Too Good To Be True Pt.5 (Patreon)

'This was supposed to be easy. He's a small fry. A nobody.'


Faye reminded herself as she lept over a fallen, metal trash can, continuing after the troublesome, five hundred thousand woolong bounty at full sprint. He was some small time drug dealer who had sold the wrong kid a bad batch of drugs. If not for the kid's father, she wouldn't be chasing after this clown, but the price was right, even if it was a little light compared to her typical fare. The small payout on his head had given Faye the illusion of ease, that this scumbag would be an easy mark. Sadly, he was anything but easy to catch as she had found out.


Faye would've had him by now if not for her terrible run of bad luck. It all started at the bounty head's apartment building before he moved onto the bar. The lavender haired bounty hunter had walked up to the apartment block just in time to see her target walk out of the building. She knew it was John Tavares from his long brown hair and scruffy beard that grew from his chin. Dark circles lined his eyes punctuated his boney cheeks. His face matched his mugshot perfectly. However, before she could make her move, she noticed two more guys exit the building with him.


Unlike the malnourished drug dealer, the thugs who accompanied him stood a foot taller and had a hundred pounds on the guy. The one on his right sported a shaved head and chiseled jawline. He wore a white wife beater which exposed his ripped physique, his arms alone looked like the guy lived in the gym and breathed steroids. The other guy, to John's left, wasn't as physically fit, but his stature and weight made him intimidating to a petite woman like Faye. Even though she had her Glock at the ready, she couldn't possibly take on three guys at once.


So, since she had few options, she decided to put her gun in her jacket and follow the bounty who was flanked by his two buddies. Normally, she would've left the footwork to Spike, but he was still wounded from the showdown with Vicious. Besides, with Spike laid up, there was no money coming in to support the crew of the Bebop. All she had to do was keep an eye on this idiot until his friends left him alone. In retrospect she should've waited for him to return to his apartment, but she had been impatient, which was how she now ended up chasing this guy down back alleys a quarter past two in the morning.


It had all gone wrong once John had been left alone in the bar. Faye had followed the group of goons to some dive bar with a blue phoenix glowing in neon above the entrance. She sat at a table, far enough away from her target, but not too far away that she'd lose track of him. The rest of her night was spent shooing away drunken guys who were horny and eager to try their pick up lines and one liners on her. Luckily for Faye, it was a busy Friday night so John and his bulky behemoths were busy and paid no attention to the bar drama she attracted while the sucked up dealer sold his product to various types of patrons that were around the bar.


About twenty minutes ago, Faye had watched the meathead and his body building cohort leave, this had left John alone in the bar. With his muscle gone, she felt that it was her moment to strike. Faye had approached him through the dwindling crowd once last call was announced. His face had lit up when he made eye contact with her, Faye recalled. Obviously, he never expected the porcelain beauty to be hunting him, instead he suddendly looked at her chest. Faye knew he liked what he saw, but his expression quickly turned ghost white when he spotted the 9mm Glock sticking up out of the side of her jacket. In an instant, he bolted through the drunken bar goers and fled from the bar.


That one screw up, her gun carelessly sticking out of her jacket, had turned what should have been a simple arrest into this mad dash through filthy side streets. He was fast, the bar fly turned bounty hunter had to give him that. Still, she was keeping up with this junk pusher despite her two pack a day habit. Her persistence was rewarded when she watched the scraggly looking man dart into an alcove. Once Faye rounded the corner, a grin spread across her face as she realized that this dope dealer had ran smack dab into a dead end. She literally had him cornered!


John sporadically looked around the alley, feeling fenced in and on edge. He spotted an old gutter pipe that went up the roof of a three story building and grabbed at it. He desperately tried to climb up the old, rusted pipe, but midway through his climb, it snapped in two. John found himself falling backwards until the cold concrete broke his fall. Dazed and disoriented from landing square on his back, John slowly opened his eyes, only to find himself staring down the barrel of Faye's automatic pistol.


Faye stood above her target. Finally, after such a long night of tracking this idiot, she had him right where she wanted him.


"You sure gave me one hell of a hard time, you know that?"


"Look, I'll give you anything you want!" John pleaded. "Just don't turn me in!"


"All I want is the price on your head." Faye replied.


Emerging from the shadows, a lone figure reached out and stuck a needle into Faye's neck. The prick caused Faye to spin around and face her mystery man who had injected God only knew into her. The lavender haired woman gazed at the man, angry and startled. She did her best to appear in control of the situation as she held up her gun.


"What the fuck did you just stick me with?!"


"A mild, but fast acting sedative. My boss was very clear that you were to be delivered to her, unharmed." He stated in a gravelly voice.


"Her?" Faye questioned as her eyes started to grow heavy. Her anxiety gripped her mind as she made one final demand. "Who do you work for?!"


A look of surprise and shock spread across Faye's face as she felt her body grow heavy as her body slumped forward, falling right into the strange man's arms. she tried to utter one last thing before her world grew dark.


"Mama Bird, I have baby bird secured." The man stated into his com link.


"Oh thank goodness!" An ecstatic voice replied before asking "when will you have her delivered to me?"


"ETA is two hours. Departing from Mars."


As soon as the woman started blubbering on the other end of the transmission, the lone figure turned off his comlink and lifted Faye over his shoulder. He spotted John, the drug dealer with a price on his head, staring at him in wonder.


"Who are you?" The mysterious stranger asked.


"I'm nobody." John hung his head low, bowing before the man carrying Faye walked away.



To Be Continued...