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Chapter 209 c
🕑 Added 2025-05-06 15:01:02 +0000 UTCChapter 209 c
Leo let the girl sit down first, then walked aside to call Jackie, asking him to come over. Lucy poured the girl a beer, but it was clear the girl had no mind for it. Jackie soon arrived from the garage, with Misty following behind. When the girl saw Jackie, she finally showed a bit of spirit.
“Connor, why are you here?” Jackie was briefly stunned, then noticed the tear marks on the girl’s face. “Did that punk Hanks bully you?”
The girl shook her head. “No, he’s missing.”
Several minutes later, everyone finally understood the situation.
The girl’s name was Connor, and she was Hanks’ girlfriend. Hanks was a blood brother to Jackie back when Jackie was still in the Valentinos. Even after Jackie left the Valentinos, their bond and friendship remained unbroken.
Connor had often tried to persuade Hanks, hoping he would leave the gang and find another, less dangerous line of work. But Hanks didn’t want to leave. Part of it was loyalty; part of it was that the gang boss valued him highly. Not only had they made him a minor leader, but they also saw great potential in him and promised him a bright future if he kept working hard.
Because of this, Hanks often argued with Connor over her pleas. Both were strong-willed, so their fights often ended with slammed doors and broken dishes. Their last argument had been just a few days ago. Hanks had stormed out, not returning home that night. At first, Connor hadn’t been concerned, assuming Hanks was crashing with one of his brothers—this kind of thing had happened before. She had even called a few times in the past, but those calls had only led to Hanks being mocked by his brothers for “Being tamed,” leaving him feeling humiliated and making things even worse between them. So this time, Connor hadn’t called.
But by the next evening, when Hanks still hadn’t come home or called, she began to truly worry. She called several of Hank’s closest brothers in the Valentinos, only to learn that none of them had seen him. At that moment, she felt as if a bucket of cold water had been dumped over her head, chilling her from scalp to toes. That was when she realized something was wrong.
Connor had gone to Padre and Valentino’s local boss, pleading for their help to find Hanks. Both agreed—not just with words, but with real action. Padre instructed his netrunners to scour the Net for Hanks’ trail, while the gang boss directly dispatched people all over Heywood to search. Yet they turned up nothing. It was as if Hanks had vanished into thin air, leaving not a single trace.
Connor, exhausted and tearful, eventually had nowhere else to turn. That was why she came to Jackie. In truth, even she didn’t know why she did. In terms of influence, both Padre and the Valentinos’ boss held far more sway than Jackie. They had already mobilized all their people to search, and there was still no lead. What could Jackie do.....
But Connor came anyway, maybe because someone in desperation will cling to even the faintest hope, maybe because she had nowhere else left to turn.
Connor looked at Jackie, eyes filled with pleading. “Please, tell me you can find Hanks.”
Jackie didn’t dare meet Connor’s gaze. “Connor, I can’t promise that… all I can say is I’ll try my best.”
That reaction—Connor had already seen it several times over the past few days. She realized she was putting Jackie in a tough spot. “I understand.”
After Connor left, Jackie turned to Leo. “Leo…”
“No need to say it, your business is my business.”
“Thank you, Leo.”
Leo waved it off. “It’s nothing.” He gestured for Jackie not to overthink it. “Where do you think Hanks might have gone?”
“I get what you’re implying, but look—Hanks might have his flaws, but cheating isn’t one of them. He wouldn’t be off with some side girl. Something must have happened to him.”
“So you’re thinking… the 6th Street Gang? Or the Scavs?”
The Valentino’s only major rival was the 6th Street Gang, fighting over territory in Vista Del Rey. Apart from them, there were the Scavs—who, honestly, didn’t get along with anyone. To the Scavs, nearly everyone except the absolute bottom-dwellers like joytoys and vagrants was fair game. It wasn’t out of mercy that they left the lowest castes alone; it was because there was no profit to squeeze from them. Those scraping by at the bottom used the cheapest, most worthless cyberware—basically junkyard scraps. The Scavs were organ harvesters, not garbage collectors; no one wanted to buy worthless junk.
So it was possible the 6th Street Gang had grabbed him… but it was also possible he’d fallen into the hands of the Scavs. And if it was the latter, that was bad—because very few people survived more than twenty-four hours in their hands.
“I’d better start by making some calls.”
In this city, the most well-informed people were the fixers. If anyone might know Hank’s whereabouts, it was them.
Leo first thought of Muamar Reyes, the fixer known as “El Capitán” who operated in Santo Domingo. After Faraday’s death, El Capitán was the most prominent fixer in the area.
“Hey, El Capitán, you busy?”
“Leo! Been a while since we talked. What have you been up to lately?” El Capitán’s rich, magnetic voice came through the holo-call, and from the image, he seemed in a good mood.
“Nothing much. Listen, I’ve got a favor to ask.”
“Still as straight to the point as ever—fine, I don’t mind that. Go ahead.”
Leo quickly explained Hank’s situation.
“So that’s the deal. I was hoping you could help me check around Santo Domingo and see if you can dig up anything about his whereabouts.”
“Alright, no problem. I’ll look into it for you.”
“That easy? I thought you might refuse.”
“Why would I? I don’t have ties to 6th Street.”
“Alright, thanks.”
“No need to thank me. If I do find something, you know I’ll be billing you for the info later. Sentiment doesn’t pay the bills.”
Afterward, Leo also called Regina, Wakako, and Rogue.
And then… all they could do was wait at the bar.
Comments
Gabriel Teets
So can the flathead generate a holographic image of Johnny or something
