Tales from Roanapur

Chapter 21

"Well shit," Mr Chang sighed, a cigarette between his lips as they had a hurriedly organized meeting in neutral territory.

"You're aware it's a frame, yes?" Balalaika noted.

"The Germans wouldn't be this clumsy," Chang agreed.

Ronnie 'the Jaws' was dead, shot down in a 'secure' bar his faction owned, and a piece of material ripped from a German military uniform was left at the site. As far as clues go, it was pretty fucking blatant.

"Is it even the right uniform?" Chang wondered aloud.

"No," Balalaika tossed it aside coldly. "What fool executes such a poorly thought out frame?" she wondered aloud.

"Someone who wants an all out war in Roanapur," Chang shrugged.

"Or at least all the factions grievously wounded," Balalaika agreed.

(Everyone more or less agreed that Hotel Moscow was the strongest faction in the city. But the Germans were well trained and much better equipped than any other gang, and could do serious damage if it came down to it.)

"We'd better contact Tanya, too," Chang noted.

"Oh?" Balalaika wondered.

"If she thinks we believe this, she might decide to strike FIRST," Chang sighed.

"Ha! Point," Balalaika agreed.

"And we need to know who REALLY did this... not that he didn't have a lot of enemies, but the attempt to frame the Germans too..."

"There's far too many suspects," Balalaika agreed.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Oh, I knew they didn't suspect us," Tanya noted as she drank some of Visha's excellent coffee.

"Oh? Visha asked.

"Balalaika would have already had a sniper take me out, then attacked out compound," Tanya noted casually.

"Sometimes, you scare me," Erya noted, the group having a quick meeting.

Tanya shrugged as she explained to them, "Have you actually SEEN Balalaika's complete military record?"

"Anyway..." Visha changed the subject, "who tried to frame us, and why? Or was Robbie the primary target and we're the secondary?"

"The suspect list is huge, you realize?" Erya pointed out.

"There's a lot of locals that hate him," Tanya nodded, "plus the enemies he's made back home. Anyone could have hired the hitters."

"And there's any number of local factions that want us gone." Erya added.

"We're not universally loved?" Visaha asked teasingly.

All three laughed.

"We should up security," Tanya mused after a moment's thought, "in case there's a follow up attack on us, too."

"Will do," Visha nodded.

"I'll start digging into the situation, see what I can find out," Erya added. "Hopefully I can narrow down the list of suspects at least."

"Good luck. Take a guard with you... just in case," Tanya ordered.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The reaction to Ronnie 'the Jaws' death around Roanapur was mostly the same.

"Good riddance," Eda noted.

Boris looked grim, "He was unpleasant."

"Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy," Dutch drawled.

"He was a dick," Benny agreed.

"Good," Revy shrugged.

Biu Yuen, Mr Chang's assistant and gofer, noted, "I didn't trust him out of my sight."

"Bastard owed me money," Bao growled.

"Who gets his stuff?" Shen Hua wondered cynically.

Lotten shrugged, "He was cheap on paying for work too."

Sawyer just looked sour.

Greenback Jane nodded, "I had to use leverage on him to get paid."

"Was a crappy lay," several working girls said.

Lobos sighed, "I was HOPING to use him as a resource... damn it."

"Did NOBODY like him?" Erya blurted as she finished her first round of interviews at the Yellow Flag bar.

"I guess I'm sorry he's dead?" Rock offered.

"You don't count," Revy teased, "Pollyanna."

"Ha!" Erya smiled.

"Hey, I heard there was trouble," the woman's voice came from behind her.

Erya turned and smiled, "Aya!"

Aya Iseshima smiled, the tall brown haired woman walking in as various people eyed her. She was attractive, of course, plus she had a reputation as muscle for Hotel Moscow.

"Back on the job?" Erya asked.

"Finally," Aya rolled her eyes, smiling.

Aya had been shot while protecting a Hotel Moscow lieutenant, and had been bed ridden for a month or so. She had NOT been a good patient.

"What are you doing here?" Erya wondered aloud.

"Miss Balalaika contacted Miss Tanya," Aya noted, "who told her you were looking into Ronnie's death."

"I have a bodyguard," Erya noted.

"Who's having a drink over there," Aya nodded to a table, "letting me walk right up to you, where I could easily break your neck."

Erya nodded, conceding that. "He knows you, though," she noted.

"Still!" Aya nodded.

"Okay, I'd be happy to have you along," Erya admitted.

Aya smiled happily as she took her hand, "Good!"

Erya felt her heart skip a beat... 'I feel like a teen with a crush,' she sighed.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"That was a very clumsy move," Sister Yolanda, the head of the Ripoff Church, noted as she drank her tea.

"Ma'am," Eda nodded. "It wasn't... my people. I checked."

Sister Yolanda just nodded calmly. She didn't bring up that Eda was a CIA agent, but in exchange for helping her maintain her cover, the USA looked the other way for their arms dealing. It was a win win situation, especially since the CIA had used them to funnel arms in certain ops.

"You you think it's connected to the faction in Thailand that intercepted our arms?" Yolanda wondered aloud.

"I suspect Balalaika is looking into that," Eda agreed. "On one hand, them stirring up trouble here keeps us distracted from going after them."

"Hmm," Yolanda nodded.

"On the other hand, their messing with Roanapur AGAIN will piss off everyone even more," Eda added dryly.

"Ha. Yes," Yolanda agreed. "My contacts have, apparently, produced a alias for whomever we're jousting with."

"Oh?" Eda looked surprised.

"El Tiger," Yolanda said. "Apparently someone likes to be dramatic," she added.

Eda nodded, "The Tiger, huh... and they want us to think they're Spanish, at least."

"It's a lead, hopefully," Yolanda said calmly. She added, "I still want these bastards to pay for killing Miranda too."

"Damn right," Eda agreed.

They had recovered her body, finally, and had buried the woman in a cemetery nearby. She had no family they knew of, no husband or kids. Them, and the Lagoon Company and a few folks from town had been the only mourners.

'Guess it's what we can all expect... a box, six feet of dirt and hopefully a nice tombstone,' Eda mused silently.

To be Continued...

Notes: In my thinking Balalaika and Tanya aren't afraid of each other, but they are wary and respectful. If all hell broke loose, each knows the other COULD maybe beat them.