Session Twenty
As it turned out, Jet didn't have to worry about Sam. The kid was bored, chin propped in his hand as he watched about a dozen monitors flick between images of the gaming floor and the casino hallways. When Jet offered him an unexpected break so that Ed could do maintenance, the security guard could barely contain his excitement. He retained enough presence of mind to ask if Jet was sure before practically bolting out the door on Jet's assurance that he could handle the booth alone.
Jet checked his watch. 11:30 a.m. That should give Ed just enough time to set up before the Dragon arrived. Ed put her clunky case on a table in the booth and opened it up to reveal Tomato nestled inside. She also pulled Leon's Jericho and Faye's Glock out of the case. Jet put them in the cargo pockets of his security pants.
She pulled several wires from the case and began hooking Tomato to different ports on the security panel. Jet walked up to the window and located Faye and Leon sitting in a booth at the end of the bar. Or, at least, he located Faye. He assumed Leon was sitting behind the leafy plant obscuring the second seat at the booth. He did a quick check of the gaming floor and security cameras. Nothing out of the ordinary. No goons with machine guns, nobody with a red dragon tattooed on their arm, nobody in Syndicate black and gold. Sometimes Jet wished the bad guys all wore signs. It would make his job so much easier. He glanced back down at the floor to see a waiter deliver another drink to Faye and Leon's table. He saw Leon reach out from behind the plant and take it. Jet hoped the kid had enough presence of mind to keep his head. He realized he hadn't seen Leon drink before.
"Well, Ed, looks like we got here in plenty of time," he said.
"Yup!" Ed agreed, pulling another tangle of wires out of her suitcase. "Just give me five more-"
"Wait!" Jet interrupted her. He leaned over the security console to get a better look at the gaming floor. A woman in a striking red dress appeared in the door to the casino holding the arm of a stern older man in a black tuxedo. "Damn!" Jet exclaimed.
"What?" Ed came to peer over his shoulder. "What is it? Ed wants to see."
"Villanova," Jet pointed.
"Ack!" Ed yelped. "Ed's not ready!" she dove back into her tangle of wires at double speed. Jet wasn't sure how she knew what wire she was plugging into what port anymore.
"It's ok, Ed," Jet said. His voice sounded calmer than he felt. "You've got time," he said, hoping it was true.
"Two minutes," Ed said through gritted teeth.
Jet watched as Villanova and her escort - who was indeed Draugh - walked up to Leon and Faye's table. Leon stood at the end of the table and gave them a bow as they approached. At least he wasn't drunk.
About a minute later, Ed sat cross-legged in a spider's web of wires, already typing madly on Tomato. "Ed's ready!" she declared triumphantly.
"Good," Jet said. "How long will it take you to hack the system?"
"Not long." Ed stuck her tongue out in concentration.
Jet looked back down at the table. He heard various beeping noises behind him as Ed connected to the different parts of the security system. Leon and Faye were now sitting on the same side of the table, talking to Villanova and Draugh. Even from this distance, Jet could see Faye's obvious discomfort. The longer the conversation lasted, the more he watched Leon squirm. Both of them shot furtive glances at the security booth and Leon began tracing a finger across the top of his glass, the gesture sharp and repetitive.
"Ed…" Jet checked his Walther in its holster and edged toward the door. He put a hand out and pushed against the door. It didn't move.
"Almost, almost!" Ed yelped. "Ed's got power, and TV, and the loud voice maker…"
"How about you get the door, Ed?"Jet interrupted, pushing on the door again.
Ed looked up at him, puzzled. "The door?"
"Yeah. It's time this guard made his rounds, but I need you to open the door."
Ed paled. "Ed didn't lock the door." She shook her head back and forth slowly.
"What?" Jet said, looking back over his shoulder at her.
"Ed didn't lock the door."
Jet turned back to the door. There was a small sliding panel at about eye level. Jet slid it open and peered out to meet the smirking face of Almance leaned casually on the wall across the hallway. The "head of security" waved and laughed.
Jet swore under his breath and slammed the panel shut. "They've locked us in," he said. He ran back over to the window. He looked down just in time to see Leon grab the table and upend it on Villanova and Draugh. "Ed, you gotta get us out of here!"
Leon stopped short as he almost collided head-on with a waiter. The waiter's tray crashed to the floor, spilling glass, ice, and drinks on Leon's shoes. After a second of surprise, the waiter reached behind him. Leon snagged an unbroken glass on the toe of his shoe and flung it up into his left hand. He smashed the waiter in the face with it just as the man pulled a gun from his waistband. The man howled and Leon grabbed the gun, discharging it into the floor as he twisted it out of his grip.
"Head's up!" he shouted and tossed the gun over his shoulder to Faye.
She caught it, whirled, and shot another Syndicate member sneaking up behind them as Leon punched the waiter in the jaw. Both Syndicate men went down for the count.
Leon caught sight of two more goons pulling guns from their suit jackets at a nearby gaming table. Patrons screamed and ran at the sight of the guns. The running civilians caused a welcome distraction. Leon grabbed Faye again. Faye's second shot went wide as Leon whisked her across the room. Two bullets thudded into the floor behind them like an afterthought.
"Stop jerking me around!" Faye yelled, planting her feet and shooting another Syndicate man in the shoulder. He dropped his gun with a howl.
"Don't thank me for saving your life then!" Leon shouted as he pushed her behind the bar. Bullets shattered the mirrors on the front of the bar, but the wood behind it stopped them short. For now. Glasses popped and shattered overhead, sending shards of glass raining down on Faye and Leon. Leon covered his head as he crouched, careful not to touch the floor with his bare hands.
"Are you willing to give up this crazy plan now?!" Faye hissed as more glass rained down on their shoulders. She jumped up for a second and squeezed off two more shots. Leon heard a man yell and figured at least one shot landed.
He looked over at Faye as she ducked back beneath the counter. She had glittering shards of glass in her hair, matching the glint of the sequins on her dress. He set his jaw. "Giving up now means surrendering to the Dragon. I don't think that's a good idea. Tactical retreat, on the other hand, is totally fine."
"Oh good, you're not completely insane. But you could have gotten me a gun with more bullets," she growled, cracking open the revolver Leon had tossed her to show him six empty chambers.
"You should have saved your shots," he hissed.
Faye's reply was lost as more glass shattered overhead and littered the floor.
"Idiots! Don't kill him!" An angry Villanova shouted. The gunfire slowed and stopped. Leon risked a glance over the top of the bar. Villanova stood on top of one of the gaming tables, her dress significantly shorter than before. The ruffles were ripped off and laying on the floor behind her, revealing a pair of heavy combat boots.
"Surrender, Spiegel." She smiled. "You're outnumbered."
"And if I don't?" Leon asked. He ducked back below the bar and looked around. He grabbed a bottle of rum that hadn't been smashed.
"Then we kill your friends and take you by force."
Beside him, Faye gasped. Leon ignored her as he grabbed a cleaning rag and scanned the walls. The two bartenders from earlier were nowhere to be seen, which meant they must have some way to get out unnoticed.
"And if I do surrender?" Leon asked, crawling carefully over broken glass to grab a book of matches from under the bar.
"Then your friends go free. Doesn't that seem fair to you?" Leon could hear the fanged smile in Villanova's voice.
"What are you doing?" Faye hissed at him, noticing the objects in his hands for the first time.
"Creating a distraction," he murmured, gesturing at the far end of the bar with the rum bottle.
Faye looked at the wall for a good ten seconds before her eyes went wide and she nodded. The wall at the end of the bar was actually a door for the bartenders to slip in and out unnoticed. When it was closed, it merged almost seamlessly with the bar, but now it was slightly ajar and the outline of the door could be seen faintly.
"Go," Leon mouthed. Faye nodded and began crawling toward the door.
"And what happens to me if I go with you?" he said out loud, hoping to buy a few more seconds as he soaked the rag in rum.
"Trade secret," Villanova said. "Now, you've got three seconds to make a decision before I force you to."
Leon stuffed the rag into the mouth of the bottle and grabbed a match. He lit it and touched it to the rag. The rag caught and he stood up. "Then here's my answer, Villanova!" He threw the improvised molotov at the Dragon leader. And the lights went out.