Bounty Hunter

Chapter 47

The good news was that there were only two murcs standing guard at Joe's home, and just like the pair at Sara's, Kit dispatched them quickly. The bad news was that the place had been stripped bare of weapons, leaving only the furniture behind. The alarms had been shot into charred pieces.

"Wow, Sloan took everything and left just your bed and a measly table and chair? I can't decide if that's mean or considerate," Kit said.

"That's all the furniture there ever was," Joe said. "But the bastard took all my weapons."

"Wait. You were complaining about my place when this is all you have?" Kit asked.

Joe didn't answer.

"Wow, that's the pot calling the kettle black," Kit went on. "Weapons were always your thing, though, so I'm guessing you must've had an impressive blaster collection if this is all you have left."

"My extra money went to help Sara and Little Nick," Joe said.

Kit became quiet.

Joe picked up the sign from the floor, the one that read Home is where the blaster is, and tucked it under his arm. "There's nothing here. Let's go talk to Rex."

As they drove into Far Town, Joe could see Kit visibly tense.

"Worried your shiny cutter might get a scratch?" Joe mused.

"Of course I am. I bet if I leave her alone for five minutes, someone will try to break into her."

"Five minutes?" Joe chortled. "I'd guess three at most."

Kit pulled to a stop near a domed building with a flashing neon sign that read Madame Bovary's House of Pleasure.

After they stepped out of the vehicle, Kit turned around and entered a lockdown sequence on the door. "There. Let them try to break in. They'll learn about Shark's teeth."

Joe headed down the steps into the brothel. The entry room smelled of perfume, candles, and sweat. Several scantily clad women and a couple of equally scantily clad men sat on plush sofas around the open space, some sipping drinks, all eying the hunters in exoshields. An older woman, who Joe expected to be the madame, stepped forward.

"Gentlemen, are you visiting us today for business or for pleasure?" the woman crooned.

"I have a friend staying here," Joe said. "I'm sure you know him, a fellow hunter who goes by the name of T-Rex."

She nodded to a woman nearby, who stood and headed downstairs. The madame lifted her chin. "And how am I to know you're friends of T-Rex?"

"Anyone who knows Rex knows he doesn't have any friends," Joe said. "But I'm about as close as it gets to being one."

She smirked. "I see. So you do know Rex." The younger woman returned and whispered something in the madame's ear before returning to her place on the sofa.

The madame nodded at Joe and Kit. "Follow me."

She led them down the stairs and through a long hallway. The air was cooler here, but thick with smoke and perfumes, which didn't fully mask the cloying stench of sweat and sex. She stopped at a door near the end and pressed a button.

When the door opened, she stepped to the side. "Rex does have friends, just not many of them." She then walked away.

Joe entered first, followed by Kit, and found himself facing the barrel of a blaster in T-Rex's hands. He was wearing his exoshield and helmet, so Joe couldn't make out if he was serious or simply messing with him.