Session 13
VIVA LAS VEGAS
By jak981125
Note: This story is part of a series. It will make more sense if you read the earlier sessions.
"Oof!"
Lau had a rather rude awakening. Faye kicked him in her sleep so hard that it knocked him out of bed. It had been a long time since Lau had shared a bed with someone and he certainly wasn't used to this. Not only did Faye twitch a lot in her sleep, but she snored. I suppose you can't blame her with that tiny nose of hers.
By the time Lau picked himself off the floor, she had flopped around so much that she was taking up the entire bed. He couldn't get back in. He sighed, and laid down on the floor. Some honeymoon this was turning out to be so far. First of all, they had hardly enjoyed a minute alone together because Jet and Ed were still in Vegas with them and Ed wanted to hang out with Faye as much as possible. Second of all, they had suffered some rather unfortunate gambling losses. And no, I'm not going to give you any of the X-rated details of the honeymoon, so don't ask. You pervert.
If you think Lau was having a bad night, it was nothing compared to the night the casino on the bottom floor was about to have. Jet had been downstairs playing a late night game of craps. He had stepped out for just a couple of minutes to use the bathroom. In that time, three masked gunmen ran in, killed two guards, robbed the cash register, and left. Con artists are common at casinos but robberies are a wee bit more rare. It left Sin City in shock.
The next day, Lau sat at a table next to a breakfast buffet, waiting for Jet. He didn't have to wait long. The two of them loaded up their trays and sat down. "So where are the girls?" asked Jet.
"I think they're watching some Elvis impersonator," replied Lau. "Jet, you have just got to keep Ed on a leash. Faye and I have hardly had one minute to ourselves since the wedding."
"I'm not sure how to explain that to Ed without hurting her feelings," replied Jet. "Say, did you hear about last night?"
"No, what happened?"
"The casino got robbed and two guards were killed. All of this happened while I was in the can."
"No, Jet."
"What?"
Lau sighed. "I know what you're about to say and the answer is no. I'm not hunting for any casino bandits on my honeymoon."
"It might help make up for some of our gambling losses," replied Jet. "No offense Lau, but I've seen dogs that could play a better game of poker than you."
"Maybe I should have let Faye go ahead and switch the dice at the craps table," said Lau. "Honestly, I was never a gambling man."
"Look, while the girls are out anyway, what harm could it do just to look around a little?"
"There's no such thing as looking around a little when dealing with the black dog," replied Lau.
"Then you know how persistent I can be," replied Jet with a grin.
Lau sighed. "Before you go dragging me all over town to look for these guys, can I at least eat my breakfast before it gets cold?" In reply, Jet started eating his own food. The people at this hotel really knew how to cook.
After breakfast, the two of them asked at the cashier's window if anyone was around who had been there last night and witnessed the robbery. The cashier didn't know. Just then, a security guard approached. "You two aren't cops, are you?" he asked. "Wait, you guys are bounty hunters. If you think it would help, I could show you some security footage from last night."
The guard escorted them upstairs to the security office, where a bunch of other guards were huddled around monitors, watching everything that went on in the casino. Like I said, plenty of people try to swindle casinos. The guard put a disk into a computer that contained the footage from the robbery. Jet studied it carefully.
"As you can see, the problem is that these guys had masks and gloves on, so we don't have their faces or fingerprints," said the guard.
"You knew one of the guards that died, didn't you?" asked Lau.
"Is it that obvious?" asked the guard.
"Well you were exceptionally eager to cooperate," replied Lau. "See anything helpful, Jet?"
Jet zoomed in a little closer. "Here we go," he said to himself. "These guys shouldn't have worn short sleeves. This one has a tattoo. Kind of funny looking, isn't it?"
Lau took a look at the tattoo on the arm of one of the robbers. "Looks like Greek letters," he replied. "Maybe these guys belong to a college fraternity."
"Gees, the frat world must have changed a lot since I was in college," remarked the guard. "We just got drunk a lot and put the dean's car in the courtyard of the administrative building."
"Excuse me gentleman," came the voice of a guard behind them. "Does this belong to you?" He was holding Ed by the arm.
"Oh Ed, what did you do?" groaned Jet.
"Edward didn't do anything!" she replied angrily as she shook herself loose from the guard's grip.
"Sir, we tend to frown on persons under the age of twenty-one being on the gaming floor," said the guard. "When we spotted her, she claimed she was thirty-five."
"In dog years, maybe," grinned Lau.
"Well Edward was on a winning streak," she bragged. "Edward found a slot machine that was paying off big time!"
"That figures," replied Jet. "The only one of us to have any luck, and she's too young to gamble. I thought you were with Faye."
"Faye Faye went to look for Lau," said Ed.
"Uh oh!" replied Lau. "I think I'd better go see what she's up to." He walked out leaving Ed and Jet alone with the security team.
"So, does she get to keep what she won?" asked Jet hopefully.
It didn't take Lau very long to find Faye. She was sitting by herself, next to a giant aquarium in the lobby that was full of sharks. She looked lonely. Lau sat down next to her and started rubbing her back. "What's wrong, sweetie?" he asked.
"Let's go somewhere right now, just the two of us," she replied. "And I don't want to go to another casino." Lau put his hand on her forehead. "What are you doing?"
"Checking to see if you have a fever," he replied. "Unless I just heard wrong, you just said you didn't want to go to a casino." Faye smiled and elbowed him in the ribs playfully. "Ow, careful, that's where you kicked me last night. It's still a little sensitive."
The two of them went to a botanical garden on the north side of town. Well, at least it was quiet. Boring, but quiet, and no Jet or Ed. "I hope you don't get nailed for contributing to the delinquency of a minor," said Lau.
"What do you mean?"
"After you ditched Ed, she decided to go try her hand at the slot machines," replied Lau. "She was actually winning when security finally caught her."
Faye laughed out loud at that. "So what were you and Jet doing before that?" she asked.
"Oh, Jet's convinced he can make up for our gambling losses if we catch the guys who robbed the casino," replied Lau. "If he wants to get those guys, he can do it without me. Hey, what's wrong with you?" Lau had noticed a sudden look of concern on Faye's face.
"Something's been bugging me. It's just that we're married now...and...well I married you because I love the person you are," stammered Faye. "It's just, I never wanted to ask you about the person you were. It didn't matter...but it does. There's just so many things I've been curious about. And not just about you either. Never mind, I'm sorry, just forget I said anything."
There was a long and awkward pause. "You want to know about my syndicate days?" asked Lau. Faye nodded. "Well that's not a time in my life that I'm exactly proud of. I don't know how Spike felt about it afterwards, but I don't like to think about it."
"You murdered people?" asked Faye quietly.
Lau hung his head. "You have a right to know. Yeah, I did. My main job was to provide security for the Clan's drug dealers. If someone messed with one of them, I'd mess with that person. Mostly I'd just threaten or occasionally beat on someone. In all that time, I only murdered three people. I feel like crap about all three, if that's any consolation."
"It is, but why did you do it?"
"One of them was a White Tiger. It was tit for tat. He shot one of our dealers, so Vicious ordered me to get him back. The second guy killed the three year old daughter of a friend of mine. The third guy I feel the worst about. He was a syndicate guy who ran down a dealer of ours with his car. But he didn't mean to. He was driving drunk and hit one of them by accident. Not only that, our guy survived. But the Van made me kill him anyway. I should have told those old farts to shove it. You know that if I could do it all over again, I never would have joined the Red Dragons in the first place. But I was young and stupid, and I was terrified of suffering to put two cents together, the way my dad did."
"Thank you," replied Faye. "I don't think any less of you. I just had to know. We should have talked about this before we got married. I shouldn't have rushed things so much."
"Maybe that's the real reason we haven't enjoyed ourselves," said Lau.
"Yeah, but let's just keep blaming Jet and Ed," replied Faye.
At that moment, Jet and Ed were searching the computer for any local college fraternities whose letters matched those on the robber's tattoo. They came up empty. "Oh man, I hope these guys aren't from out of state," groaned Jet.
"Maybe the robber men were Greek and those letters were their names," offered Ed. She tried to see if the letters worked out to form any names but came up empty again. "Nope. Silly Edward, why would robber men come all the way from Greece to rob a Las Vegas casino?"
"Or maybe it's a fraternal organization and not a college frat," said Jet. "You know, some cops belong to fraternal lodges and some of them moonlight as security. I wonder..."
Across town, Faye and Lau walked back towards their hotel. "Lau, not to beat a dead horse here, but while we're on the subject, I was hoping you could tell me a little something about Spike," said Faye.
"I could tell you more than a little something," replied Lau. "I knew the guy very well for years."
"What I don't get is the whole thing with him and Julia and Vicious," replied Faye. "I don't mean to knock your brother-in-law, but I can't understand what Spike or Julia ever saw in the guy."
"It's a long story," replied Lau. "Spike and Vicious had been friends since childhood. They met in juvenile hall on Tharsis. Spike was an orphan who had been running away from foster homes for years. He was a street kid, so he made a living selling drugs. He ended up getting caught."
"And Vicious?"
"Vicious was a sad story," said Lau. "His mom was a real loser. She was a junkie and a nymphomaniac. His mom's reputation made him an easy target for bullies as a kid. And the fact that his hair went gray before he was even thirteen didn't help either. He got into a fight at school one day and accidentally killed a kid. So he got sent to juvie for manslaughter. He and Spike ended up being roommates and when they got out, they started their own street gang."
"How did they get involved with the syndicate?" asked Faye.
"When they were eighteen, they were recruited by Mao Yenrai. He was looking for young blood. The old guard wasn't getting any younger and the elders were already in their eighties. Mao basically founded the new guard. Vicious and Spike were the leaders of that group. They were partners and would constantly be sent out after rival syndicates.
"Then when they were about twenty-three and I was twenty-two, Julia showed up. Vicious was walking home from a bar one night and saw her arguing with her boyfriend. He called her something rather unflattering and she actually beat the crap out of him. Vicious was impressed and offered to walk her home. She said yes to make her boyfriend jealous. The two of them ended up dating. He thought she was amazing and ended up showing a her softer side of himself that hardly anyone ever saw. But even then, he was still a brutal person where other people were concerned and as much as she loved him, it kind of turned her off."
"So how did she wind up with Spike?" asked Faye.
"Vicious hardly ever discussed his personal life. For example, I was the only one he would talk to about his sister. And he never told anyone much about Julia, except that he was seeing someone. Then one night he was playing billiards with me and a couple guys from the neighborhood when Spike walked in. He took one look at her and thought she was really something else. Vicious had her doing some negotiating work for the new guard. One day when she was leaving headquarters, Julia and Spike got stuck in an elevator together for nearly four hours when it malfunctioned. I don't know what they talked about in there, but that's when the betrayal started. Spike and Julia started seeing one another behind Vicious's back. This went on for about a month. Then someone must have ratted them out to Vicious and he decided to surprise them by waiting for them outside Spike's apartment. He caught her and Spike coming back from an amusement park. He got mad and tried to kill Spike. If the cops hadn't broken up that fight, I'm sure they would have killed each other that night."
"Did they still work together after that?" asked Faye.
"No. They hated each other's guts after that. Mao split the new guard in half. He had Spike head one team with Lin as his lieutenant, and Vicious head another one with me as his lieutenant. The whole thing broke Mao's heart. It was always tense at headquarters and we all hated it. Spike was my friend but I felt like if I hung out with him anymore, I was being disloyal to my brother-in-law so the two of us lost touch. Then one day Spike was dispatched to bust in on a meeting of some White Tigers at a local church and kill them. He got shot up pretty bad. I heard he stumbled over to Julia's place after it happened. But he made it look like he'd been taken out of the church in an amubulance which then exploded. I guess he set the whole thing up to fake his own death. Not long after that, Julia disappeared too."
"I could never get him to tell me anywhere near that much," said Faye. "Just one more thing, and this is going to sound kind of dumb. How did he lose his eye?"
"You knew about that?" replied Lau in surprise. "He suffered a mishap with a grenade. I think it really affected him. When people asked Spike why his eyes were two different colors, he always went around saying that one eye saw the past but he never told anyone that the eye was fake. I'm amazed he told you. I guess he really trusted you."
Back at the hotel, Ed found exactly what she was looking for. "Here we go, local fraternal order of police. Yup, that's where the letters come from."
"So I was right," said Jet. "It must have been some of the guards who work here. Of course. They of all people would know this place better than anyone. Man, killing your own colleagues is about as low as you can get."
"Should we call Lau and Faye?" asked Ed.
"No," replied Jet. "Let's give them some time to themselves. It is their honeymoon after all and we haven't given them any time alone."
"You can give us some time alone later," said Faye as she and Lau approached from behind. "I'm bored stiff and for once I don't feel like gambling. So what have you got on these guys?"
"We think these guys were actually off-duty cops," replied Jet. "One of them had an FOP tattoo on his arm and the security here does consist of off-duty cops."
The security team at the casino wore short-sleeve shirts. Jet, Faye, and Lau went around casually watching them to see if any of them had FOP tattoos. A couple of them did, but the tattoos were the wrong color. They waited until the shift changed and then went looking again. Still nothing. "Well it couldn't have been the late shift," said Jet. "That's when the robbery was pulled off. They would have been on duty then."
"Maybe it was someone behind the scenes," suggested Faye. "They usually watch casinos like a hawk for people like me. Hmmm, that gives me an idea here."
A few minutes later... "Wahoo, Ed wins again!" exclaimed Ed as she found yet another slot machine on the casino floor that was paying off. Sure enough, her presence once again attracted the attention of security.
"Hey kid, I thought I told you never to come back here!" Ed was taken back up to the security office. "OK kid, you sit here until we contact your parents."
Ed ignored the guard and began to wander around the room humming to herself. She looked at the arms of the various guards, who were too busy watching their monitors to notice her. None of them had tattoos. Then Ed noticed one of them who had on long sleeves. She ran up and tore off his left sleeve with her teeth before he could stop her. Sure enough, he had the right tattoo.
"Kid, are you crazy?"
"Mmm, fabric tasty!" replied Ed.
"This is why I don't have any kids," said the guard who brought her in.
Just then, Jet came in. "Now Ed, what have I told you about eating fabric?"
"It'll spoil Ed's appetite?"
"Something like that. Now come along. And don't let me catch you gambling again. By the way guys, do I get to keep what she won this time?"
The next day, that off-duty cop with the tattoo was on traffic patrol in his squad car. As he was driving through the neon-illuminated streets of Las Vegas, he noticed a car in front of him that was weaving all over the place. He turned on his lights and pulled the car over. Lau stumbled out.
"Excuse me sir, but have you been drinking tonight?" asked the cop.
"Well ocifer, I mean officer, that's a long story," replied Lau who was doing his best to sound roaring drunk. "But I'm not to drive to drunk. Really. Why are there three of you all the sudden?"
"OK pal, you know the drill, put your head back and stick your arms out and try to touch your nose. Eyes closed."
Lau made several attempts to touch his nose but the closest he ever got was his chin. "Well I bet I could touch your nose," he replied as he did just that.
"Now cut that out!" yelled the cop. "You're under arrest for DUI..."
"...K-E-Y...M-O-U-S-E," interrupted Lau as he fell to the pavement laughing. The cop sighed and reached for his handcuffs only to find they were missing. "Hey, what the..."
"Looking for these?" asked Faye who was standing behind him, holding his cuffs. "Here, you can have them back." Before the cop had a chance to react, she quickly handcuffed him with his own cuffs. Lau emerged behind him and grabbed the cop's gun from his holster. Jet emerged from a nearby parked car.
"He's probably got another one on him somewhere," he warned. Sure enough, the guy had an ankle holster as well. Just then, three other police units showed up. You didn't think that a bystander would just sit back and watch a cop on duty get handcuffed and unarmed by a bunch of strangers and not call the police, did you?
"Gentleman, I present your casino robber," announced Jet, as the other cops approached. "I'll take my bounty right now."
The cop confessed to the whole thing and told detectives who his accomplices were. The Las Vegas police wouldn't offer a bounty for the other two, but paid ten million for the guy they had caught. Back on the casino floor, Jet, Faye and Lau had an enormous streak of luck. Lau stayed away from poker and stuck to roulette, Faye made a killing at the blackjack table, and Jet cleaned house playing craps. All of them walked away with some huge gains.
Later on, the three sat in a restaurant a few feet away from the casino entrance. "We've still got three days left on this vacation," said Jet. "I'll switch hotels and me and Ed will stay out of your hair for the rest of the time."
"Say, where is Ed right now?" asked Lau.
"Kid, I told you three times not to come back here!" came the voice of a guard from the direction of the casino.
Jet groaned. "Aw, Ed! You guys remind me to call that 800 number for her. I think she's becoming a gambling addict." He walked away towards the casino. "Hey, you damn well better let me keep her winnings this time!"
Faye and Lau just smiled and clicked their wineglasses together.
SEE YOU SPACE COWBOY
(c) 2004 Joseph Kerner
jak981125@catholic.org
Disclaimer: I did not create Cowboy Bebop. I wish I had, but I didn't. This is just fanfiction.
VIVA LAS VEGAS
By jak981125
Note: This story is part of a series. It will make more sense if you read the earlier sessions.
"Oof!"
Lau had a rather rude awakening. Faye kicked him in her sleep so hard that it knocked him out of bed. It had been a long time since Lau had shared a bed with someone and he certainly wasn't used to this. Not only did Faye twitch a lot in her sleep, but she snored. I suppose you can't blame her with that tiny nose of hers.
By the time Lau picked himself off the floor, she had flopped around so much that she was taking up the entire bed. He couldn't get back in. He sighed, and laid down on the floor. Some honeymoon this was turning out to be so far. First of all, they had hardly enjoyed a minute alone together because Jet and Ed were still in Vegas with them and Ed wanted to hang out with Faye as much as possible. Second of all, they had suffered some rather unfortunate gambling losses. And no, I'm not going to give you any of the X-rated details of the honeymoon, so don't ask. You pervert.
If you think Lau was having a bad night, it was nothing compared to the night the casino on the bottom floor was about to have. Jet had been downstairs playing a late night game of craps. He had stepped out for just a couple of minutes to use the bathroom. In that time, three masked gunmen ran in, killed two guards, robbed the cash register, and left. Con artists are common at casinos but robberies are a wee bit more rare. It left Sin City in shock.
The next day, Lau sat at a table next to a breakfast buffet, waiting for Jet. He didn't have to wait long. The two of them loaded up their trays and sat down. "So where are the girls?" asked Jet.
"I think they're watching some Elvis impersonator," replied Lau. "Jet, you have just got to keep Ed on a leash. Faye and I have hardly had one minute to ourselves since the wedding."
"I'm not sure how to explain that to Ed without hurting her feelings," replied Jet. "Say, did you hear about last night?"
"No, what happened?"
"The casino got robbed and two guards were killed. All of this happened while I was in the can."
"No, Jet."
"What?"
Lau sighed. "I know what you're about to say and the answer is no. I'm not hunting for any casino bandits on my honeymoon."
"It might help make up for some of our gambling losses," replied Jet. "No offense Lau, but I've seen dogs that could play a better game of poker than you."
"Maybe I should have let Faye go ahead and switch the dice at the craps table," said Lau. "Honestly, I was never a gambling man."
"Look, while the girls are out anyway, what harm could it do just to look around a little?"
"There's no such thing as looking around a little when dealing with the black dog," replied Lau.
"Then you know how persistent I can be," replied Jet with a grin.
Lau sighed. "Before you go dragging me all over town to look for these guys, can I at least eat my breakfast before it gets cold?" In reply, Jet started eating his own food. The people at this hotel really knew how to cook.
After breakfast, the two of them asked at the cashier's window if anyone was around who had been there last night and witnessed the robbery. The cashier didn't know. Just then, a security guard approached. "You two aren't cops, are you?" he asked. "Wait, you guys are bounty hunters. If you think it would help, I could show you some security footage from last night."
The guard escorted them upstairs to the security office, where a bunch of other guards were huddled around monitors, watching everything that went on in the casino. Like I said, plenty of people try to swindle casinos. The guard put a disk into a computer that contained the footage from the robbery. Jet studied it carefully.
"As you can see, the problem is that these guys had masks and gloves on, so we don't have their faces or fingerprints," said the guard.
"You knew one of the guards that died, didn't you?" asked Lau.
"Is it that obvious?" asked the guard.
"Well you were exceptionally eager to cooperate," replied Lau. "See anything helpful, Jet?"
Jet zoomed in a little closer. "Here we go," he said to himself. "These guys shouldn't have worn short sleeves. This one has a tattoo. Kind of funny looking, isn't it?"
Lau took a look at the tattoo on the arm of one of the robbers. "Looks like Greek letters," he replied. "Maybe these guys belong to a college fraternity."
"Gees, the frat world must have changed a lot since I was in college," remarked the guard. "We just got drunk a lot and put the dean's car in the courtyard of the administrative building."
"Excuse me gentleman," came the voice of a guard behind them. "Does this belong to you?" He was holding Ed by the arm.
"Oh Ed, what did you do?" groaned Jet.
"Edward didn't do anything!" she replied angrily as she shook herself loose from the guard's grip.
"Sir, we tend to frown on persons under the age of twenty-one being on the gaming floor," said the guard. "When we spotted her, she claimed she was thirty-five."
"In dog years, maybe," grinned Lau.
"Well Edward was on a winning streak," she bragged. "Edward found a slot machine that was paying off big time!"
"That figures," replied Jet. "The only one of us to have any luck, and she's too young to gamble. I thought you were with Faye."
"Faye Faye went to look for Lau," said Ed.
"Uh oh!" replied Lau. "I think I'd better go see what she's up to." He walked out leaving Ed and Jet alone with the security team.
"So, does she get to keep what she won?" asked Jet hopefully.
It didn't take Lau very long to find Faye. She was sitting by herself, next to a giant aquarium in the lobby that was full of sharks. She looked lonely. Lau sat down next to her and started rubbing her back. "What's wrong, sweetie?" he asked.
"Let's go somewhere right now, just the two of us," she replied. "And I don't want to go to another casino." Lau put his hand on her forehead. "What are you doing?"
"Checking to see if you have a fever," he replied. "Unless I just heard wrong, you just said you didn't want to go to a casino." Faye smiled and elbowed him in the ribs playfully. "Ow, careful, that's where you kicked me last night. It's still a little sensitive."
The two of them went to a botanical garden on the north side of town. Well, at least it was quiet. Boring, but quiet, and no Jet or Ed. "I hope you don't get nailed for contributing to the delinquency of a minor," said Lau.
"What do you mean?"
"After you ditched Ed, she decided to go try her hand at the slot machines," replied Lau. "She was actually winning when security finally caught her."
Faye laughed out loud at that. "So what were you and Jet doing before that?" she asked.
"Oh, Jet's convinced he can make up for our gambling losses if we catch the guys who robbed the casino," replied Lau. "If he wants to get those guys, he can do it without me. Hey, what's wrong with you?" Lau had noticed a sudden look of concern on Faye's face.
"Something's been bugging me. It's just that we're married now...and...well I married you because I love the person you are," stammered Faye. "It's just, I never wanted to ask you about the person you were. It didn't matter...but it does. There's just so many things I've been curious about. And not just about you either. Never mind, I'm sorry, just forget I said anything."
There was a long and awkward pause. "You want to know about my syndicate days?" asked Lau. Faye nodded. "Well that's not a time in my life that I'm exactly proud of. I don't know how Spike felt about it afterwards, but I don't like to think about it."
"You murdered people?" asked Faye quietly.
Lau hung his head. "You have a right to know. Yeah, I did. My main job was to provide security for the Clan's drug dealers. If someone messed with one of them, I'd mess with that person. Mostly I'd just threaten or occasionally beat on someone. In all that time, I only murdered three people. I feel like crap about all three, if that's any consolation."
"It is, but why did you do it?"
"One of them was a White Tiger. It was tit for tat. He shot one of our dealers, so Vicious ordered me to get him back. The second guy killed the three year old daughter of a friend of mine. The third guy I feel the worst about. He was a syndicate guy who ran down a dealer of ours with his car. But he didn't mean to. He was driving drunk and hit one of them by accident. Not only that, our guy survived. But the Van made me kill him anyway. I should have told those old farts to shove it. You know that if I could do it all over again, I never would have joined the Red Dragons in the first place. But I was young and stupid, and I was terrified of suffering to put two cents together, the way my dad did."
"Thank you," replied Faye. "I don't think any less of you. I just had to know. We should have talked about this before we got married. I shouldn't have rushed things so much."
"Maybe that's the real reason we haven't enjoyed ourselves," said Lau.
"Yeah, but let's just keep blaming Jet and Ed," replied Faye.
At that moment, Jet and Ed were searching the computer for any local college fraternities whose letters matched those on the robber's tattoo. They came up empty. "Oh man, I hope these guys aren't from out of state," groaned Jet.
"Maybe the robber men were Greek and those letters were their names," offered Ed. She tried to see if the letters worked out to form any names but came up empty again. "Nope. Silly Edward, why would robber men come all the way from Greece to rob a Las Vegas casino?"
"Or maybe it's a fraternal organization and not a college frat," said Jet. "You know, some cops belong to fraternal lodges and some of them moonlight as security. I wonder..."
Across town, Faye and Lau walked back towards their hotel. "Lau, not to beat a dead horse here, but while we're on the subject, I was hoping you could tell me a little something about Spike," said Faye.
"I could tell you more than a little something," replied Lau. "I knew the guy very well for years."
"What I don't get is the whole thing with him and Julia and Vicious," replied Faye. "I don't mean to knock your brother-in-law, but I can't understand what Spike or Julia ever saw in the guy."
"It's a long story," replied Lau. "Spike and Vicious had been friends since childhood. They met in juvenile hall on Tharsis. Spike was an orphan who had been running away from foster homes for years. He was a street kid, so he made a living selling drugs. He ended up getting caught."
"And Vicious?"
"Vicious was a sad story," said Lau. "His mom was a real loser. She was a junkie and a nymphomaniac. His mom's reputation made him an easy target for bullies as a kid. And the fact that his hair went gray before he was even thirteen didn't help either. He got into a fight at school one day and accidentally killed a kid. So he got sent to juvie for manslaughter. He and Spike ended up being roommates and when they got out, they started their own street gang."
"How did they get involved with the syndicate?" asked Faye.
"When they were eighteen, they were recruited by Mao Yenrai. He was looking for young blood. The old guard wasn't getting any younger and the elders were already in their eighties. Mao basically founded the new guard. Vicious and Spike were the leaders of that group. They were partners and would constantly be sent out after rival syndicates.
"Then when they were about twenty-three and I was twenty-two, Julia showed up. Vicious was walking home from a bar one night and saw her arguing with her boyfriend. He called her something rather unflattering and she actually beat the crap out of him. Vicious was impressed and offered to walk her home. She said yes to make her boyfriend jealous. The two of them ended up dating. He thought she was amazing and ended up showing a her softer side of himself that hardly anyone ever saw. But even then, he was still a brutal person where other people were concerned and as much as she loved him, it kind of turned her off."
"So how did she wind up with Spike?" asked Faye.
"Vicious hardly ever discussed his personal life. For example, I was the only one he would talk to about his sister. And he never told anyone much about Julia, except that he was seeing someone. Then one night he was playing billiards with me and a couple guys from the neighborhood when Spike walked in. He took one look at her and thought she was really something else. Vicious had her doing some negotiating work for the new guard. One day when she was leaving headquarters, Julia and Spike got stuck in an elevator together for nearly four hours when it malfunctioned. I don't know what they talked about in there, but that's when the betrayal started. Spike and Julia started seeing one another behind Vicious's back. This went on for about a month. Then someone must have ratted them out to Vicious and he decided to surprise them by waiting for them outside Spike's apartment. He caught her and Spike coming back from an amusement park. He got mad and tried to kill Spike. If the cops hadn't broken up that fight, I'm sure they would have killed each other that night."
"Did they still work together after that?" asked Faye.
"No. They hated each other's guts after that. Mao split the new guard in half. He had Spike head one team with Lin as his lieutenant, and Vicious head another one with me as his lieutenant. The whole thing broke Mao's heart. It was always tense at headquarters and we all hated it. Spike was my friend but I felt like if I hung out with him anymore, I was being disloyal to my brother-in-law so the two of us lost touch. Then one day Spike was dispatched to bust in on a meeting of some White Tigers at a local church and kill them. He got shot up pretty bad. I heard he stumbled over to Julia's place after it happened. But he made it look like he'd been taken out of the church in an amubulance which then exploded. I guess he set the whole thing up to fake his own death. Not long after that, Julia disappeared too."
"I could never get him to tell me anywhere near that much," said Faye. "Just one more thing, and this is going to sound kind of dumb. How did he lose his eye?"
"You knew about that?" replied Lau in surprise. "He suffered a mishap with a grenade. I think it really affected him. When people asked Spike why his eyes were two different colors, he always went around saying that one eye saw the past but he never told anyone that the eye was fake. I'm amazed he told you. I guess he really trusted you."
Back at the hotel, Ed found exactly what she was looking for. "Here we go, local fraternal order of police. Yup, that's where the letters come from."
"So I was right," said Jet. "It must have been some of the guards who work here. Of course. They of all people would know this place better than anyone. Man, killing your own colleagues is about as low as you can get."
"Should we call Lau and Faye?" asked Ed.
"No," replied Jet. "Let's give them some time to themselves. It is their honeymoon after all and we haven't given them any time alone."
"You can give us some time alone later," said Faye as she and Lau approached from behind. "I'm bored stiff and for once I don't feel like gambling. So what have you got on these guys?"
"We think these guys were actually off-duty cops," replied Jet. "One of them had an FOP tattoo on his arm and the security here does consist of off-duty cops."
The security team at the casino wore short-sleeve shirts. Jet, Faye, and Lau went around casually watching them to see if any of them had FOP tattoos. A couple of them did, but the tattoos were the wrong color. They waited until the shift changed and then went looking again. Still nothing. "Well it couldn't have been the late shift," said Jet. "That's when the robbery was pulled off. They would have been on duty then."
"Maybe it was someone behind the scenes," suggested Faye. "They usually watch casinos like a hawk for people like me. Hmmm, that gives me an idea here."
A few minutes later... "Wahoo, Ed wins again!" exclaimed Ed as she found yet another slot machine on the casino floor that was paying off. Sure enough, her presence once again attracted the attention of security.
"Hey kid, I thought I told you never to come back here!" Ed was taken back up to the security office. "OK kid, you sit here until we contact your parents."
Ed ignored the guard and began to wander around the room humming to herself. She looked at the arms of the various guards, who were too busy watching their monitors to notice her. None of them had tattoos. Then Ed noticed one of them who had on long sleeves. She ran up and tore off his left sleeve with her teeth before he could stop her. Sure enough, he had the right tattoo.
"Kid, are you crazy?"
"Mmm, fabric tasty!" replied Ed.
"This is why I don't have any kids," said the guard who brought her in.
Just then, Jet came in. "Now Ed, what have I told you about eating fabric?"
"It'll spoil Ed's appetite?"
"Something like that. Now come along. And don't let me catch you gambling again. By the way guys, do I get to keep what she won this time?"
The next day, that off-duty cop with the tattoo was on traffic patrol in his squad car. As he was driving through the neon-illuminated streets of Las Vegas, he noticed a car in front of him that was weaving all over the place. He turned on his lights and pulled the car over. Lau stumbled out.
"Excuse me sir, but have you been drinking tonight?" asked the cop.
"Well ocifer, I mean officer, that's a long story," replied Lau who was doing his best to sound roaring drunk. "But I'm not to drive to drunk. Really. Why are there three of you all the sudden?"
"OK pal, you know the drill, put your head back and stick your arms out and try to touch your nose. Eyes closed."
Lau made several attempts to touch his nose but the closest he ever got was his chin. "Well I bet I could touch your nose," he replied as he did just that.
"Now cut that out!" yelled the cop. "You're under arrest for DUI..."
"...K-E-Y...M-O-U-S-E," interrupted Lau as he fell to the pavement laughing. The cop sighed and reached for his handcuffs only to find they were missing. "Hey, what the..."
"Looking for these?" asked Faye who was standing behind him, holding his cuffs. "Here, you can have them back." Before the cop had a chance to react, she quickly handcuffed him with his own cuffs. Lau emerged behind him and grabbed the cop's gun from his holster. Jet emerged from a nearby parked car.
"He's probably got another one on him somewhere," he warned. Sure enough, the guy had an ankle holster as well. Just then, three other police units showed up. You didn't think that a bystander would just sit back and watch a cop on duty get handcuffed and unarmed by a bunch of strangers and not call the police, did you?
"Gentleman, I present your casino robber," announced Jet, as the other cops approached. "I'll take my bounty right now."
The cop confessed to the whole thing and told detectives who his accomplices were. The Las Vegas police wouldn't offer a bounty for the other two, but paid ten million for the guy they had caught. Back on the casino floor, Jet, Faye and Lau had an enormous streak of luck. Lau stayed away from poker and stuck to roulette, Faye made a killing at the blackjack table, and Jet cleaned house playing craps. All of them walked away with some huge gains.
Later on, the three sat in a restaurant a few feet away from the casino entrance. "We've still got three days left on this vacation," said Jet. "I'll switch hotels and me and Ed will stay out of your hair for the rest of the time."
"Say, where is Ed right now?" asked Lau.
"Kid, I told you three times not to come back here!" came the voice of a guard from the direction of the casino.
Jet groaned. "Aw, Ed! You guys remind me to call that 800 number for her. I think she's becoming a gambling addict." He walked away towards the casino. "Hey, you damn well better let me keep her winnings this time!"
Faye and Lau just smiled and clicked their wineglasses together.
SEE YOU SPACE COWBOY
(c) 2004 Joseph Kerner
jak981125@catholic.org
Disclaimer: I did not create Cowboy Bebop. I wish I had, but I didn't. This is just fanfiction.