Good Night, Vegas Lights

Chapter 16

  The question hung in his mind indefinitely. It seemed to be the only thing that might give him a clue, unless Shannon found something of course.
  "Is there anything in there to help us?"
  "Not really. Not anything that we didn't already know."
  "Damnit!"
Vincent angrily kicked the dirt, sending a nearby crow fluttering away.
  "Not to dismiss the situation Vince, but don't you think Fiends could've been the cause?"
  "No. It was too organized. Plus, Elizabeth had to of opened the door for whoever it was. She never left the door unlocked when I wasn't home."
  "Well is there anyone you think could've had the motive? Is there really someone who hates you that much?"
The first answer that came to mind was the Omertas, but he hadn't gotten into trouble with them until long after his family's death.
  "Not really, no."
  "Well is there anyone you were associated with that had power? Maybe some big wig on the Strip?"
  "No- Well... Actually, Elizabeth was good friends with the woman who runs the Strip's hotel. Vault 21. Whenever we stayed on the Strip, we always went there. Liz would spend hours talking to her."
  "Have you talked to her since it happened?"
  "No..."
  "Perfect! We have to speak to her immediately."
That meant going on the Strip, and Vincent wasn't too pleased about that. He didn't even want to go back to Freeside. If the Omertas caught wind of him, he'd be a dead man.
  "Now hold on a minute, why do we need to go on the Strip and talk to her?"
  "Because! How do you know Elizabeth didn't tell her about some sort of problem she was having, that you didn't know about?"
That actually made quite a bit of sense, and he was somewhat ashamed that he hadn't thought of it himself. Though, that didn't make him feel any better about his worries.
  "I... I can't go on the Strip"
  "What? Why?"
  "The Omertas want me dead"
  "Why...?"
  "That's not important"
  "Well maybe this woman you spoke of can meet us somewhere else?"
 "Thats unlikely. She has some sort of phobia or something of the outside. She never leaves the hotel."
  "Oh... Well thats going to be a problem"
  "You think? Can you guys go without me?"
Noah and Shannon looked at each other, until she eventually speaking once again.
  "With the given situation, I suppose we can."
Noah nodded in agreement. Vincent felt guilty about sending them off by themselves, but he was genuinely afraid of the Omertas. It only took a moment for the trio to walk the Freeside's Northern gate.
 "Alright. The woman you need to speak to runs Vault 21 on the far end of the strip. Her name is Sarah Weintrub. Got that?"
  "Rightyo, Vincent!"
  "I'll stay here at the gate."
  "Okay. You ready to head off, Noah?"
The two walked away without another word, leaving Vince alone by the gate. He considered waiting on the outside, but he wanted to say hello to a few friends that he'd left behind. He'd be back at the gate long before Shannon and Noah returned anyway. Vincent had the intentions to travel to the Atomic Wrangler, but that was stopped short just at the bus gate. He felt the sensation of something being snagged from his pocket and turned around to see a man running away. His logic told him it was a bad idea to chase the squatter, but his temper was too overbearing, so Vince found himself running through the streets of Freeside. The squatter took a wrong turn down a path Vincent knew lead to a dead end, so in the end he figured it would be easy work. Unfortunately when he turned the corner, the squatter was standing at the dead end, but with a gun in hand. Vince gave his best smile and started to turn around, when a eerily familiar voice called from behind him.
  "Long time no see, Vinny"
Vinny was a name he most certainly did not want to hear. The only people to give Vincent that title were the Omertas.