(8.2) Always Tip Your Cabbie

Chapter 8, Part 2

The amount of effort I put into casting the spell was extremely small in comparison to the size of the explosion. In fact, it wasn’t until the roof hit the ground a few hundred feet away that I remembered the sheer amount of combustibles that I’d just… well, combusted.

The panic that ensued was beautiful. It had been a while since my actions had directly resulted in a fleeing mob and that brought back all kinds of fun memories as I made my way through the throng of people to the car.

I found that I’d left the car doors locked and with the keys in possesion of Vegas’ finest I had to punch out the window to get in. It only took a few moments to gather up my bag and various belongings from the front seats. Even though it completely goes against what TV shows told us these days, it looked as if they hadn’t been smart enough to hit the alarm button on my keys and figure out which car I drove to get there.

“I guess Gil wasn’t on shift today,” I chuckled to myself as I fled the scene of my murder.

My next move was pretty straight forward. I had quite a few options available to me, but only one of them would actually enable me to possibly have the Heroes dead by sunrise. As soon as I was out of sight of Vegas’ latest crater/tourist attraction, I got on my phone and called a cab. By the time it had rolled up, I’d found a dark, lonely place and changed into a black shirt and pants, silk of course.

“Park Avenue and Lailani?” Asked the driver as I slid into the back seat. I confirmed the spot and glanced at the driver’s license before making myself comfortable for the drive. I would have preferred to be dropped off a few blocks away, but beyond the address that Tom gave me before he died, I didn’t know this city well enough to say what another intersection would be.

The cab ride ended quicker than I thought it would, stopping in front of an empty lot. I thought he’d driven me to the wrong place and was about to start question his knowledge of the city. It was then that I caught movement under a streetlight as five figures dressed in tactical vests and black fatigues duck into a limo.

“Change of plans Marlin,” I said to the driver. “Follow that limo.”

Marlin stared at me for a moment, his eye twitching slightly with irritation. I think I’d upset him cause he had already been halfway done filling out his logbook when I’d changed my mind about the stopping point.

“You want me do be discreet or does it matter?” He asked, putting down his logbook.

“Done this before?” I asked incredulously.

“Do you have any idea how many people come to Vegas to cheat on someone?”

“Touché,” I said, smiling. “Discreet please.” 

When the limo began to drive off, Marlin made an excellent show of staying far enough away from the limo as to make it look like he wasn’t following. He even went as far as pulling the cab over when the limo hit red lights, making it appear as if he was dropping off and picking up new customers. Needless to say, he had a huge tip coming to him.

When the limo pulled up in front of a dilapidated hotel, Marlin let me out and I emptied my pockets at him. The limo then pulled away, leaving the heavily armored, and upon better inspection, heavily armed group in front of a large gate.

It looked like they were arguing over what to do, so I seized the opportunity to head around to the back of the building. Once there, I stashed my bag behind an old dumpster, making sure that I’d grabbed a few of my magic implements as well as my sword before entering the darkness of the hotel. I made it five steps in before I felt the tell-tale thrum in the air. 

There was a shitload of magic being tossed around from somewhere inside the building.