Cyberpunk 2077: V

Chapter 19: Another Warning

Regina apparently had just the one driver in her arsenal. The same guy dressed in black with the dark sunglasses who had magically appeared when V needed to get rid of Mower was now standing in a side alley near the Ho-Oh, his modified Hela purring next to him. When he saw V and Jackie approach, he nonchalantly opened the trunk of the car and stepped back. V dumped Jotaro's unconscious body inside, brushing at the trail of drool he left on her sleeve. With a sharp click, the mysterious man pushed the trunk closed.

"You got a name?" V drawled, curious.

The man didn't acknowledge her verbally. He just straightened and looked at them. His eyes glowed behind his sunglasses for a split second, and suddenly a healthy deposit of eddies dropped into their bank accounts. V saw Jackie's eyes widen at the amount; it was a pretty good chunk, even split between the two of them. 

"Guess not," V said softly as the man then turned, slipped into the Hela, and slowly backed out of the alley and out of sight.

After a couple of seconds, Jackie turned to V with his eyes still wide.

"Damn chica, wish this Regina Jones had been slidin' us the gigs earlier, that was a niiiiiice clutch a'eddies!"

V smirked. "Yeah she pays all right - though for you all it did was probably replace what you lost at the roulette table, I'm guessin'."

The pout on Jackie's face told V all she needed to know. She laughed and lightly punched his shoulder.

"Payout came just in time then - why you always gotta go after roulette? You're great at poker, do that!"

Jackie sighed and held up his hands. "Dunno, just feels like a challenge, ya know? Like how hard can it be? Just put some money on red or black and boom - eddies." He rolled his eyes. "And yet I always choose tha'wrong color...unlike you chica, you seem t'know wherever the chips will land."

It was true. It was a strange thing to say but V was good at roulette. She always seemed to know what color and numbers were going to get hit. Intuition, maybe?

Jackie stretched, arcing his hands over his head and blowing a long raspberry that got him a cocked eyebrow from V.

"Well...we got our man, got our eddies; and it only took ya a few fuckin' hours," he said with a side grin. V stuck her tongue out at him. "Still got some daylight to burn. Wanna hit up the Padre, see if he's got anythin' quick or try the strip posts?"

V cocked her head, then jutted towards the alleyway entrance with her chin. They both started ambling back towards the street.

"Dunno...not feelin' like dumpin' someone's poor relative off at a rest home today, honestly..." V sighed. "And all that sneakin' around took the bite right outta me. What if we just call it a day?"

She couldn't help but grin when Jackie perked up at the word, "bite". She already knew what he was going to ask. V held up a hand to stem his excitement.

"I saw that glint in your eye, you boar," she snickered. "With the eddie drop I say we deserve ourselves a treat. Buck-A-Slice or burgers?"

"Both?" Jackie asked hopefully. V laughed out loud.

"Jackster you terrify me with the amount of food you eat. I'd be a million pounds if I scarfed like you! But sure, yeah, we deserve it. Which one you want first?"

Jackie was already pulling up the map to see what was closest when V got the beep of a text message coming through. She stopped in her tracks, Jackie halting as well and looking at her with a concerned expression.

The text was from Regina.

"Well V and co - that was another fine job. Heard everyone took a little nappy nap and suddenly their perverted, slimeball boss just poof! - disapeared. They started wakin' up, scramblin' to figure out what happened. Someone said it was the 'shrine ghost' that came and took Jotaro away to pay for his misdeeds. I heard about that gig - Wakako gave that one to you. Looks like you're starting to make a name for yourself on the streets, V - even if they don't know it was you. Eddies well earned. Will be in touch.