Hearing Rogue say that, the corners of Leo's mouth curled into a faint smile. "I thought you had to know every little detail."
Rogue replied lazily, "Knowing enough is enough. Besides, when someone starts talking about 'ideals,' it's usually just lip service to ideology, while their heart's fixated on power."
"But that's none of my business. And it's not yours either. Panam has the skill and reason to help you—that's all you need to know."
"That said, I know exactly what kind of person that little girl is. If she loses something, she'll fight like hell to get it back. You've got one day to help Panam recover her stuff, and tomorrow you'll head to the Jackson Plains to prepare."
"Of course, you'll need to call her first. Here, I'll give you her number."
Seeing that Rogue was about to show him the door, Leo cut her off. "Hold on, Rogue. Before I leave, I have one more question."
"Is it about payment? You don't have to worry about that. You know me—I'm generous with my own people, especially since we go way back."
"It's not about payment. It's Panam—what I'm curious about is, if I hadn't shown up, what were you planning to do?"
"Hmm." Rogue leaned back, resting against the sofa to ease the tension in her spine. She blinked, as if seriously considering the question. "I'm not close enough with Panam to step in and clean up her mess out of goodwill."
Leo raised an eyebrow. "So you wouldn't have helped her?"
"But I do bear some responsibility for her ending up in this situation. If I just stood by and did nothing, it'd feel like bullying a young girl too much."
…Rogue was classic Rogue. Always smooth, always evasive. Never letting anyone see her cards.
"If, when she left, she'd stayed calm instead of throwing a fit, stomping around and demanding answers—if she had just come and asked nicely, maybe I would've helped her. But now..." Rogue's eyes glinted with amusement. "I don't know."
…
The three of them exited the Afterlife. Standing outside, Leo dialed the number Rogue had just given him.
"Who the hell are you?" Panam's impatient voice came through the holo-call.
"Hey, Panam. Name's Leo. Rogue gave me your number."
"Figures," Panam rolled her eyes. "That washed-up old bitch trying to send me on another errand?"
"Let's leave Rogue out of this for now. I'm here to help you."
Panam clearly had no love left for Rogue. Just hearing Leo say he was there to help set her on edge—her instincts told her this had to be a setup.
"Well, thanks, but no thanks. It's too late. Tell Rogue to fuck off as far as possible."
She was bluffing. Leo could tell right away. She didn't really want to refuse help—she was just covering her vulnerability with anger.
Leo didn't know why she'd broken ties with her family, but with an attitude like that, surviving in the city wouldn't be easy. After all, mercs were technically the subcontractors; fixers were the clients. Unless you had serious rep, the more attitude you had, the fewer jobs you'd get.
Leo didn't know a single fixer who enjoyed dealing with combative mercs.
"Go vent somewhere else. Do you still want your car and cargo or not? I can help you get them back. Interested? Or should I fuck off too?"
Panam had been about to hang up—until Leo mentioned the car and cargo.
Her expression tightened. Her tone softened slightly.
"There's a railyard on Bonita Street, right near the edge of the city. Meet me there."
"Alright. See you soon."
Ending the call, Leo summoned a Delamain cab and headed to the meeting spot with V and Lucy.
…
The Bonita Street railyard had long since been abandoned, rarely visited by anyone. From a distance, they could already see Panam with her head buried under an open hood, tinkering with the engine. Hearing the car approach, she stood up, hands on her hip, glaring as Leo and the others got out.
"You're Leo, right?" she said without an ounce of politeness. "Where's my car?"
"If I were you, I'd watch my tone. Nomads aren't exactly welcome in the city, and acting like this isn't going to help you blend in—especially when the guy you're snapping at is the one who can get your car and your goods back."
Panam shot Leo a glare, then took a few deep breaths to calm herself.
"Fine. Whatever." She dropped the hood and sat on it with a thump, making the whole car sink under her weight. Arms crossed, her tone cooled down, but the chill in her eyes remained.
"You're not doing this out of the goodness of your heart. What do you want?"
Leo got straight to the point. "There's someone in a corporate convoy. We're going to extract him from under their noses."
"No way. I don't do kidnappings. And there's no way you're hitting a corp convoy without people or gear."
"You don't need to worry about that. We'll handle the convoy. All we need is for you to lead us to a good ambush spot. That's it. In return, we get your car and your cargo back—right now."
Panam frowned, quickly weighing the pros and cons. Soon, she realized this wasn't a bad deal. These people could help her recover what she'd lost. All she had to do was lead them to a suitable ambush site. No need to fight, no risk involved.
Having figured that out, her expression eased and she nodded.
"Alright, fine. I'm in. First we get my car, then I'll take you to Jackson Plains."
Leo glanced at the car beside her. "I thought the cargo was the important part?"
Panam scowled. "Cargo doesn't mean shit. With my car, I can run any route in the city. Without it, I'd be delivering fucking takeout."
"Fine. Rogue said the guy who took your stuff is planning a trade at Rocky Ridge."
"That motherfucker Nash! I'm gonna kill him!"
V, who'd been eyeing Panam's car, turned and asked, "Nash was your buddy? He double-crossed you?"
Panam flared up instantly, like someone had stepped on her tail. "He's not my buddy!"
Lucy stood with her hands on her hips, staring her down. "Then he was a partner?"
"Ex-partner, I guess. Wraiths set me up. He hijacked my car and cargo, probably headed to Rocky Ridge to fence the goods. That bastard's dead meat."
Leo patted the car hood. "Then let's move. We're going to Rocky Ridge."
"Wait, let me think." Panam furrowed her brows in deep thought, then muttered, "Fuck it. Let's do it. The three of you should be enough—assuming none of you are all talk."
Leo grinned. "The Wraiths? You don't need to worry about them."
"Confidence is great. I just hope your skills back it up."
Panam pulled a phone from under her ass. "Give me a sec. I need to call a client and cancel a job. Let that bastard stew."
She walked off to make the call. When she came back, she added, "Before we go to Rocky Ridge, we're heading to my clan's camp first."
"Aldecaldos? I thought you ran away. What are you going back for?"
Leo had learned from Rogue that Panam's clan was a branch of the Aldecaldos—one of the seven major nomad nations. The Aldecaldos had been founded by Juan Aldecaldo in the 1990s. Their origins traced back to neighborhood watch groups who resisted L.A. gangs. They now spanned across America, made up of dozens of families.
Nomads rarely expelled their own—but once you left, going back was next to impossible.
"I don't get along with them, but I've still got a few friends there. And I need gear."
"How long will it take to get there? Don't tell me two or three days."
"It's not that far. Two hours, tops."
That was manageable. As long as they got Panam's stuff back today, they'd have all of tomorrow to scout the terrain.
"Alright, let's go. We'll take Delamain and follow you."
Panam's car could only seat two. Leo, V, and Lucy took the Delamain cab and tailed her vehicle.
After they cleared the checkpoint, the city faded behind them, giving way to wide, open wastelands. They were now driving along Route 9—the only road leading east from Night City into the Badlands. There were few signs of life on either side of the road. Every so often, a lone vehicle would pass by. In the distance, rows of wind turbines spun like silent sentinels.
After a while on the road, Panam's voice came through the comms. "Why couldn't she just tell me Nash was behind this?"
Leo thought for a moment, then replied, "Rogue probably had her reasons. I don't think it's worth guessing."
"Fuck that! She pisses me off. Once this is done, I'm gonna ask Rogue why she sent Nash to me without telling me he was with Wraiths."
"Maybe she had her own problems."
"Her problems? You ever meet a fixer with a conscience? Every one of those bastards is just out to use you. Me and Nash were both tools to her. I'm sure of it. Rogue's just a bitter old bitch. No sympathy for her."
They kept chatting casually as they drove.
After over an hour on the road, the outlines of a nomad camp finally appeared in the distance, settled amid the barren stretch of land.
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