The hard-eyed AmerIndian entered the office of David Longmiles, who saw him, smiled, and shook hands with him like a long-lost friend.

"James Redhand, good to see you! How was your flight?"

"The flight was fine, the check-in at security wasn't. They gave me the full business."

David sighed. "Yeah, its those damned eco-terrorists I'm afraid, they've made check-in procedures a hassle at the airports......Have you heard from that partner of yours, Travis Bull?"

"Haven't heard a peep. He's not answering his cell phone. We were supposed to meet for breakfast this morning......" James Redhand said this with an ever so slight expression of worry on his flint-hard face.

"Maybe he got detained by customs, I'll put out a word to people I know at the airport......Alright, you read over the report I sent you, I assume, but here is some more info, and here are the up-to-date holopixes."

James scanned the info. This, combined with the report he had been given earlier, seemed like a load of drek. Either that, or this Leon Eagles guy was one of the most dangerous men on the continent. Nonetheless, it was work, and James was glad to have it, given how badly things had gone for him and Travis in the Sioux Nation......

"Now remember, the key here is we need them CAUGHT in the act and arrested. I don't know how they do things down in Cheyenne, but we will NOT stoop to the shadowrunners level. I want Leon tried and convicted. Only fire on him if you absolutely have to. I have fired cops before who treat their badge as a license to use civilians as target practise. WE DO NOT DO THIS HERE. Are we clear?"

".....Crystal." said James. David smiled, then reached into a desk drawer and pulled out a revolver and holster belt.

"Here's the Long Arms issue sidearm, new model Ruger Thunderbolt." said David. "Slightly shorter barrel to improve drawing time."

James checked the load and balance on the weapon, but felt displeased with it.

"I prefer a Predator. Clip holds 15, the revolvers just hold 6."

"Thunderbolt's got more stopping power." said David. "Against a man like Leon, you may only get one shot. Best to make it count."

James nodded, reluctantly, his flint-like face becoming even more hardened and resolute.

"Check in with the secretary on the 2nd floor to get assigned to your desk. We'll have a fresh unmarked car ready for you tomorrow."

James nodded, shook David's hand, and left.

As James checked in and set up his workspace, two veterans of the force jandered over and leaned on his desk.

"So you're the hatchet man the boss brought in?"

"......That's right." said James. "Can I help you two?"

"Actually, we're here to help you, rookie." said one of the veterans, smiling. "You busy after work? We want to take you out for a drink, tell you the lay of the land over here."

"Chief Longmiles briefed me on my job here, I'll be fine."

The veterans laughed.

"Wow, then you really need help. Come on, just a couple of drinks after your shift. If David's telling you how things work here, then you need all the good advice you can get."

~~~

(5 hours later)

James had been talked into drinks with the two veteran beat cops, and after a couple war stories and games of "who-do-you-know", the pertinent part of the conversation came about.

"You've gotta understand, David's a good man......an honorable man......but he doesn't understand the game. He doesn't understand how its played, and he thinks everything about the game is evil. David's probably told you not to clip him, to bring him in, and that's the problem." said one of the beat cop, sloshing around his beer while gesturing with his arms to make his point.

"Why is that a problem? He wants a public conviction of his number one enemy."

One of the veterans sighed.

"Because the government would bail him out. Leon's a hatchet man in his own right, he works for the government, does some jobs for them. Chief Bear or Chief Hillborn would have him out of jail in a jiffy. Or they'd hire someone for a prison break. It's been done before in Seattle, and in Vegas."

"And in Cheyenne too, unfortunately......" said James, before downing a stiff whiskey.

"There you go. So it's best to have Leon dead. Then our boss can worry about bigger things."

"He seems to think Leon is the bigger thing."

"And thats the problem." said the second vet. "David thinks Leon is behind it all, the elves, the anti-corp eco-terrorists, the shadowrunners, even though most of them hate him, and the Thunder Bay smuggling."

Then the first vet jumped in. "He hasn't been seen in Thunder Bay in months, he clipped a few of the elves on government orders, and I don't think he runs the local corps too much. David's chasing ghosts."

"So if Leon just gets clipped, and its passed off as an accident, David can go back to normal." said the second vet. "He'll see Leon wasn't the problem, and he might ease up on shadowrunners. We need some runners bad to counter this Manitou tribe threat. If the Manitou fracture off from us, all hell breaks loose. It'll be Tir Tairngire all over again."

"......So you want me to just straight-up kill this Leon Eagles."

"No no, nothing like that." said the first vet. "Just pull him over for a traffic violation or something, and draw on him. You Sioux Wildcats are supposed to be badmen, it'll be easy."

"And give David the usual excuse, he was being belligerent, he was resisting arrest, I feared for my life......"

James shook his head. "I'm here to uphold the law. To the letter."

"Oh come on" said one of the vets, rolling his eyes. "You haven't done something like this before in Cheyenne?"

"......I have." said James. "And thats why me and my friend Travis are out here, and not in Cheyenne. I killed a few people that I knew would beat the courts and buy a judge. But kill a few too many, and Longmiles will fire me too. Then what? I go back to dodging Comanche mobsters?"

"Look, if we let this fester, we'll never hear the end of Leon Eagles. David sees one tree as the entire forest. Leon is that tree. We cut him down, maybe Longmiles will see the big picture. Maybe it'll be possible to do good police work, instead of chasing at shadows. You don't need to do this more than once. Take care of Leon the hard way, then take care of everyone else the easy way, and he won't suspect a thing. Trust us!"

The veteran put an arm around James's shoulder, and offered him another beer.

"This is you chance to do some actual police work kid. Just take care of one guy, then we're home free......"