7

They finished out the ride in silence. The only thing to do was to keep going. Everything had already been planned ahead of time. They ditched the Maid-Rite van, and set it aflame to hide the evidence. After that was done they switched to Cliff's Range Rover, which took them the rest of the way to their hideout.

?It was a place called Glengarry, a Tacoma restaurant that had been considered among the finest in Seattle twenty years ago. A lot can happen in twenty years. An entire world can move on. It did for Glengarry. It had been boarded up, forgotten alongside the dried up slum all around it. The police rarely patrolled the area around Glengarry. They didn't need to.

Cliff sauntered into the abandoned restaurant after the rest of them had already found somewhere comfortable to squat. He had a massive duffel bag slung over his left shoulder and carried an equally large grin on his face. The bag clanked rudely as he walked the length of the barn-sized room. Glengarry was set up in two sections. There was the front bar and formal dining area, which was in itself large for a restaurant. To the right, separated by a length of wall soundproof wall was the private section. A kitchen was off beyond the private area, but none of them had checked it out yet. Cliff unslung the bag and dropped it on the synthoak bar top. It landed with a metallic thud.

Cliff grinned. He unzipped the duffel and pulled its halves apart just enough to show the fade of an elongated black barrel. It must have been over half a foot wide and seemed to run the entire length of the five foot duffel bag.

?Cliff said proudly: " I call her Carla. I never leave home without her." By Vlad's best estimation, 'Carla' was a Panther Cannon. A military grade bang bang that launched high velocity, belt fed, superplast projectiles. Tank Busters they were called, due to their uncanny ability to stop tanks. Using a Panther Cannon on anything else would be like trying to smash a roach with a sledgehammer. Shimmer looked up from behind the bar where he had been searching for the jug of Kilkenny Red he'd stashed there before the run went down.

?" Chummer, you are one step away from psycho." Shimmer stated matter-of-factly and uncorked his jug, tipping his head back to guzzle as much of the dark liquid as his mouth would hold.

Cliff shrugged. " Dat don't change the fact dat if dey come lookin fer us, dey ain't gonna do too well wit Carla here to watch our backs."

?" Hell, the ceiling will probably cave in if you go shootin that thing off in here." Koto cut in.

" Yeah, ain't it cool?" Only the girl was unaffected by Cliff's laughter. She lay forgotten beneath the Maitre D's podium beside the front door. Her gagged whimpers reminded her that she was, at least, alive. Vlad noticed her then. He settled his eyes upon her with the distant compassion of a father whose child has just done wrong. Tears washed down her face, collecting in the pockets of fat below her eyes before they cascaded down her shirt. He was doing her a favor by kidnapping her.

" Maybe I should square her away." he looked towards Shimmer. Shimmer was the one in charge now, with Cutter out of the picture. By the looks of it though, Shimmer was to busy dealing with his sorrow to even care. The bald mage lowered his jug of synthliquor long enough to nod in agreement with Vlad, and then he resumed his original action.

" You really think you should be drinkin like that right now, Shim? I mean, we're not exactly home free yet y'know? Doesn't somebody have to call the negotiator and let him know that Cutter's dead? Did anyone beside Cutter know his number?" Koto asked. Shimmer's reply was a simple 'Fuck off.' And with that bit of pleasantness, Vlad moved off towards the kitchen.