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"Alright..."
We packed up and said goodbye to Viktor and Misty, and then we gathered again on the wooden pier in our folding chairs.
"...what are we going to do?"
"We're going to deal with this..."
Judy shrugged.
"...and we're going to do it for good."
"Are you sure?"
We all looked at our Moxie with doubt.
"Yeah... I gave her enough chances to leave me alone. But she's not going to quit, so..."
Judy shrugged.
"...we're dealing with this for good."
"Alright, then here's the plan. Lucy, Kiwi, Parker sent me the meetup spot, so get into the city net and check everything out. We need to understand what's going on. I'm sure there's going to be some kind of ambush. So..."
"Got it..."
Kiwi and Lucy went to the car, where they took their places, plugged the cables into their occipital ports, and dove into the net. Thankfully, we have a couple of lines in the city that the girls can use to connect and find out what's what.
"Panam, you and the girls will have to stay away from the meetup spot."
"Alright..."
Panam and Becca nodded.
"Judy..."
"I'll be in the trunk. Playing the part of a knocked-out girl."
I nodded.
"If you want..."
"And another thing... I'm the one who has to zero her out."
This time, I had a lot more doubts about her decision, as did all the other girls who were still with us.
"Judy..."
It looked like Becca decided to voice her doubts about her choice.
"What?"
She looked at Becca with a frown.
"Maybe it's better if I do it, or David? We're used to it..."
"No..."
A wave of determination and focus on the decision she had already made washed over me from Judy.
"Alright..."
I sighed.
"...I'll still cover you, so if you can't finish this story, I'll finish it for you."
"Uh-huh..."
"Alright, it's time to get to the car..."
We packed up the chairs and quickly put them away in the house. After that, we went to the car, where I took a knife off my belt and held it out to Judy.
"This is for you. A last resort weapon, so to speak."
She nodded and immediately got a gun from Becca.
"Be careful. We won't be able to be there when you're 'handed over,' so be careful and alert. David will cover you, of course, but don't just walk into a hail of bullets."
"Alright..."
We opened the trunk, after which Judy got in and lay down, sticking her tongue out to the side for effect.
"Judy..."
My face in my hands was the only reaction that I, and the girls, could have to that kind of behavior.
"Judy..."
Panam looked at her friend with annoyance.
"What? I'm just kidding a little... of course, I'll pretend to be knocked out properly, but you guys are just too tense."
"Judy, we're tense because we're sending you on a combat mission, and you haven't been on one before."
"I've been living in Night City for a long time, so I've had to deal with gangers myself, and I was in the Moxes, and they're a gang, no matter how much they try to position themselves as protectors of girls..."
"I understand that, and so does everyone else..."
I raised my hand, stopping Judy's protest, which she was clearly about to continue.
"But let's be honest, in my crew, there are two people who can be used in the hot phase of an operation. Me and Becca. I have no doubt in your skills and your ability to stand up for yourself, but if you have to pick up a weapon, it means I've fucked up."
"But this is different..."
Judy wasn't about to give up.
"You're wrong... I could have calculated Parker's behavior. What am I saying? I did calculate it, but I didn't do anything. I thought that sooner or later, she would give up. But the fact that she's trying to trick me, pretending to have kidnapped your grandma..."
I shook my head.
"...that wasn't in my calculations. And since that wasn't, she might risk actually kidnapping your grandma, or taking someone else hostage... I'm the one to blame for not calculating that..."
"David, you shouldn't say that... you didn't know her, but I did. But even I didn't calculate that, so it's not your fault."
I shrugged. It's not that I felt guilty, but I didn't see Parker as a threat. That is, until she called and said she had Judy's grandma...
After that news, I realized that I was wrong to underestimate her, and this girl could cause a lot of trouble.
"But I still wouldn't want you to get your hands dirty with her blood."
"I... we'll see what happens. But I would still like to deal with her personally, since she, even if only in theory, went after my grandma."
"Alright..."
I took a pack of shards out of the car's trunk and held one out to Judy.
"This one's empty. Put it in your port, and you'll be pretending to be knocked out. I think you'll be able to learn a little something new before you have to act."
"You think she'll come to get me herself?"
"I think so... with her crew and maybe some backup, but she'll come herself."
"Well... that's her style..."
Judy nodded in agreement and slotted the shard into her port. Then, after letting out a demonstrative sigh, she got into the trunk and made herself comfortable. I even covered her with a small blanket and put a pillow under her head that I found in the house.
"Are you comfortable?"
"Yeah... but this is so..."
"Well, I'm not going to carry my girl like a piece of junk that's not even good for spare parts. And if Parker doesn't like something, I'll just tell her to go fuck herself."
"Alright, let's get going... I don't really want to be lying in the trunk all day."
"Good. Now, let's set up the comms for the crew and then we'll go..."
I slammed the trunk shut, and I immediately got a call from Judy. A couple of seconds later, all the other girls joined the line.
"Perfect... we're going to swing by home now..."
"What for?"
The other girls were also surprised.
"Just, if I'm going to be driving, I need to get Panam's rifle so she can cover us, and Becca would probably like to at least watch what's happening through the crosshairs."
"Well..."
The girls clearly agreed with what I said.
"By the way, Judy, we forgot something..."
"To cut the connection?"
"Yeah..."
"Can we stay connected for a little longer? It makes me feel safer..."
"Of course we can, but how will it affect you if I have to use my Sandevistan at full power?"
"I don't know... but you can always just cut the connection or block it... so I'm counting on you for that."
"Alright..."
I nodded and finally started the car. I then pressed the gas and put it in first gear, and we finally moved in the direction of the clan's camp.
"Kiwi, Lucy?"
"It's quiet for now. We're in the city's net, trying to find her, but it's harder than it seems. Even considering that we've already figured out where she called you from, tracing her entire route, given that some parts of it were where there are no cameras..."
"Judy, could your ex have planned all that out?"
"Well... she's not a fool... so in general, yeah..."
"You're not sure? Your voice sounds very unsure..."
"She can be a little overconfident... you know that because you know how she prepared for the attack on that hotel..."
"Well, to be fair, that was not an attack, but yeah, you're right, Parker's preparation was terrible. She relied too much on Dex and the crew he had put together."
"Exactly..."
The car was driving smoothly on the highway, and then it got off of it. Ten minutes later, we were at the entrance of the Aldecaldo camp.
"Uh..."
"Yeah, Judy, what's wrong?"
"I was just thinking, why am I driving from the picnic spot to our home in the trunk?"
"Because you climbed in there yourself?"
"But..."
"You could have refused, but you just climbed in without a word. So I decided to just take advantage of the moment and pretend that I kidnapped you from your childhood home. You know, like in the not-so-distant past, some cultures had a tradition of kidnapping brides from their homes..."
"Well..."
Judy was very embarrassed by that comparison, but at the same time, she was happy that I had so calmly said that I considered her my bride. Panam and Becca quickly got back in the car, bringing me a belt with holsters for my throwing knives—for concealed carry, of course—as well as a holster that clipped under my jacket.
Unfortunately, wearing my full suit wasn't an option now; it would have been too suspicious, and it would have been impossible to hide. So I had to make do with a minimal set of concealed carry gear. I fastened everything on me and finally, after turning the car around, I headed for the city.
But I didn't drive aimlessly around the city. Instead, when I got to the edge of the city, I sent Parker a message.
"I have Judy, and she's unconscious. What's next?"
I immediately got a response with a meetup spot and a time, which I shared with the girls. Panam immediately picked the best spot to provide us with cover with her rifle. Thankfully, she has very good optics, and Panam herself is a more-than-decent shot.
Twenty minutes later, I pulled up to the spot where I was supposed to drop off the other girls...
"Alright, get to work. I'll wait another five or ten minutes and then I'll head to the meetup spot."
"Uh-huh..."
The girls got out and headed to their spots. To be more precise, they went to one of the megabuildings where there were tech tunnels, which we knew about because of our profession. We didn't know about the tunnels in this specific megabuilding, of course, but we knew they existed. And on the way to the building, Kiwi and Lucy, and Judy herself, had already found the building's blueprints, so they knew exactly where to go to get a good position.
"Alright, beauties, from this moment on, all communication is through callsigns again."
"Ugh..."
"Oh, come on, Cherry, it's fun... at least it's a good way to separate the times when we're just talking and when we're working..."
"I get it... but Bookworm, doesn't it get to you? Everyone already knows who we are... well, those who care, anyway... and we're still using callsigns..."
"I don't mind... I like my callsign..."
"Yeah, of course you do, Moxie. You wouldn't not like your callsign. I don't mind mine either..."
"Bookworm, none of us have a problem with our callsigns..."
"Moxie?"
I spoke up because she had said the last sentence, and there was a lot of confusion in her emotions.
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah... just a little nervous..."
"Don't worry..."
I shrugged.
"...everything's going to be fine."
"I trust you, Quiet Man, but I'm still nervous..."
"And by the way, Moxie..."
"Yeah?"
"You're on radio silence. You're supposed to be unconscious... so from this moment on, you can only listen."
Judy's image nodded and immediately disappeared. I knew she was still with us, she just completely hid her presence in the conversation.
"Uh... guys..."
"Yeah, Cherry..."
"I see the welcoming party..."
"And?"
"It's Maine's crew."
"Fuck..."
Becca didn't hold back.
"Uh-huh... we're screwed, because even though I don't like Placide, I wouldn't want to zero him out."
"And we wouldn't want to zero out Dorio or Maine either..."
"We'll see... I hope we won't have to. As a last resort, Cherry will shoot off a couple of their limbs, and we'll give them first aid so they don't die..."
"That works..."
That was the general consensus. After we all agreed, I finally stepped on the gas, and the car started to move...
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