Chapter Five
O' My Lady Misery
"So…are we going to go anywhere, or are we just going to sit here in the parking lot doing nothing?"
Stella's question went ignored by the usually malicious weasel—he was too preoccupied with unconsciously gnawing at his own finger, sharp oversized fang biting roughly through the leather of his glove with ease. Not even biting down on his own finger and drawing blood seemed to bring the mercenary out of his reverie. Bark quickly reached out to roughly pull Nack's hand away from his own mouth, earning him a look of confused surprise at the action and a heavy sigh at the spots of blood now dotting his white muzzle.
"Bad habit, Snaggletooth." Bean commented. It only earned him a fierce and annoyed glare, though somewhat underplayed as Nack had to busy himself with the spraycan of water pushed under the seat of the Marvelous Queen. It was kept on hand for occasions like this—that is, occasions where blood somehow managed to find itself splattered on one of the Hooligans. Such a thing tended to attract attention from people he wasn't too interested in interacting with. Law-types, usually.
The bad habit of chewing his own fingers when he was frustrated hadn't helped to keep that attention grabbing blood off of him, either. For the most part it had been curbed via Bean mockingly pointing it out, or Bark flat out forcing him stop. Regardless of those efforts, though, there were still long wrought scars curving across his fingers and the back of his palm thanks to that lovely little habit. He couldn't really distance himself from the source, either—getting frustrated was just part of being a mercenary.
Though right about now, Nack was certainly considering distancing himself from mercenary work. Or at the very least from this specific job.
"You wanna give us the lowdown, Shoot-Em-Up? Or at least let us in on what our next move is? Not that I'm minding the whole 'do nothing' method or anything." Bean said, slumping over the side of the compartment he was currently sharing with the little white fox child. "It might be nice to have a vacation for once."
"Cram it, Bean." Nack snapped. Then he sighed heavily again, pressing his head against the handlebars of the Marvelous Queen. "Lowdown is this. Jeb the Tusk may hate me, but he's at least willing to overcome that hate in the face of money. He's a greedy piece of shit just like the lot of us. Svetlana Vasin, on the other hand, won't be bribed. She's greedy, self serving, and she don't have a single shred of morality in her…but she ain't gonna be bribed to our side."
"She doesn't like you much, I suppose?" Stella said, tapping her fingers lightly against the side of her sidecar. "Based on what that big guy said, I can see why she wouldn't be a big fan, but weren't both of them involved in the same thing that made them hate you? Why would she hate you more?"
"Because I promised her a perfect life if she went through the effort to screw over her husband, take a good half of his money, and run off with me." Nack paused for a moment, as if unsure to continue. "…Halfway to the getaway location, she fell in a ditch and broke her leg. So I left without her and took th' money with me. Spent it all on a fine weekend in the Casino Zone."
"You just LEFT her there?" Stella repeated, tone aghast. "No wonder they hate you so much."
"Yeah, neither of them was too pleased with what happened. No time I run into either of them turns out well." Nack fished a cigarette out of his belt, lighting it up to tag a long drag off of it. "Can't say I regret much of the shit I've done but having Jeb and Svetlana both after my hide makes me think that pullin' that crap wasn't my finest hour. 'Specially since I lost all the money thanks to drinkin' and gamblin' the night away….point is, I can pay Jeb back and he'll still hate me but he'll be a little less inclined to KILL me. Svetlana, on the other hand…"
"You can't win over."
"Bingo. And knowing her, she probably already knows that I'm workin' a job that's related to her." Another quick puff off of the cigarette situated between his fingers, accompanied by a rubbing to the temple of his forehead. With that he flicked the quickly dying bud to the side. "She just ain't showed herself yet, that's all. Probably already looked for an excuse to put a bullet in my head…"
"…Are you backing out of my job?" Stella asked nervously, pushing herself over the edge of the sidecar to hang loosely over the side. Bean snickered slightly and placed a finger under her shoe, pressing up a bit. The fox immediately toppled out of the car and into a heap at Nack's side.
"Nah. But I might need a friendly reminder of how much that rock is worth. And some extra cash." Nack muttered, begrudgingly offering his hand to pull the child back to her feet. "Or a lot of extra cash."
"It's a fifty million dollar diamond. Do you really need more than that?"
"Forty-seven million, with what Jeb is taking out of the profit. But you make a good point anyways. I could probably RETIRE after this bullshit is over." Nack sighed, head flopping backwards to stare at the sky. It was a deceptively nice day, clear of clouds and fairly warm—if only the mood matched it, he thought wearily. "Alright, here's the deal. What we have to do is find Svetlana Vasin. Problem is, Svetlana Vasin isn't really the type to stay still."
"But you said she's probably trailing us already." Bean pointed out. Nack nodded. "So won't she just find us?"
"It's always possible. Far as we know, she's watchin' us all right now." The weasel mused. "Which I guess could be a good thing. She was always pretty skilled but I don't think she'd do well in a three on one fight…either way, the closer we get to Svetlana Vasin, the closer we get to our payday. And I may just know some of her more frequent haunts."
"So you aren't gonna quit?" Stella said hopefully. Nack shot her a wide grin and smacked her a few times on the top of her head—probably meant to be a pat, but lost in translation with his more abrasive manner.
"I'd rather get her now when I have the advantage rather than waiting for her to catch me at a time when I ain't got backup." He snorted, grabbing the girl by the back of her jacket to toss her back into Bean's sidecar. "So buckle up. I don't want my cash cow dying before I can milk it."
The mountain of a man shuffled through his papers thoughtlessly, not really paying them much mind. Today had been an interesting day for Jeb the Tusk, and if he was lucky, all of it was going to result in a decent profit. Still, it couldn't help but remind him of the older days. The days back when he wasn't behind a desk filing papers on the antics of the other mercenaries of the world. The days when he always had his gun in hand and always had a job under his belt. The days when he was robbing banks and lining his own pockets with gold and silver, yet still evading the law.
The boar gave a heavy sigh. Those had been the days. Back during those times he knew himself to a true man of cunning skill. He could fire a gun and split a grape in two, cut even an honest man open with the jab of one tusk, and still get paid off for doing such questionable deeds. The only ruler he had was himself, and the allure shimmer of the glorious rewards behind his actions. Jeb had lived a life of luxury, thrill, and glory…but all glory had to end and it had eventually come to the safety and security of being in an office chair giving others the jobs he had once thrived on.
It was true that owning the agency was ultimately more stable but he wasn't the type to live a life without thrill. It wasn't nearly as profitable as doing dangerous, illegal jobs and it wasn't nearly as exciting. He just sat here all day filing his paperwork and intimidating inferior mercenaries, musing about the off chance that something exciting would step through his door and give him something fun to do. Which Nack HAD, but he and his group of idiots had taken off just as quickly. As infuriating as it had been to see the man who cheated him out of his old fortune and his beautiful wife, it had not been enough to satiate the burning hunger to be back on the streets again. No amusement lasted long here, not like the amusement of being a bounty hunter had persisted so thoroughly.
Jeb groaned, tapping his pen against the paper. Dwelling on the past was never a good thing to do, he found, but sometimes it just smacked him in the face.
"You are not where I would think you would be being." His pen stilled its tapping as Jeb glanced up at the doorway out of the corner of his eye. A light, breathy laugh emerged at the attempt to hide his surprise. "Do not be holding back, Jeb. It has been years, yes? To think that two who were so close are now so far."
"I 'ppose it just comes with time and major backstabbing behavior, Svetlana." Jeb replied coolly, setting his pen down to face the wolverine woman. She leaned against the wall of the door, having slinked in without him even noticing. One clawed hand was firmly planted on the edge of the door and ready to slam it shut. "If ya want a private meetin' wit' me, just close the door so we can git started."
"You never were one to be beating around any bushes." She cooed mockingly as she slammed the wooden door shut. Her heels clicked up to stand in front of his massive desk, followed by one foot slamming down on the papers in front of him. "I have been notice that you are being visit by old friend."
"And what, m'dear, is your interest in that?" Jeb said smugly, extending a hoof to bring the wolverine's face closer to him. She grinned menacingly at him. Lines of fangs glinted in the poor light of the flickering lightbulb above them as her fiery eyes drew the warthog into her gaze. "Ya wouldn't be plannin' revenge or any such thing, I hope. I have a bit of a business deal with who I'm thinkin' you might be lookin' for."
"Ooh, Jeb, always playing so hard to be catching." Svetlana slid her hip up onto the desk, painted smile not leaving her lips. "But Jeb, you are not to understanding the scale of what is happening. You is thinking this is about something as simple as revenging, but it is never that simple in this line of work."
"Oh, never."
"I am having important job, Jeb. And I am having to finish it post haste. But your darling little ex-wife has been coming upon problem: I am outnumbered." She scooted across the desk, situating herself in the warthog's lap. He gave a satisfied snort. "I am having to retrieve little girl. But little girl is guarded by THREE mercenaries. I am good, Jeb, but I am thinking that maybe I am not THAT good."
"Ya can't just stride into my office askin' for my help without offerin' me anythin' in return, Svetlana. You of all people should know that." The boar chuckled. He ran one hoof through her golden curls as one of her paws curled around the tusk furthest from her. They both knew where this would go, but the game was too fun to resist. "We ain't been together for a long time anyways. I ain't owing you a single thing."
"What if I can be promising you a good payout? A fantastic payout? A payout that, if successful, could have us rolling in the money?" Svetlana whispered in the hog's ear. "A payout that would require you just to do one thing: tell me what I need to know, and help me kill a black hearted man with the guts of a liar."
"Well shit, woman. What's the downside?"
Svetlana grinned toothily.
