Chapter 8: Fifth Wheel
"This test I have for you is a little tougher than Balalaika's. Some assholes have hijacked some……supplies that I was sending to Hong Kong. These fuckers think that international waters will keep them safe; I want you to prove them wrong. Recover my goods and show them what happens when you steal from the Triad." The mob boss finished briefing the young hit man on his next job.
"How am I supposed to recover cargo on the high seas?" Bayard asked.
"I have made arrangements. You will be traveling on a passenger barge. They will make their move on the ship, and you will spring the trap. As for recovering my precious cargo, I've hired a smuggler ship to come pick up the cargo." Chang gave a mischievous grin and handed him a sealed envelope. Chang felt a little bad for sending the kid into a heavy fire situation, but just a little. He had done an excellent job on his first job, but that could have been a fluke. He wanted to really put this kid through the ringer to see what he was made of. He could see that the kid had killed many people. What had happened to this boy to turn him into a contract killer? Chang walked from the shop coolly stopping at the door to give a "good luck" before striding out.
"It'll be good to field test this." Bayard gave a mischievous smile of his own as he holstered his sawed-off shotgun opposite his pistol. He tore open the envelope and chuckled at the address he saw, no wonder Chang looked so amused. He packed a few things and locked up his shop. He was met with a surprise, none other than Sawyer the cleaner waiting for him outside. "Ms. Sawyer, what can I do for you?"
"Just Sawyer." The Goth rasped "I…came to wish you good luck on your newest job. I must request that you do not die; I have expressed my desire to work with you again."
"That is an odd request, but I will oblige you to the best of my abilities." He replied
"That is...appreciated. Farewell."
"Later." He waived and headed for the Lagoon' docks.
"Why exactly do we need an outside enforcer cramping our style?" Revy cocked an eyebrow at her captain.
"Mr. Chang asked us to and he is the customer. Besides, it'll be good to have some extra fire power; we ain't paying him." Dutch replied
"Who do you think he's sending?" Benny asked
"Oh, probably some stuffy Chinese man in a suit. You know, one of those dry gangsters lacking any personality." The gunman replied.
"The pot is calling the kettle…….Chinese." The Lagoon set eyes on the newest resident of Roanapur.
"You're that gunsmith from down the street." Revy pointed curiously
"Yes, Bayard Cowan, AKA that gunsmith down the street. AKA the guy who carried your friends unconscious ass back to you." He crossed his arms jovially
"Thanks for that." Rock piped in
"Mr. Chang playing with his new toy?" Dutch asked smirking
"Yeah." He replied with a shrug.
"You have any experience with naval combat?" Revy asked
"None whatsoever, but I can shoot people."
"Good enough."
"You ask him to not die?" Shenhua giggled at her friend. Sawyer was not very skilled with people. Give her a chainsaw and a poor bastard to kill and she was Leonardo Da Vinci, but ask her to talk to a boy and she was Jackson Pollack. Not that Jackson Pollack wasn't good at what he did; it was just that most people just "didn't get it." Shenhua was surprised that Sawyer has found a boy she was interested in. Hell, she was surprised that there was a boy who didn't run in terror at the sound of her name.
"Is that an unreasonable request?" Sawyer crossed her arms with a scowl.
"No, it just odd question to ask cute boy. Most boys put off by that sort of thing."
"He…promised to oblige as best he could. I thought I did pretty well." Shenhua giggled again receiving a glare from the Goth girl. "What would you have said in your broken English?"
"Not need to get hostile. I just try to help. You like this boy, correct?" The assassin smiled
"I…don't know yet. I do like his company though." Sawyer replied with tinted cheeks.
"Spend more time with boy; you see what happens." She patted her friend on the back
"Thanks for the talk Shenhua."
"What girl friend for?"
"He would be a fool not to fall for a beautiful dark maiden such as yourself, Sawyer." Rotton exclaimed in his normal chivalrous fashion. Shenhua giggled at his adorable attempt to be cool.
"Thanks Rotton." Sawyer rolled her eyes.
"Why the hell are we sitting in a fucking cargo hold?" Revy complained
"We're trying to trap these assholes by waiting for them to make a move on this cargo ship. Mr. Chang uses this ship often to transport his goods. This time, we're the cargo." Bayard said
"I know that, but why can't we be passengers?"
"How would the others react to two armed mercenaries? Besides, it'll be funny to see their faces when they find us. It really is a brilliant trap."
"I can why you and Mr. Chang get along. So, what's your deal kid?" Revy asked
"My deal?" he cocked an eyebrow
"You are pretty young to be a hit man."
"Here we go." He rolled his eyes
"You've never had booze until about a week ago, yet you accept a job like this. What the fuck happened? I met a high school girl who became a yakuza boss; it took serious shit to get her involved."
"I've been tinkering with guns since I was 14 and doing hits since I was 16. I was kind of thrust into this for reasons I don't really feel like discussing at this moment. However, I stayed in this kind of life because I'm good at it and can't really do anything else." He replied
"Good enough." Revy shrugged.
"We've been boarded." Rock's muffled voice came through the walkie-talkie. "They're pretty heavily armed. A few are bound to be heading your way." On the businessman's end the passengers were being herded onto the deck like sheep. There were ten thugs armed fairly well. Most were armed with sub-machine guns. A thug shoved one of the said machine guns into Rock's face and led him over to where the others were being held. He was forced to sit down with the others. He tried to keep himself from chuckling at this all too familiar scenario played out. He hadn't been on a passenger liner since the one the Lagoon robbed. This time, he was fully expecting to be robbed. He was even more amused knowing that this was all a trap. The leader of the pirates proceed with the whole riot act. He talked about how no one better play the hero and how it would be over as soon as possible. He wasn't nearly as good as giving this speech as Dutch was. His speech was abruptly ended with a bullet to the head. The others turned to the source of the bullet.
"Didn't I tell you the looks on their faces would be priceless?" Bayard laughed lightly
"Alright, that was worth it." The pirates scattered being caught totally unaware. Bayard drew his pistol with blinding speed killing two of the pirates before they could even lift their guns. He hit the floor as three others sprayed their SMGs at him. They were quickly dispatched by Revy. The remaining thugs holed themselves up in the dining area. The two burst in only to be pinned under a table from gun fire.
"Distract them; I have an idea." Revy nodded and returned fire. Bayard crawled under the tables in a zigzag pattern getting behind their gun fire. He readied his shotgun as he approached. "Kid, I'm running out of ammo here!" Revy ducked back under the table as all the pirates focused their gunfire on her. He surfaced from under the tables like a shark and fired his sawed-off tearing through three of the enemies toppling them in a bloody heap. "Nice work." Revy said nailing the remaining two in the chest. She stood up and walked over to him "Our job is done."
"This doesn't add up." Bayard replied holstering his gun.
"What's wrong? It seems simple enough to me."
"I mean it literally doesn't add up. We only got nine thugs and there were ten." He said
"That can't be right. Where is the other guy?"
"I surrender." The last pirate came up with his hands in the air. Bayard stepped forward and put his hand on his pistol. He noticed the man had a pistol as well and just couldn't help himself.
"Where's the sport in that?" He said with a grin "We're going to have a little shoot out; it'll be fun."
"Wh….what?" The man trembled under his carefree smile
"C'mon, you've seen western movies. The big shootout at the end, let's have one. We both put our hands on our guns and draw. It'll be fun." Bayard backed up and bit and motioned for the man to get ready. The pirate trembled as the room went silent. Revy could only stand there is fascination; this boy was a crazy fucker. "Draw." Bayard put three into the hapless man's chest. His face froze in pure surprise as his lifeless body fell to the floor with a sickening thud. The blood slowly seeped out onto the carpet. "Now that was a priceless expression, wasn't it?"
"Holy shit, kid. You toyed with him like a cat playing with a mouse." Revy saw something in the boy's eyes as he killed the man, amusement. The killing seemed of no consequence to him; his face expressed joy before the kill. It seemed more the situation and the process that gave him joy. His fun wasn't help or hindered by the kill; it was unaffected.
"It's fun to screw with the incompetent. They just don't get it. Now, we should be getting back to your friend."
"How'd it go?" Rock asked as the two emerged from the dining hall.
"Easy enough." Bayard replied "You can all stand up now. We aren't robbing you, not today.
"Dutchy, time to pick up the cargo. Their stash is on that small Island we passed a while back. Yeah, I beat the info out of the first fucker I saw." Revy called into her walkie-talkie.
"Thank you mister." Bayard felt a tug on his shirt. He looked down to see a scared little girl. He smiled and patted her on the head. Revy stroked her chin thoughtfully. Was this the same guy from a few minutes ago? He torments a man before he kill him, and then comforts a little a girl. She came to the conclusion that he was fucked up.
"Revy, are you bleeding?" Rock asked
"Hmm? No, it's not my blood."
"Ah, as expected."
"Diner when we get back?" Revy asked
"Yeah, I'm in the mood for Chinese."
"Lucky for me." She kissed passionately.
"Just like my mommy and daddy." The little girl giggled and pointed
"…..Yeah, just like a mommy and daddy." Bayard smirked
AUTHOR NOTE: Another job for the Lagoon.
I'm progressing the Sawyer/OC relationship steadily. You'll be seeing more of it.
There will be more Balalaika too. I really like her.
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