Nixton's

Chapter Two: Trouble Down South

Jonathan flew out from Denver his hair blowing back in the wind. A couple of disillusionment charms hid him and his broom from Muggles. He was sailing south along the Rockies with a satchel slung over his shoulders. Truly this was freedom. He thought about the first wizard explorers. He wondered if they'd flown over these same mountains hundreds and hundreds of years before. Jonathan was on the way to his good friend Alexander Templeton's bachelor pad. He hoped his buddy was ready for adventure.

*

Alexander Templeton III was a playboy who owned a secluded place in the southern Colorado Rockies. Hidden away from the rest of the world he could fish and hunt during the day and party all night. The Templetons were a rich family that owned a manufacturing complex in the Hidden District. Someday Alexander Templeton II would call on his son to abandon the lavish lifestyle and partake in the family business. Alexander Templeton III dreaded that day and did everything he could to put it off. When Jonathan flew in Alex was lounging on the front porch swing smoking on his pipe and gazing out into the wilderness. He did not seem at all startled when Jonathan appeared in front of him. He merely cracked a grin and sat up a little.

"Well, Johnny, how are ya?"

"Good and you?"

"Well I got up this mornin', that's a start. You missed a hell of a party last night. Where the hell were ya?" Talking around the pipe gave Alex a drawl.

"Elections were yesterday; you know that. I had to work late last night, and I had to get to work this morning. Who was all here?"

"The regular crowd," Alex said taking out the pipe excitedly, "and some tag-alongs, I met some cute girls. Almost a shame there wasn't some more of my buddies to share 'em with. Almost. Next time though, right? I'll invite them back and you can have your pick."

"Thanks Alex but, I'm not sure if I'm interested in your kind of girls. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure they were babes, but honestly I'm looking for something more than a one-night stand."

"Sheesh, what a buzz-kill! If I didn't know better..." Alex shook his head and laughed. Jonathan just rolled his eyes and opened up his proposition.

"So what are you up to today? 'Cuz I got something that might be fun."

"Oh yeah? What's the deal?"

"I'm going information hunting in Dallas and things could get a little heavy. If not we could always make it interesting."

"Alrighty, I'll take you up on it. How do you wanna get there?"

"Well, first off put on your blues, this is official Clemmings business. Secondly, I was thinking we should Floo Powder our way over there; it's a rather long way to apparate or fly."

"Okay then whenever you're ready then I guess."

Alex flicked his wand along his robes and they turned sky blue like Jonathan's. He flicked his wand again and a sky blue hat appeared. Alex and Jonathan walked into the house up to the living room's fireplace mantle where the Floo Powder was. Alex flicked his wand once more and a fire appeared in the fireplace.

"Johnny let her rip!"

Jonathan took a pinch of Floo Powder and threw it into the fire. Then, stepping into the emerald flames, he shouted, " Steer Run!" and disappeared. Alex smirked at the destination, either Johnny wanted some hard liquor or they were going to be facing some trouble. Oh well, here goes, Alex thought as he took a pinch of powder.

*

Alex spun out of a grimy fireplace but quickly regained his balance. He'd been traveling through fires his whole life. Jonathan was there brushing ash off his robes. Alex did the same, taking a look around. They were in a seedy bar with some of the shadiest warlocks and witches in Texas. At least that's always how it seemed when Alex and Jonathan were here. After all, the saying went: "If you don't have the balls, then with the steer run." And the steer ran from here that's for sure.

"Is this where we're supposed to meet the informant?" Alex practically whispered.

"Nah, this is where we're gonna get a drink."

"Okay well let's make it quick, you know what happened the last time we were here. And you know what? I don't think we paid."

Jonathan didn't need reminding. They'd been here a little after Jonathan had come back from Togo with the World Cup. Someone had recognized Jonathan as the chaser who helped him lose a lot of money. The wizard had bet against the U.S.A. in the World Cup. Jonathan smirked as he remembered how he'd lost his temper with the wizard. The duel that resulted turned out to be a little more than Jonathan and his friends could handle. The damn warlock's buddies outnumbered them. They'd gotten the hell out of there and rumors had spread around the country that the chaser had been involved in bar fights. Jonathan had denied being there of course.

"Give me some fire whiskey on the rocks," Jonathan ordered.

"Just give me some good old butterbeer," was the call from Alex,

"I'm still hung over from last night."

The bartender was deliberately slow as he filled a glass full of ice with whiskey and popped the top off of a bottle of butterbeer. Maybe he didn't like how they were dressed or maybe he recognized them from the incident last year. Whatever it was, it was clear the bartender was a little antsy about them being there. Jonathan took a swig of whiskey and Alex took a swig of beer. As soon as the bartender moved on Jonathan laid out the plan.

"Alright, here's the deal, the guy we're buying info from is a man named Jeffery Malone. He's under the impression that we only know him by Carter, so keep that in mind. He owns a warehouse in the outskirts of Dallas, from which he sells "antiques" illegally. That's where he does all of his business. He's got a couple of thugs in the warehouse and the rest of his little gang travels around the country looking for black market antiques and information, anything that can't be obtained legally. That way he can re-sell them for much more than they're worth here in-"

"Come on Johnny I don't need a run-down of his business. What am I supposed to do?"

"As usual I'll do most of the talking. Just watch my back and keep a hand on our wand. The thing with this guy is he gave us faulty information once and it cost us an agent. We hit him hard in return. Whatever my dad thinks he's getting must be something important or he wouldn't have bothered sending me at all. I mean this guy could just be trying to set us up to get back at us."

"Hmm. You sure we can handle this on our own?"

"I owled my task force in Phoenix a couple of hours ago and told them to stake out the warehouse. They'll swoop in if things get fishy. We've also got a tail; he's in here right now. That way he'll know if they try to do anything fishy on our way there."

"What you mean on our way there?"

"Someone's coming to pick us up, he should be here any minute. See we're not supposed to know about the warehouse either. They're gonna blindfold us at some point."

Alex looked at his friend. He'd always known he was crazy for getting involved in this stuff, but it was times like this that made Alex wonder why in the hell he had to get himself involved. Oh well, what's life without a little thrill? Jonathan looked down at his pocket watch. 11:59 a.m. Their "guide" would be here any minute.

"Hallo there, are you two the men I'm supposed to show around Wizarding Dallas today?"

"You must be Jerry, our tour guide!"

"Yesiree, bobcat! You done with your drinks boys 'cuz we got a lot to see today!"

To actually believe that Jerry was a tour guide would be foolish. He wore old, faded muggle clothing, he was balding, and his round face was missing teeth. All the same, the seemingly unsuspecting young men paid for their drinks and followed him out of the bar. As soon as they walked out of the bar a man dressed in tattered grey robes with a grey wizarding hat stepped out of a dark corner and followed.

*

Half an hour later they were in a dimly lit warehouse, standing in front of a balding man with curly hair and glasses. He was tall and thin with a sneer on his face, leaning his hands on a square wooden table. A couple of cronies stood in the shadows behind him.

"Wands on the table please. Clemmings sent you, huh?"

Alex moved to put his wand on the table but Jonathan held out his arm to stop him.

"We'll keep our wands thank you. You must be Carter."

"Maybe you'd feel more comfortable if we put our wands on the table as well. I don't have time for all this messing around you see."

Carter put his wand on the table and his thugs did the same. Jonathan suddenly felt foolish. Carter wasn't about to pull anything. Alex put his wand on the table and Jonathan followed suit but he stayed well within reach.

"Well let's see this info you got."

"You're Jonathan Clemmings, aren't you? I've seen you in the papers. Everybody wants to know where you went. Here you are playing servant for your daddy."

"Alright Carter listen up, I came here to do a job, now show me the info."

"No way, money first."

"I'll give you money for something hard."

Carter stiffened but snapped his finger and was handed a file.

"This is proof that a major senator is pulling strings for Manticore. This file is full of letters between Manticore and the senator. I'll part with it for no less then 3000 Gs."

"Ha. I wouldn't give a knut for that. We already know about Sen. Binks and we've got more proof then we need for that. Besides Binks is out."

"Oh not Binks," said Carter with a chuckle, "no this is a little closer to home for you I think."

This caught Jonathan off guard. He knew a lot of senators. His mother had been one for as long as he could remember. His brother-in-law was a senator. His great-grandfather was a senior senator. All of their friends in the senate, it couldn't possibly be any of them.

"Well then not Binks, that's something. I'll give you fifty for it."

"Come now you clearly have no idea who it is. This is valuable information. Three thousand Gs. No less."

"Fifty. How do I know it's authentic?"

"This file is directly from the archives of a top senator. See the seals on the letters. Top Secret government seals. And the return letters marked with the seal of Manticore. They were hard to obtain and loaded with curses."

He was right he could see the red seals of the government's highly confidential letters and the black marker of Manticore. He hated Manticore. He needed those letters.

"Alright I'll give you one hundred for a pair of the letters."

"All or nothing. If you want to pay for them individually that's fifteen letters at two hundred galleons."

"Carter! I've had enough-"

What ever Jonathan was going to say was cut off by the sudden appearance of black robes everywhere. Jonathan grabbed up his wand and spun just in time to see Alex grabbed by two of the intruders. Alex was struggling but he didn't have his wand and was stunned. The man holding him from behind spun and they were gone. Jerry had picked up his wand and was battling two other robed men. Jonathan himself was engaged with a hooded figure. He looked wildly around for Malone and saw him grab the folder and slip it in his robes. As Malone turned he was hit by a stunning spell that had gotten through his thugs, who were fighting more robed men. Jonathan hit his opponent with a hex that put him in a fit of laughter. Jonathan apparated as the man rolled around on the ground. Now he was just outside the warehouse, he flicked his wand and a noise like a cannon shot out of it. Four men in Clemmings blue appeared instantly around him. They were his trusty task force he'd set around the warehouse.

"Alright boys, bust through the door and engage everybody. I'm apparating in ahead. I've got to secure something. Don't be alarmed if we get separated. Clean up and meet me in the safe house at Houston in half an hour."

"Aye sir."

With that they blew open the door to the warehouse and rushed in. Jonathan apparated right next to Malone and grabbed his wrist. Then he apparated out of the battle once more. One thing was for certain; Jonathan Clemmings had slipped up.