A Lazy Mage Quests (Un)EZ Creds Ch. 09

Taking the package of ballpoint pens, Spector removed the cap then pried the ball assembly complete with ink tube out of the barrel of the pen and discarded it. Next, he teased out the stopper from the other end, then replaced it and the cap. Spector opened the trunk, knife at the ready. The man didn't move, and Spector assumed he was still out from the last tasering. Judging there was enough blood for his purpose from the guy's several scrapes from his encounter with Spector's spirits, Spector sheathed the knife, then used the pen barrel to collect a blood sample. He closed the trunk, super glued the ends on the pen barrel as well as the tiny air hole, then used the marker to print "Joey's guy who ambushed me" on it and pocketed it.

Spector prepared a second pen by removing the ends, discarding the innards, then writing "Joey" on it and gluing the tiny hole shut. He left the ends unglued for now. Spector patted Joey's face trying to rouse him without success. Consulting the medkit, Spector followed the instructions applying the adhesive pasties getting it hooked up to Teflon Joey, then followed its recommended course of treatment. Spector settled down to wait for Joey to come around. It occurred to Spector he hadn't set up a perimeter watch so he remedied the oversight by summoning up a few watchers and commanding them to search out to 500 meters for any type of humanity, spirits or drones, then summoned a few more to patrol the perimeter for anything that entered the area. Spector considered sending a watcher back to Teflon Joey's place to report on what they were doing, but he could imagine. One thing he imagined was them getting around to realizing the Prairie Cat was missing and sending drones out looking for it, so Spector vetoed his concerns about clearance and debris and let the vehicles autonav and built-in sensors do their job as he circled it around the parking lot from where he'd parked and lined it up to go through the large entryway then told it to park 100 meters ahead, well within and under roof. Where it was now parked wasn't going to help if anyone looked inside, but at least now it couldn't be seen with just an overflight.

When Spector returned to check on Joey, he was trying to slip his bonds. Spector turned on the voice recorder on his phone, walked around to Joey's field of view and squatted. As Spector talked to Teflon Joey, he assensed him, trying to gauge his intent from changes in Joey's aura.

"I am going to go out on a limb here and figure you did not foresee this turn of events," Spector said. Joey's reply was largely asking if Spector knew who he was, how dead Spector was going to be and ninety percent profanity. Spector was disappointed; it wasn't even imaginative profanity. If ever there was an opportunity for imaginative profanity, especially linked to death threats or better yet, some imaginative, gory death threats, this was it. And Joey was missing it.

Spector let Joey get it out of his system and when he was running down, vitriol spent, Spector answered him. "I thought you were a businessman. A somewhat shrewd businessman with a reputation to preserve." Joey started to go off again, and Spector stopped him. "Shut up," Spector said. He didn't yell it, just firmly said it and Joey actually obeyed. "I came to you with an offer and you agreed to hear it. I brought you the merchandise and you made a fair deal. I left and you sent your men to ambush me, rob me of the proceeds of our deal and likely did not care if I died..." Spector noticed a reaction in Joey, a sort of flinch and a bit of anger in his aura turned to fear. "I take that back. I think I was supposed to die in the ambush. So your guys really screwed up," Spector said. More fear in his aura. Up to now, Spector had wondered if his newfound accomplice, Skid Mark had somehow been involved in the double cross, but the look on Joey's face combined with the data drop Skid set up and forwarded as Spector waited now cleared him in Spector's mind.

"I also know you are connected," Spector said, "or we wouldn't be having this little talk. You'd already be dead. The question you forgot to ask or find out was Who am I? Or even how did I get all those vehicles? Right now, I am your worst nightmare. I got all those vehicles earlier today from the first pieces of crap I tried to do a business deal with after they double-crossed me. The only reason I don't do the same to you is I figure if you were stupid enough to pull the stunt you pulled on me, you weren't smart enough to be bankrolling this operation." Joey tried interrupting with a profanity-laced rebuttal. Again, Spector quieted him with a simple, "Shut up. At this point, I can't just kill you. I'd need to go get permission. Maybe, I get it; you'd know my chances on that probably better than me." Spector tried to gauge Joey's reaction to this possibility and saw some potential with lots more fear entering Joey's aura. "Either way, I burn this budding relationship and likely make no friends with your organization. I also, as I touched on earlier, can't clean your operation out. I would be hurting the wrong person. Even if it caused you some trouble, it would cause me as much trouble or more and so wouldn't improve my situation in the least."

"You let me go right now," Joey said, "and I'll see that they kill you quick."

Spector grinned and said, "That's a good one. Nice to see you haven't lost your sense of humor and that you got it out without a single profanity. That tells me you are starting to calm down enough to think." Then he poked Teflon Joey with the knife, just deep enough to draw some blood. Leaning down and using the pen barrel almost like a straw, Spector put one end in his mouth and used suction to fill the pen about halfway up from the new puncture. He glued the ends shut. "So now is probably a good time to show you this." Spector held the pen where Joey could read his name printed on it. "That is a ritual sample. To be more exact, it is a ritual blood sample. With it, I can cast a spell on you just about anywhere you try to hide. Maybe even leave it, or part of it, with my magic group with instructions to cast a huge fireball at the person I took this from in the event of my untimely death."

Pulling out one of the nicer confiscated phones, one he had transferred the data dump to in the event of his demise, Spector played it for Joey. It showed the convoy of vehicles going to Joey's overlaid with audio of Joey and Skid Mark discussing details of the deal and the deal for the VINs and papers. Skid Mark added graphics to identify Joey's voice and gave the shop address. Then there was a video of the failed attack on Skid's vehicle, then the bodies in the street and first responders at the scene of the ambush on Spector, with overlayed graphics describing what was on screen and accompanied by the recorded confession of Spector's attacker pinning the reason for the attacks on Joey. Joey sounded like he had a mild case of Tourette's as he watched the data dump.

"So we both have a problem with killing the other. You need to be able to stop the data dump, which I need to keep from going public each day, so I need to stay alive. Because if I die, the data goes public and the ritual sample gets you fried. I need to get permission to kill you, which I likely stand a good chance of doing and if you keep doing stupid stuff my likelihood keeps going up. Maybe they even pay me to do it? Other than me setting up this little face to face, I haven't done anything to you to deserve any harm or punishment. Have I?" Spector asked.

Acting like it was going to cause him to be sick, Joey reluctantly said, "No. But kidnapping me can't go without payback."

"Kidnapping?" Spector asked. "Oh, no, you misunderstand. We needed to talk alone, where we wouldn't constantly be interrupted. And you needed to be in a position where you would actually listen. And I needed to demonstrate to you I could come and get you if I felt like it because you don't seem to appreciate what I am or what I am capable of doing. I really needed to get you alone so you wouldn't be seen losing face before your underlings. I need to convince you to forget about retaliating against me for something you put in motion and bungled before I have to kill you. Do you get it? I'd like to kill you, but realize it would only make matters worse. It would be great if you finally see killing me makes matters worse and was a mistake when you tried it and started this entire mess."

"Fine," Teflon Joey said, "I can't kill you until I get that blood back and know the data dump is stopped. Now let me go."

"If only it were that simple. If only I believed you," Spector said. "The last time I thought we had a deal, you tried killing me as soon as I turned my back. Now, I not only took you but a stack of cred cards." Spector saw Joey redden in anger. "I also took that Prairie Cat." Spector nodded toward the parked vehicle. "Did we have a fair deal before you tried killing me?"

No response.

"Well," Spector asked.

"Yes," Joey said.

"Okay. So now we need to make things right for what has happened since," Spector said. "I'll let you and your shop fix my car at your expense where your guys shot it up."

Teflon Joey said, "That's mighty generous of you."

"You're welcome," Spector said, "The alternative is going to a regular body shop, having them question the bullet strikes, and sending you the bill. I'll give you back the certified cred cards I took from you because I assume I'd really be taking them from your boss. And I'm taking the Prairie Cat."

Joey looked like he might explode.

"Because one, my time is worth something, and two you made me waste a bunch so far and more into the foreseeable future, and three my life is worth a lot and you tried taking it. You need punished for it and losing the Cat will hurt a bit but not too much. Hopefully, it will be a reminder to leave me be. If you are smart, you put your attempt to rob me behind you and encourage my future business so you can drive hard bargains and eventually recover the cost of the Cat. Or you treat me so well and we become such good friends, I give it back to you as a present. Not likely, but if you thought about it, you might see I make a much better friend than enemy." Which is what I wish I could do with you, turn you from foe to friend Spector thought. "Do we have a deal?" Spector asked.

Joey said, "Okay,"

Spector pulled his car around and beside the Prairie Cat and transferred all the weapons he'd been accumulating recently from the car to the RV, stowing them out of sight. He went ahead and grabbed anything he didn't want vanished by the thieves he was going to make fix his car. He considered removing the registration or any paperwork that would lead back to him but decided it would be only slightly more difficult to get the same data from running the VIN. In front of Joey, Spector transferred Joey's phone directory to his own and stuffed it in Joey's pocket. Shuffling through the cred cards in front of Joey, Spector sorted the certified from the personal and stuffed the certified cards into Joey's pocket.

"Certified cred cards returned as promised because you need them to keep operating like you didn't make a huge mistake. I'm keeping the personal ones just for the inconvenience factor," Spector said and to get as much personal intel as possible from them, just in case. "You know, I could probably start a war between your organization and the Yakuza then kill you and make it look like part of it," Spector said in a musing tone. "Nah, that's probably going to too much trouble and a magician could do worse things to you than kill you. Or I could blackmail you over the double cross and use the ritual sample just to track you down if need be, maybe just to send spirits to rough you up every now and then and collect more samples after they open you up. Or use some of it to cast some horrible or embarrassing non-lethal spell on you. If I send the spirits and then have plenty of blood for lots of rituals, I could ... No. Better to just let this go and move on. Maybe get to be friends so I don't go to your boss and get permission to kill you and know I'm safe."

"Now mentioning the Yakuza brings to mind things like saving face and how they will make someone cut off a digit. So eventually you know the real screw ups because they have no fingers," Spector said and watched concern come to Teflon Joey's face. "I was thinking I'd just load you in my car and set the autonav to return you to your place, but that might cause you to lose face to the guys you've got working there, especially if I were to toss you back in the trunk. So, I think I'm going to throw these pliers a short distance away while I make my exit and you can crawl or roll or whatever over to them and use them to free yourself. Will that work for you?"

"Wouldn't a knife work better?" Joey asked.

"Maybe," Spector said, "but pliers work better for this." Spector put a knee on Joey's chest and forced his mouth open, then pulled an incisor with the pliers. Following the medkits instructions, Spector applied gauze to the new bleeding gap.

"What the hell was that for?" Joey shouted.

Spector said, "That was to cause you some permanent damage. Thinking about the Yakuza got me thinking there must be something to losing part of yourself. Maybe I should have made you do it yourself, but I'm really tired of you making me waste my time. If you come at me again, I'll take another part of you, probably one not so discrete, and I'll definitely be seeking permission to end your life. I'm going to unhook the medkit leads so you don't mess them up or break stuff when you crawl. And I'll leave you the pliers," Spector tossed them, "and a knife. I'll be seeing you in a couple days like we originally agreed. You better have my car ready, too. If not, then you are going to need to pay me ... interest, for the delay."

Spector got in the Prairie Cat and sent the recording he'd just finished to Skid to edit and further implicate Joey, then called Skid so he could put a drone on Joey to see what he was really going to do. Retrieving a knife from one of the many he had taken recently, Spector opened a window and tossed it out of the vehicles path, then told the vehicle to take him to the airport. It backed itself out in the same tracks Spector used to park it, turned and headed for the street. Once moving down the street, Spector changed destinations to go to Dr. Donovan's clinic then searched his memory for a suitable place to park the vehicle while he was at the doctor.

One came to mind as the channeling ended and dazed Spector. Spector reset the autonav to take a roundabout route, then leaned back in the vehicle's comfortable appointment and rested. As he neared the clinic Spector took over driving from the autonav and detoured to a shutdown gas station, parking between the raised concrete where the pumps had been and under the carport. Spector secured the vehicle and started the short walk to the clinic.