Caveat Emptor (Linn O'Conner)

[Sharkeid Alharaba]

The Red Dragon tavern was one of many houses of ill repute scattered among the Twilight regions of Coruscant. Its exterior was understated--no windows, only bawdy posters on a weathered duracrete wall and a garish neon sign mounted over the door. But then, the Red Dragon wasn't the sort of place you went to for a quiet drink while you watched the traffic outside.

Sharkeid Alharaba took his seat at the bar, which was partitioned off against one wall of the establishment. Just beyond the partition was an expansive dance floor where patrons of various species gyrated to a bass-heavy trance punctuated by the pulsing, apoplectic neon lights above--as a centerpiece, a troop of exotic aliens females undulated on an elevated platform, caged-off to discourage drunken patrons from joining them.

It made for an entertaining show while Sharkey waited, a cold glass of namana-and-rum in his hand. He raised his arm so he could check his wristwatch without taking his eyes off the diverting multicultural display. Two more minutes, give or take his target's punctuality. He'd dspatched the message himself, entrusting it to one of Linn O'Conner's regular informants on Coruscant. She was to arrive at the Red Dragon at 1930 hours, local time, to discuss a lucrative job offer with a high-paying client.

She'd be wary from the start--Sharkey was sure enough of that. That's why he hadn't bothered to keep his trenchcoat on in the already-torrid environment of the nightclub; his Imperial light repeater was plainly visible as it rested in its sling holster at his ribs. Let her see his teeth, that he wasn't afraid to put force behind his actions. Sometimes a little honesty was the best way of hiding the truth.

[Linn O'Conner]

The information had run itself around in her mind a thousand times more than it really had to. But at least she knew it was committed to memory.

Linn O'Conner was striding towards the flashing signs on the side of the street. Her eyes moved cautiously around her as people passed her, some she could see clearly and others were buried down in cloaks, or otherwise. Linn tightened the belt that secured her blaster on her hip. She pulled her cloak around her to hide it from view as she appraoched the entrance to the Red Dragon.

Linn glanced around for a moment before entering. A blast of humid air assaulted her face, and a barrage of smells slipped in her nose. Linn looked around at the people letting her eyes get used to the darkness and flashing lights. Beings of all races and sizes moved around her as she plunged into the crowd. They danced with no one and everyone, and more than once, Linn was knocked slightly off course by large bodied men.

Emerging, Linn looked around across the bar at the people sitting there. Some were turned away from the dancing crowd, some were turned towards it. Linn wasn't sure of who she was looking for. Glancing at her watch Linn slipped over to the bar and seat, shaking her head at the bartender who came to get her order.

[Sharkeid Alharaba]

"You sure?" the tall, thin man beside her asked. "The swill isn't bad for Twilight District. Besides, it's my treat."

He turned and gave her a once-over--quite the captivating woman. Looked better in person than in the holo he'd been given.

Sharkey gave her a slim smile. "Ms. O'conner, I presume?"

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn's eyes snapped to the man who had just spoken to her. He was tall, taller than her, and he smiled. A smile that gave her a slightly unpleasant shiver up her spine. So this was the guy she was here for.

Linn turned fully towards him, crossing her legs, and leaning slightly back against the bar.

"You're correct. You are?"

[Sharkeid Alharaba]

Sharkey downed the rest of his namana-and-rum in one shot.

"Sharkeid Alharaba," he replied. "I'm an associate of a local businessman who has an interest in buying your services. You sure you don't want a drink?"

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn watched the man finish his drink and a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. She shook her head.

"No, thank you, Mr. Alharaba," she said. "Might I ask about this businessman?"

[Sharkeid Alharaba]

"You may ask," Sharkey replied evenly. "Whether or not you get answers depends on the question."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn smiled. Alright, she was dealing with someone who wasn't a normal lackey. He had brains. Linn sat up so she could look him squarely in the face.

"Alright," she said. "Who does he want out of the way, and why didn't he meet me here personally? Why did he send you?"

[Sharkeid Alharaba]

Sharkey turned his empty glass over in his hand. He rubbed at a smudge, trying to determine whether it was on the inside or the outside of the glass.

"He's a very private man, Ms. O'Conner," he said. "He prefers to keep only those he trusts close to him. And he doesn't trust you."

He set his glass back down on the bar. "He is willing to meet you, though. In fact, he has a few questions for you, as well. We could go see him now. But you'll be needing to remove your weapons first."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn's spine straightened suddenly. She didn't know if it was the fact that someone had just bumped her, or that Sharkeid was quite sharp with his tongue. Either way, she loosened and smiled.

"My weapons, huh?" Linn said. "And I bet if I said I didn't have any weapons it would pretty much be a waste of breath, huh?"

[Sharkeid Alharaba]

"A waste of your breath, and a waste of my time," Sharkey replied, heaving up from his seat. "I'd hate to ruin the place's atmosphere by making a scene. Maybe we should move to a more secluded room."

Four chairs clattered back from their tables against the partition, and two Nausicaans, a Rodian, and a human, all of them towering specimens, rose and took immediate interest in the female assassin.

"You coming?" Sharkey asked pleasantly.

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn glanced around her at the four that were now advancing on her. Sharkeid Alharaba might not have been her favorite person she'd ever met, but he was a far-cry better than the ones gathering around her now.

"I suppose so," she said, getting up from her seat and stepping up next to the man. "Lead the way."

[Sharkeid Alharaba]

Sharkeid didn't answer her--instead, he gestured onward and said, "Gentlemen."

The two Nausicaans took point, and Sharkey guided Linn in line behind them with a firm hand on her arm. The Rodian and the human followed behind, fingering their sidearms.

The party made its way around the perimeter of the dance floor, the skull-faced Nausicaan thugs shoving aside those too drunk to be paying attention, to a doorway covered in a bead curtain, which led to an oppressively dark hallway. Then they turned into a small, spartan room, its duracrete walls shuddering to the frenzied beat of the dance music, its only furniture a threadbare bed.

The Nausicaans shoved the bed into the far corner to open up the floorspace, and the human and Rodian stood guard outside, leaving Sharkey, Linn, and the two thugs crowded in the room.

"Don't take it personal," Sharkey said to the assassin. "My boss usually doesn't hire freelancers. Our corporation is like a family. Isn't that right, fellas?"

The Nausicaans didn't speak--they stood about two paces behind Linn, their arms crossed, with all the eloquence of a cocked gun pointed at the back of her skull.

Sharkey turned back the edge of Linn's cloak and reached down toward her hip. He removed the blaster from her belt in one smooth motion.

"That means we look out for one another. And we don't like it when some two-bit hitgirl takes down one of our own."

With a considerably less smooth motion, he spun her around, snatched the cloak off her back, and began patting her down for more weapons.

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn's backbone went slightly rigid at having her blaster taken, and even more so at Sharkeid's comment. She felt the man pull off her cloak and begin patting her down for other weapons, and thought of the ivory-handled knife in her right boot.

Taking a slight step backward to steady herself, she watched Sharkeid suspiciously as he moved down her left leg.

"Is this how you get all your thrills, Mr. Alharaba? If you'd wanted a cheap feel, all you had to do was ask."

[Sharkeid Alharaba]

"Ah, don't get yourself excited," Sharkey replied. "If you're really that interested, I can always come back for the rest, later."

He worked down to her boots and lifted the knife out of its clip. Satisfied, he bundled the knife and the blaster up in Linn's cloak and tucked it under his arm. No need to mention how much he'd enjoyed the view all the way down.

"Rebo, go tell the boss the little vixen's on her way up." The Rodian hurried off down the hall and up some unseen stairs while the Nausicaans surrounded Linn again. Sharkey motioned toward the door. "After you, babe."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn smiled murderously, and leaned forward, twisting a loose piece of his black hair around her finger.

"You're welcome back, anytime. But you wouldn't last two minutes."

She winked and swept past him, making sure to bump the remaining door guard with her shoulder as she walked by.

[Sharkeid Alharaba]

The human guard stiffened at the unexpected contact and threw a pointed look toward Sharkey. He waved the man off and stepped in line directly behind Linn.

"You're real cute, hon," he said, "but I hope you're not counting on that charming wit of yours to impress the boss. Now move."

With a firm grip on her arm, Sharkey guided Linn down the hall and up a dark and very narrow staircase. There was a small landing at the top and a door to one side. Sharkey reached around Linn and pushed the door open.

Beyond it was a sitting-room furnished with antique furniture on an expansive Persian rug. The room hardly appeared opulent--the decor was weathered and dingy, and the walls were an oppressive beige that sucked up the artificial light like sponges. It was an unremarkable room, except that it was completely silent--even with the orgiastic melee raging almost directly below, there was not even the faintest vibration to suggest that they were still in the Red Dragon tenement.

Linn found herself ushere to a tall pair of double doors at the end of the room--here the guards broke off and took their posts. Sharkey laid his hand on the left doorknob and paused.

"You've got a lot at stake right now. Don't frell it up."

With that, he opened the door and gestured her inside.

[Alberto Pancrazio Gucchi]

Beyond the doors was an office furnished only with a large, standing chest, a broad desk, and a pair of chairs. An overhead lamp flooded the office's entryway with garish electric light; the windows behind the desk were drawn over with shaded Venetian blinds. The neon reds and greens of the Coruscant night cast stippled shadows over the desk and over the large man who sat behind it.

Sharkey stepped in behind Linn and closed the door.

"Miss O'Conner," the man behind the desk greeted brusquely. "Funny, you don't look Irish. Won't you sit down?"

He gestured a meaty hand toward a small wooden office chair on the near side of the desk.

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn glanced around her carefully as she heard Sharkeid slipped in behind her and pulled the door closed. There was a man sitting behind a desk. She couldn't quite see him clearly, but he spoke in a tone not unlike many of the employers she'd worked for before. He motioned to a seat and Linn stepped quietly over, sitting stiffly down in it.

She could see Sharkeid slinking around her out of the corner of her eye. She couldn't see the expression on his face, but she had the unpleasant feeling that he was silently mocking her. She turned her eyes back to the shadowy man behind the desk.

"Are you the man who is in need of my services?"

[Alberto Pancrazio Gucchi]

"Need would be overstating the case," he rumbled. "Need would imply that you have capabilities otherwise inaccessible to me. But, in spite of the individual gasconade that runs in your profession, one assassin is very much like another."

The man adjusted the sleeves of his suitcoat and folded his hands on the desk.

"I am, however, interested in your services. But I would like to take care of old business before discussing new business. Specifically, I wish to discuss a contract you fulfilled on October the thirteenth of last year. A man named Keevan Ritalo on Nar Shadaa. Do you remember it?"

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn sneered a little at the man's comment, but decided that it would be in her best interest to answer him. Searching her memory quickly, she did remember the name. Not the face or employer, but the name was familiar.

"I remember," she said. "Friend of yours?"

[Alberto Pancrazio Gucchi]

"One of my employees," the man replied sharply. "Mr. Ritalo was my chief liaison to the Hutts. I lost a lot of capital when he died, and not just in credits. But more than that, he was one of the family. Part of my corporation. I make it a point to look after my employees. To protect them when I can. Avenge them when I must."

The man shifted forward in his seat. The light from the ceiling lamp fell on a broad forehead, thick brows, and a sharp, angled nose.

"I am reasonable, Ms. O'Conner. I realize that, for you, it was just another job. And I don't hold it against you. All I want from you is the name of your employer. Who hired you to kill Ritalo?"

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn sat back in her chair and crossed her legs and arms. She smiled slightly and sighed through her nose. The job that this man was referring to had been clean and simple. An easy lure and pop job. He hadn't been the smartest creature she'd ever encountered.

"Keevan Ritalo...let me see," she said, rubbing her neck and biting her lip. "Can't say I remember the name of the employer."

[Alberto Pancrazio Gucchi]

"You remembered the target quickly enough," the man said darkly. "If not your employer's name, your contact's name? The broker who filed the transaction? I find it hard to believe you have no recollection, Ms. O'Conner."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn chuckled as she kept one eye on the man behind the desk and one on Sharkeid staying a comfortable ways away from her in the shadows. She brushed a piece of hair back from her face, and sighed.

"Okay," she said. "I remember the guy's name who sent me the money. That's all I can give you. Good enough?"

[Alberto Pancrazio Gucchi]

"It'd be a start," he said. "But there are a lot of brokers on Nar Shadaa who serve a lot of clients. How do I know you're not withholding information from me?"

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn shrugged, leaning back in her chair and moving to get comfortable. She smiled sweetly.

"Well, that's just gonna have to be a risk you take, now isn't it?"

[Alberto Pancrazio Gucchi]

"Oh, I assure you, the risk is not mine, Ms. O'Conner," the man replied. "There are other ways to track down a hit order. If you truly know nothing, than you are of no earthly use to me. But if I find you have been obstructing my progress, I shall no longer consider you an impartial agent but a willing accomplice. And if, for whatever reason, I am unable to find the one who hired you, well..."

He laid his hands down flat on the desk.

"Let us say that some retribution is better than none. Shall I have Mr. Alharaba jog your memory?"

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn looked at Sharkeid who was still lurking annoyingly in the shadows. She doubted that with just his hands he would be able to do much damage to her. However, if given a weapon, it would be an unfair fight, and he would have the upperhand. Linn looked back at the man in front of her.

"I'm sorry, but jogging my memory would do no good. I know nothing."

[Alberto Pancrazio Gucchi]

He nodded to Sharkey, who opened the doors. The two hulking Nausicaans walked in and flanked the assassin, one laying a massive claw on her shoulder, the other gripping the back of her neck.

"This will be the last time--the very last time--I ask you in a civil manner. Who hired you to kill Keevan Ritalo?"

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn purred and glanced up and around at the man's huge, dumb body guards. She smiled.

"I'm sorry, sir. But I repeat what I said before, I know nothing."

[Alberto Pancrazio Gucchi]

"You don't seem to be very concerned for your well-being, Ms. O'Conner," the man observed. "You maintain, in the face of great personal danger, that you do not know the information I seek. Moreover, you make no apology, no excuse, no appeal to check your records, nor any mention of your records at all. Instead, you seem to be relying on that charisma of yours to save you. Either you are very simple-minded, Ms. O'Conner, or you think that I am."

He reached into his desk drawer, pulled out a cigar, and began studiously removing the wrapper. "Fortunately for you, I'm not really interested in who hired you to kill Keevan. I was more interested in whether you would rat on your client. Whether or not your ignorance was by design, you've passed the first test."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn smiled at the man. Well, sneered really, but in the darkness she knew it would pass for a smile. Crossing her arms she slid down a little in her chair to make herself more comfortable.

"That makes me feel good inside," she chuckled. "Really."

[Alberto Pancrazio Gucchi]

"Don't get too comfortable, Ms. O'Conner," the man cautioned her, "you're not out of danger yet. My interest in you is one of convenience; I see no reason to tolerate your disrespect. It soils the working relationship."

He pulled off the cigar wrapper and handed it to Sharkey, who folded it and walked behind Linn toward the wastebasket.

"Which brings me to the job you've just accepted."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn nodded. He did have power over his tongue, that was for sure. Annoying and smart. A combination Linn hated. She followed the man with her eyes.

"And what job is that?"

[Alberto Pancrazio Gucchi]

"You are to stage an assassination attempt. You are to fail. And you are to be captured by the authorities. All in all, it should not be difficult to pull off."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn sat straight in her. Already her instincts were telling her this had all been a bad idea. Get caught by the authorities?

"Exactly what would I be accomplishing?"

[Alberto Pancrazio Gucchi]

"My agenda," the man replied. "What else?"

[Linn O'Conner]

"What else, indeed," she mumbled under her breath, then looked up at him. "Who am I staging the assassination on? And where am I going to do so?"