Bounty Hunters (Errand Runners 2) **NEW UPDATE 2018**

Chapter 5

“Two hundred…” Nole couldn’t fathom a number so large.

“And fifty,” Taro finished. “Two hundred and fifty. Dang, what did you do?”

Throwing him a dirty look, Nole read through the list a few more times, grateful that neither Caden nor Suri were on the list. It would have been a stretch for them to be included, but if he was worth a quarter of a million dollars, he assumed anything was possible. Distracted by the upsetting information, Nole hadn’t realized who else was missing from the list.

Olivia, on the other hand, picked up on this immediately. “Valerie, they totally missed you.” Nole reread the list, and she was right. Valerie’s name was absent. His eyes flicked up at the fourteen-year-old, her wide-eyed stare mimicking that of a deer in the headlights.

“Yeah what’s that about?” Taro demanded, snatching the paper from Nole. “And why am I worth less than Liv? So much for my rep.”

“Taro,” Olivia sighed, shaking her head.

As questions swirled and confusion ran rampant, Nole let the information sink in. His hearing became muffled, as if forcibly drowning out the others. Taro had asked the right question – what had Nole done to deserve such a bounty? He tried to come up with an explanation, but all he could blame it on was his role in revealing Caswell and Ryker’s plans a few months earlier. Even with that though, Taro had had an equal, if not greater role during Nova’s Nightmare, but his bounty was only worth a fraction of Nole’s.

His ears keenly pricked up at the mention of his name before Tom’s hand clapped his shoulder abruptly.

“Nole, mind shedding some light here?” Nole’s eyes drifted from Tom’s gloved hands all the way to his square jaw, thin lips, and sharp eyes. For the first time since meeting him, Nole realized just how old Tom was. Judging by the crow’s feet around his eyes and lines on his forehead, he could tell the Chief of Enforcer’s was much older than he acted, and no stranger to stress either.

The rest of the Runners grew silent in anticipation of Nole’s response. He couldn’t fathom what they expected him to say.

“I…” Nole’s eyes trailed back to Tom’s hand on his shoulder. Part of him wondered if the Para tattoo was still there. “I really don’t know.”

With that, Tom retracted his hand, but his gaze lingered. “I was afraid of that.”

"Wait, this is a joke, right?” Taro interjected. “There’s no way any of this is legit. How could these guys get that kind of money anyway?”

There was a brief pause, as if Tom didn’t want to disclose any information. After persistent staring from his audience though, he answered. “The Quads, Pents, and Hexes have disbanded.”

Clenching his jaw, Nole remembered the words of the former Hex they ran into: “The Hexes are thinking of disbanding, but we don’t know why.” He suddenly knew why, and so did Olivia.

“The three gangs formed the Polys,” she deduced.

Tom nodded. “Most definitely there was an original core to the Polys. The residual members of the Quads and Pents that got away a few months ago had nowhere to go, so they found a home with the Polys. The Hexes only disbanded recently, and it seems they too have joined the Polys.”

“So what, the Quads, Pents, and Hexes put their money together?”

“How is this possible?” Valerie asked to no one in particular. Her face showed that she was the most distraught of any of them, and she wasn’t even wanted on the list.

Tom seemed prepared to explain further, but Olivia cut him off. “Oh no.” Twisting her strawberry blonde hair, her hazel eyes fell to the floor. “Zane.”