Leo knocked again.
A woman's voice came from the speaker beside the door. "We're closed, handsome. If you're looking for fun, come back after six in the evening."
Leo glanced up at the security camera mounted above the entrance. It was staring right at him.
"I'm not here to party. Regina sent me. She said someone's waiting for me inside."
"Regina? So you're the help she hired. One sec, cutie."
Half a minute later, the door swung open. A woman with her hair in a bun, holding a spiked metal bat, leaned against the doorframe.
"Follow me."
She led Leo through a curtain made of woven plastic strips. The main hall was dimly lit, and the stage was practically deserted. A few employees who had worked all night lay sprawled on the couches, exhausted. A handful of people sat at the bar, smoking and drinking in silence.
Someone caught sight of Leo following the woman with the bun and frowned. "Thought we were closed. Why'd you bring him in?"
She snapped back without missing a beat, "Not your business. Go sleep. If you're too restless to sleep, go find something else to do."
Then she guided Leo into a darkened hallway next to the main hall and finally opened the door to a private room.
Inside, the lighting was dim. A large woman sat on one of the sofas. Her arms were covered in metallic implants that resembled spiked maces, and her face also bore signs of cyberware. She motioned for Leo to sit.
"Want a drink?"
"Just a cola, thanks."
"Bring a cola and a bottle of whiskey," the big woman said to the one with the bun. Only then did she turn her attention back to Leo.
"You probably guessed who I am, but I'll introduce myself anyway. Name's Susie Q. I run Lizzie's Bar, and I lead the Mox."
Leo nodded. He didn't beat around the bush. "Regina told me you have a high-risk job you need handled. What's it about?"
"Straight to business. I like that." Susie placed the cola in front of Leo and cracked open the whiskey bottle, taking a swig before continuing. "Have you heard about the string of kidnappings in Watson lately?"
Leo didn't touch his cola. His expression turned serious. "Yeah, it's all over the news. I was just watching a rerun of Night After Night, and Ziggy was talking about it. What about it? Did somebody from the Mox go missing?"
Susie set the bottle down and wiped a bit of whiskey from her chin. "Yes."
Leo thought for a moment. "So you want me to help find them? Why not hire a private detective? They're better at that kind of thing."
Night City had more than one detective agency, and there were some with solid reputations. As long as you could pay, they usually got results.
Susie shook her head. "I don't need you to find someone. I want you to kill someone."
"Kill someone?" Leo looked puzzled. If her request was for an assassination, why bring up the kidnappings?
"I want you to eliminate the mastermind behind these missing persons cases."
Leo's eyes lit up in understanding. "So you know who's responsible?"
Susie nodded. "I do."
"Mind telling me?"
"There's no reason not to. You need intel to get the job done." Susie paused, then straightened her posture and stared Leo in the eye. "His name is Jotaro Shobo. Have you heard of him?"
"Jotaro Shobo? So it was tied to the Shobo ring," Leo thought. He recalled Chihiro and Ryoko, the mother and daughter hiding at El Coyote Cojo—they had escaped not just from the Masafusa-gumi, but also from Jotaro's crew.
The two groups operated separately, but at the end of the day, they were both part of the same larger organization—the Tiger Claws. No matter which branch they ran from, they were still running from the same beast.
"Are you sure?" he asked quietly.
Susie had been watching him closely, and when she said the name Jotaro Shobo, Leo's only reaction was the faintest flicker of emotion. That surprised her. Jotaro's reputation in Watson was anything but gentle—he was feared and reviled. Plus, he was an officer of the Tiger Claws and ran his own division under his family name. Some parents used his name to scare their kids into behaving, finding it more effective than the NCPD.
Either Leo was too green to know fear, or he was truly capable. Given Regina's recommendation, Susie suspected it was the latter.
"Absolutely," she said. "Otherwise, we wouldn't be having this conversation. My time is valuable—running a bar that pulls in thousands of eurodollars a minute."
Leo confirmed once more, "You really want me to kill Jotaro Shobo?"
"That's right."
He immediately shook his head. "Can't do it."
Susie froze. Just moments ago, she'd thought Regina's contact was the perfect choice. Now it felt like she'd been slapped in the face.
"I know what you're worried about, but you really don't need to be that scared," Susie insisted. "Apparently, the Shobo ring recently took a major hit. They lost a lot of people, including that so-called 'Dragon of Masafusa,' Nantō Masayuki, in some conflict. Right now, they're at their weakest. You don't have to worry."
Leo thought, I know more about that than you think—since I'm the one who took out that 'Dragon.' But for Chihiro and Ryoko's safety, he didn't say it aloud.
"With all due respect," Leo replied, "if it were really that simple, why wouldn't the Mox handle it yourselves? Why spend money hiring mercenaries at all?"
Susie flinched at the question.
Leo smiled a bit and went on. "Sure, the Shobo ring is weakened, but the Tiger Claws in Night City aren't just that one group. The entire Tiger Claws presence in Japantown is still sharp enough to shred anyone who dares provoke them."
"Don't worry. You won't be fighting alone. The Mox can back you up," Susie said, trying to argue.
Leo waved a hand dismissively. "That's not the point. If the Tiger Claws decide to retaliate from Japantown, the Mox will be wiped out too."
Susie's expression turned grim. Indeed, she'd done some digging before Leo arrived, quietly asking around about the cost of a job targeting the Tiger Claws. She hadn't been stupid enough to reveal her actual aim, just dropped hints and asked how mercs would handle it.
Much to her surprise, nine out of ten flat-out refused. The Tiger Claws were different from other gangs—they were more unified. Even if only a low-ranking member got killed, the entire Tiger Claws force might mobilize. In their eyes, murdering one of their own was a direct provocation against the whole gang—absolutely intolerable. They'd come down hard to defend their name.
So now seeing Regina's merc also backing out, Susie felt a crushing disappointment. "Is there really no other way?"
Leo rubbed his thumb and fingers together, as though weighing coins. He looked conflicted. "We'll need more money."
Susie's face immediately softened. If money could fix it, it wasn't really a problem.
"How many people are in your crew?" she asked. "After it's done, I'll pay each of you ten thousand eurodollars. Each person. That's fair, right?"
She considered that a generous sum, higher than most merc rates, so Leo had no reason to refuse. But he had a different idea.
"Fifty thousand eurodollars for each member of my team," he said firmly. "And the Mox must provide support throughout the job, follow my lead, and be at my beck and call whenever needed."
Susie's eye twitched. She had no issue with offering support—in fact, she planned to, given who they were up against. A fight with the Tiger Claws called for maximum caution. Helping Leo and his team was in the Mox's best interest.
But… fifty thousand per head?
That was a much bigger pill to swallow.
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