Hey, does that woman see something?" a short stubby one wondered, pointing at Faye. He had looked around the entire east side of the park that day, one of the first bounty hunters to arrive. He had received a tip on his computer from an anyonymous source. When it appeared to be a pretty popular tip, he gave up looking all together, figuring it was a ruse.
Spike drew his gun, and ran toward the woods, where Faye had already entered and gave chance. As soon as he hit the trees, he knew for sure she had seen them, because she was still shouting for them to stop. Why had they stayed at the park? It was a careless move. With finesse he dodged branches and jumped over large rocks and logs. He thought he should call out to Faye, but it was hopeless. She wasn't going to stop any time soon. He was very confident with his movements and did them as though it were natural, hopping around the forest. Spotting a large tree blocking his path, he quickly lept up to one of the branches, and from there into a clearing. Where the hell was Faye?
And then he felt a change in the wind near him, and something clicked. Spike turned, and was met with an large force, sending his head back and the rest following. As he fell to the ground, his mind wandered to the placement of his gun, which had begun to fall apart from him. When he reached the ground, Spike quickly took the gun in his hand and aimed up. A man in a dark coat with sunglasses and a sniper rifle stood above him. Spike felt his head for blood, fearing the worse, but the man had only hit him with the other end of the gun.
"Who the hell are you?" Spike asked, his gun aimed at the man as he stared down the small barrel of the sniper rifle.
"Just your friendly park ranger," the man grumbled.
"Is that so?" Spike kicked up his feet and hit the rifle. The man pulled back to keep it in his hands, and Spike jumped to his feet and lunged at him. The sunglassed man smelled like the sewer and the smell motivated Spike to push him away, after disarming him. The man took out a back-up, a revolver that hit the ground almost as fast as the man drew it. A loud roaring shot had gone off just beforehand, and the man hit the ground with a thud. Spike stood scratching his head.
Then he felt the coldness of a gun on his head. His eyes wandered to behind him and caught a faint smirk. Then he smiled and turned around, aiming his weapon at Morrison Tinwheel. The man grinned and put his arm down, the gun then pointing at the ground. After exchanging greetings, Morrison took a look at the man he had shot. Spike watched carefully as Morrison touched the corpse only with his boot, turning it over.
"Yep, great shot, right between the eyes," Morrison bragged. "Talk about your feirce competitors."
"That was no bounty hunter," Spike said.
"Maybe he wasn't," Morrison admitted. "Not that it matters, the guy's dead, now. So, I spotted your friend a few minutes ago, she was chasing Gill and his daughter."
"Why didn't you chase as well?" Spike wondered.
"I already know where they're going," Morrison replied. "It's no problem. I was sure you were here too and wanted to talk to you."
"This is serious," Spike said. And his face was cold. "Something is going on here."
"Maybe its just a coincidence. There are a lot of crazies in the world, Spike," Morrison said.
"Yeah," Spike agreed. "There sure are."
---^^^----
Faye darted down the alleyway, pushing past the narrow spaces left between the enormous dumpsters. She could see the man and the girl clearly across the street. She let out a quiet curse, as she made her way to through the alley. She should have already gotten them. A few yards back, they had stopped when Christine tripped and fell. When Gill chided her, she refused to move. Gill yelled at his daughter while Faye caught up, but then a jogger slammed into her. Now she was finally catching up again, and there was traffic in the way. Not likely to use the cars as stepping stones like Spike would, Faye waited at the crosswalk. It was sort of absurd, but Faye felt tired.
"Come on," she said quietly. "Just give me a break this one time."
She noticed a change in the weather. It had become increasingly humid and her clothes began to stick to her. This made her fiddle with them. She took notice of the fact that Gill and Christine hadn't ran from where they were on the other side. What were they doing? She was nearby, and they were right there! Still there, when she'd be there soon! Faye shook her head. They were mocking her, weren't they? She clenched her teeth. Now they were approaching a street vendor. This was going to cause her to really throw down on the man when she caught up, regardless of the fact his daughter was with him. She hated such arrogant behavior. Then, upon further inspection, it seemed that they hadn't noticed her yet. The girl was eager to get food, and Gill told her to hurry up. She complained that she always had to hurry, and that her mom never made her hurry. Gill sighed and stood by. Still, he hadn't noticed Faye. She smirked. Soon Gill grew impatient and took his daughter by her hand, pulling her along. Their pace quickened as they turned the corner, and were soon out of Faye's sight. The "WALK" flashed and Faye ran across, but collapsed when she made it to the sidewalk. She had spent all her energy. She wished that she were on the Bebop, taking a nice bath. The vendor helped her to her feet and she looked around. Finally she resigned the chase and told the man she'd take a hot dog and a soda. She stared at the sky, and frowned.
Where the hell is that Spike? Faye thought. He was supposed to be behind me!
The sun flashed across her face and she looked a way. By then the short street vendor reach out with his hands, ready to hand Faye her food and drink. It cost exactly one woolong, and Faye was glad she still afford something. She cursed Spike again as she took the hot dog in her hand and its smell was vaccumed into her nose. She bit down on it and began to chew, careful not to analyze what a vendor dog was made of. Perhaps it was a 'dirty water dog', but she didn't care, because it tasted good to her, and the soda was the sweetest she had ever tasted. Her mind wandered again to the thought of a relaxing bubble bath, and she sighed.
---^^^---
"So, you're Jet's partner?"
It was something Spike was used to hearing. Yes, they had done a check on this Spike Spiegel character. A bounty hunter? Where does he operate out of? Does he work alone? If not, who does he work with? Jet Black? Jet Black. Jet had a lot of friends, especially in ISSP, and hearing the inevitable question didn't surprise Spike. He smiled and nodded at the detective questioning him. The tall lanky man called over to another detective, who left the people he was questioning. The lanky detective told this detective that Spike was Jet's partner. This detective - Jun Yumizaki - was eager to ask Spike some questions.
"So, Jet's partner," Jun stated, changing the usual question to the inevitable realization. "I talked to him this morning."
"Oh," Spike said with a shrug, lighting a cigarette. "So you're that contact he met with."
"Spike Spiegel, age twenty seven," the tall lanky detective began. "Bounty hunter, practices Jeet Kun Do stule of martial arts. Operates out of the Bebop, and old fishing ship from Ganymede. Listed partners are a Mr. Jet Black and a Miss---"
"Miss Trouble," Spike cracked. "Miss Obnoxious, Miss--- damn, she's probably still chasing after that bounty head."
"That's why we came here," Jun explained. "We received a tip on the net, but I guess all the bounty hunters did too. Our hackers are still trying to track the tip."
"We weren't here more than a minute before we heard gunfire," the other detective recalled. "You got a lot of enemies?"
"Hm," Spike thought. "Maybe, I'm not exactly Saint Nick."
"This guy you shot---"
"I didn't shoot him," Spike corrected, pointing to Morrison, who leaned on a nearby tree.
"Well, the guy Mr. Tinwheel shot, the one who attacked you ---"
"I could've taken him," Spike insisted, taking a drag.
"Yes, well nevertheless," the annoyed tall detective continued. "The man Mr. Tinwheel shot wasn't your run-of-the-mill thug. His name's Eastman. Professional Assassin. We've been looking for him for years, but he's like a shadow in the dark; difficult to see and impossible to catch."
"Guess the shadow's dissapated," Spike joked. "How much is his bounty?"
"Well, it was fourty one million woolongs," Jun replied. "I mean, now he's worth nothing to you."
It was true. That's the way things were in the ISSP free bounty system. A "cowboy" had to bring in the bounty head alive, or they wouldn't be worth a thing. The reason was supposedly to prevent bounty hunters from becoming too violent. Spike shrugged and took another drag. 41 million woolongs was much larger than the bounty on Gill Whitman. Luck simply wasn't on Spike's side when it came to bounty chasing. Morrison heard the news and cursed, but shrugged it off after a few moments and left the shade of the tree to talk to Spike.
"Hey, Spike!" Morrison said. "I'm gonna head out now. Nothing to do around here. I'm tired of answering questions and waiting around while others are out there tracking Whitman. I wouldn't want that partner of yours grabbing up my bounty money, those 18 million woolongs are mine."
"Think they're gonna let you leave so soon?" Spike wondered. "You just shot a guy dead."
"Whatever." Morrison shrugged, and turned to leave. "A shame I couldn't collect that 41 million, but I'd better let it go. You too, don't even mention it to your partners. See ya around."
"Mister Tinwheel," Jun began. "We really need you to stay here so we can--- "
"Shut up already," Morrison said with a sneer, as he walked off. "I'm outta here."
Spike let out a small laugh as he took the cigarette from his mouth and threw it to the ground to stomp it out. Morrison would be back on track soon, but Spike wished he had asked about the tip from the net. Where on the net had Morrison found it? Spike figured that it didn't really matter, but once he was back on the Bebop, he'd have Ed track it anyway. Spike fiddled with his collar. It was humid.
END OF FOURTH MOVEMENT