Felix gritted his teeth upon hearing Riley's account of her experience when he was in hospital. if they could go afetr her with ease from just outside the hospital, he was essentially even more vulnerable than him. She could fight back, hell even if he wasn't in such a state, he imagined she could pack a hell of a lot more punch than he could. He took a deep breath to calm himself down and relaxed his body a little, trying to at least shrug off the pain.
"Shit shit, so they almost got you?" he was visibly nervous now, shaking slightly from the pain and the nerves. "I'm glad you're alright though, what happened to Marc? Have they gone after him too?" He looked around his hospital room and eyes locked on the door making sure it was shut properly and hopefully nobody was sitting outside of it. If anyone was, he was going to risk it.
"The nurses are odd, one is like something out of a movie, so cranky but then she went suddenly silent and rushed off. I think someone got murdered in here...or there was a horrible accident. The other nurse promised me more meds but so far nothing" He exhaled and looked around again. "If you come here, don't make yourself obvious, only do it if you can stay safe"
"If Roy hadn't stopped by the night before and I got into the Uber we wouldn't be having a conversation right now." Riley said over the phone as she looked over her shoulder as she saw Roy talking to a woman that she hadn't seen before. "Marc's fine still working haven't spoken to him today yet though when things die down i'll try and see if I can swing by and visit him." Riley watched as Roy walked over and set down the cup of coffee down on the table for her. She gave him a friendly smile and nod as she went back to talking to Felix on the other end while also somewhat listening in on Roy and the new girl were talking about.
Riley listened to Felix on his encounter with the nurses there, it didn't seem that odd to her there were always the one person who always hated their job. And he was in a hospital, and in the murder capital of the world as well people were sent in there most likely on a daily basis for injuries and recovering. "Listen it's probably nothing theres always the one person who really dislikes their job. Trust me, worked odd jobs before I made it big so I know that feeling. And its a hospital filled with other patients, that they have to tend to. But if you are really in danger i'm still going to swing by and check up on you. You have my word and I still do believe you." Riley said as she reached for her cup of coffee and started to take a sip from it while occasionally looking over at Pyira and Roy.
Diamond District: "Okay, no roses, nothing weird," Genny said making a few notes before leading Mali into one of the rooms. The lights were low, a long table was in the center of the room with a counter against the wall. Various small tables and pillows were laid out about the place with different unlit candles laying about. Genny stepped in and lit a few, pulling out various lotions and such from under the counter and setting them up. "I went with just a basic vanilla to play it safe. Nothing harsh," she said before smiling over towards Mali. "Your masseuse will be in shortly. You can hang your robe up there. Once you are ready just push this button," she said pointing over towards the door. "Then climb under the sheet and lay on her stomach. Enjoy," she said before excusing herself and closing the door behind her to let Mali disrobe in private.
Police Department: Station 54: "Kind of," Roy said as he sat down in his chair and took a sip of his coffee. "She's friends with Agent Tinder, went to high school with him. She knew Lawson before he moved here," he said as he looked over at Riley. Whatever she was talking about to Felix sounded like something but he wasn't going to interrupt her. Whatever it was, she at least seemed to be able to understand his ramblings a bit.
"She's helping out on the case, civilian yes but she can handle herself," he added as he leaned up. "And I trust her." Shrugging a bit he took another sip of his coffee. "But if you don't want to talk in front of her we can go the conference room while she finishes her call," he suggested as he motioned over to one of the open rooms. It had windows so he could keep an eye on Riley while she was there but it would give them enough privacy.
Club Afterdark: The woman looked over the top of her glasses as Bart came over to her and spoke to her. Letting out a bit of a huff she glanced towards the bar and cocked a brow in Scott's direction. "Ma'am, not Miss. I'm old enough to be your grandmother," she said as she turned her attention back towards her papers. Scott took notice and started to come out from behind the bar but as Bart continued she gave a hand signal and he stayed put but kept an eye on the situation.
Leaning back she pulled her glasses off and tossed them on a folder before she draped her arm over the back of the booth and eyed the young man. "Sure you want to poke your nose into things? Justice isn't the most forgiving town," she warned and then glanced down at the cat. "Careful, that furball might end up on the menu," she said with a cold smirk as several of her crew came in to the club. It was obvious they were part of the kitchen staff by the way they were dressed.
"下午，他是个问题," one of the men asked as he walked by and eyed Bart.
"我可以处理他," she said and the man nodded before pushing the door to the kitchen open and walking through. It swinging shut before the woman began to speak again. "Sure you want to know?"
Lucky gave a hiss, before shirking back into the bag, clearly put off by the woman. Bart, on the other hand, raised an eyebrow before shooting a concerned look back towards his cat. Then the woman spoke... some dialect of Chinese, best as he could tell. Nothing he knew, so shrugged it off. "Oh come on, This city can't be that bad." He said innocently, "I know the crime rate's a bit higher than normal, but people are people, and people are good, more often than not." Bart insisted. Maybe he was naive, but he didn't believe in outright malevolence. "And besides that, who'd ever hurt such a cute kitty?" He said, with a chuckle and a grin.
At this point, Bart sat down across from the woman, and tilted his head, looking her in the eye. "See, I'm a naturally curious person, I ask questions, learn, and solve problems. It's kind of my thing." He explained. Between the deaths and the way this woman was acting, this whole situation was drawing Bart's attention like a moth to a flame. He couldn't stop asking questions now if he wanted to. "So, I'm afraid I don't really have a choice when it comes to answering that question, I don't want to know. I need to know." He leaned in, eager to hear what the woman might have to say. He then drew back for a second ,"But first, where are my manners?" He said, remembering himself, "My name's Bart, yours?" He asked, extending his hand out to shake her hand.
And for the first time all day, Mali had a moment to be alone. Actually alone. Another time like this probably wouldn't come until right before bedtime, so this was the time to get her thoughts in order. A lot of things had happened, but she wasn't sure how much of it she'd articulated to herself. The bodybuilder disrobed and began pacing around the room.
So there's an actual conspiracy called Juno that seems to control a lot of things, if not everything of significant power. They seemed to have been an active power at least since the prohibition. They branded their members with either the astrological sign for Venus or Mars depending on their gender. These members were kept separate as much as possible. They had names for each of their positions, but Mali forgot what that term was. She'd have to ask about it again later. Some of these members, at least Zoie Crawford and the late Alicia were infiltrating the conspiracy to try destroying it from within.
Juno seemed preoccupied with Ancient Greece and Rome for some reason. An item of interest seemed to be necklaces with a weird geometrical... thing attached to the end. Zoie believed that the source of their fixation laying further back in human history to Ancient Egypt, but hadn't derived enough proof to actually justify her gut theory.
Relic aka Daniel, is some kind of computer genius and Zoie's brother. Apparently he was in prison at some point. Juno is after him for possessing and knowing things he shouldn't. Really curious, but also physically and socially fragile. Saving him from some thugs got Mali tied into all this nonsense in the first place and her hand broken, but she couldn't bring herself to be angry at him. Kid needs to stick up for himself more. Has really nice business cards
Marc Tinder is an FBI agent who's working as part of les collaborateurs and is apparently a long-time friend of Relic and his family. Seems like a decent enough guy.
Zoie is a prostitute who's working for Juno and has some family and guilt issues to work out. Right now Mali's acting as a cover story to allow her to better work on her investigation of Juno's motivations. Working with Juno seems to provide enough money to casually buy lots of high end clothes and cosmetics without batting an eye at the price of it all. You also might really have a thing for her, chimed in a voice from a lower layer of her mind that was promptly ignored. There were more people involved, but those were the three most important figures she had been in contact with so far.
The group's current lead was to investigate the supreme court justice Zatara Lyo for information on Valentine's true identity. Right now she was getting ready for a political evening party where she was supposed to do something. Nobody had actually said what she was supposed to do there yet. As part of prettying up, she still needed make-up, her hair styled, shoes, jewelry and perfume at a minimum. Which brought her back to her current situation. These were all things she knew, but for keeping her head on straight, it was good to focus on what she knew rather on what she didn't for once and who her friends were supposed to be.
At this point Mali realized she'd spent a few minutes simply pacing the room in her birthday suit, and Helga was waiting on her to press the button to signal her readiness. She walked back to the door and pressed the button before sliding under the blanket provided. Stop thinking about the big picture and get back to the here and now. The incoming massage was likely to be intense to say the least.
Caesar's attention did not linger on the quip offered by Maria, nor did he react as she brushed past him. Though it was something that would ordinarily coax out a growl or strained look, this day it was just a second or two worth of additional time to wait before getting down to serious business. He did appreciate that his former spouse otherwise made good on his request, and further appreciated that she removed his tiny grandson from the equation, too. Their seclusion was preferred. Provided that Natasha was on the up and up, being surrounded by a grieving and heavily armed family was counterproductive to her survival as Caesar's concerns were spoken aloud.
He decided to address her points, going down the line, before getting to the heart of the matter. "It's a viewing, Natasha. Funeral comes later. Thank you for seeing to my grandson. I am sure he will be fine." Even if she was a plant, or a mole, or whatever Juno called their workers of espionage, a prescription filled by a local third party for antibiotics was a very minimal risk scenario that would help the boy. "And no, Cecily is good. I need to talk to you about something, and I need you to not react when I tell you. This last part is very important."
A wet growling sound issued from the venerable Mexican as he cleared his throat. He was not accustomed to giving speeches, nor was he a particularly talkative individual otherwise. And phrasing things delicately was not within his forte of social skills. Caesar thought to start out easy anyway, to the best of his limited ability. "The woman who brought you in to Justice and assigned you to this case is part of the group responsible for Alicia's death. This raises questions. I need to know what you know about Dr. Amy Chang. Things that don't fit into a standard background check. Starting with why she chose you for this assignment." There was no anger in his voice, no accusation. There was concern. There was hope that Natasha was truly ignorant. But there was a distinct doubt about that last part. If Alicia was right and thee were people inside of Juno who didn't agree with what they were doing, he wanted an inroad. Or a weak spot upon which to apply pressure. Hopefully this would uncover the former and not the latter.
Be that as it may, Priya didn't know the girl and, for the record, she didn't know him either. He may be her partner, but she didn't outright trust him. It may be her New York upbringing in the force, but you often had to earn the trust of your partner because they were as likely to stab you in the back than back you up. Plus, she often worked alone. Was she jaded? Maybe.
She shrugged her shoulders and walked towards the room for their privacy. She didn't pay the woman any mind as she had no reason to. She stepped in and waited for the door to be closed before she spoke. "I spoke with an agent there and got some more background info on the case. Some of the redacted info, at least. I also got the tape to view. I haven't seen it yet and there may be something on there that was missed. Apart from that, I have my own theory that there is more going on here than meets the eye, but that's more my gut than anything."
Diamond District: Helga was everything the stereotypical German Female Athlete that was probably kicked off an Olympic team for doing steroids would be pictured. Tall, broad, blonde hair, tanned skin, and looked much older than she probably should have. It didn't help that her voice sounded like someone that smoked three packs a day for thirty years and than got ran through a baritone filter. "Oi! I thought for sure you had fallen asleep it was taking so long," Helga said as she came into the room and walked over to the table.
"Oh strong girl, good! Most girls are twigs, snap like twig. Ask for deep tissue? How can I give deep tissue when she had no tissue to get deep?" Helga chuckled as she into Mali's line of sight so she didn't have to crane her neck up from the table. "Right, we begin. I start light, work deeper. If too much - say, don't stay quite, I lighten," she added before righting herself and warming some oil up. Once it was at a good temperature she got to work, shoulders first and beginning to work down.
Police Department: Station 54: Roy watched Priya as she walked over towards the conference room before looking over at Riley and talking quietly. "I will be right over there, don't leave here and stay in my eye sight," he said before walking over to the conference room and shutting the door. It was sound proof but thankfully the windows gave him a perfect vantage point to keep Riley in his line of sight and where she could see him clearly from his desk.
Looking over to Priya he listened and rubbed his face slightly. "You have no fucking idea.." he muttered under his breath. Resting his palms on the table he leaned over and shook his head. "Why couldn't I have just gotten some fat ready to retired asshat that was just out here for the sun and beach. No I had to get the girl that wants to do her damn job," he added before looking back up at Priya. "This place will get you killed..."
Club Afterdark: "You really aren't the brightest are you?" she snipped as she gave him a half eye roll. "Come up to someone working, in a place with over a dozen chalk outlines on the pavement outside splattered in crimson. Try to act like you know this town and blame it on curiosity. That isn't curiosity, that is down right stupidity." Shaking her head she picked up her glasses fro the pile of papers she was going over and rested them on the tip of her nose.
She let out a breath as she picked up a small stack of them, licking the tip of her finger before she started thumbing through them. "In this town, you're lucky you and your cat were both served up for lunch already," she added before giving a snap of her fingers and the barman made his way over to them. He stood tall, a good two inches taller than Bart did and had at least three stones worth of muscle more of weight.
"What up Ms. Burnmore?" he asked as he dried his hands off on one of he bar towels he kept with him.
"Get the boy a last meal," she said without looking up. The man nodded before looking over at the Bart.
"Righto, come on kid," he said before motioning over towards the bar.
La Hacienda: "Oh that's good," she said once she found out that Cecily was okay and that she wasn't needed to repair some stitches or take care of an infection that had set in. So it wasn't that, then what did he need to speak to her about. The way he cleared his throat sounded like a dog getting ready to maul her in all honestly and she didn't like it.
Natasha quirked a brow and leaned back slightly. She wasn't sure what was going on but she wasn't having any of it. "Listen, I don't know you but getting me alone to try to pump me for information isn't intimidating," she said in a firm voice. It was easy to tell she was weak form her treatments and recovery was going slow but it seemed that her spirit hadn't been tarnished by the chemo. "And just how in the fuck do you know who hired me?" she said as her eyes narrowed and she gripped the tissue in her hand. Pulling it to her mouth she coughed slightly. "Some nerve. Come crawling out of the sewer, literally, with a shot woman. I have to patch her up. Pokes his nose into my personal life. Then comes to me spouting off shit about my boss?"
Shaking her head Natasha stood up and coughed again into her tissue. "No sé quién diablos crees que eres, pero ya coloqué mi trabajo en la línea dándote toda la puta información sobre el caso y viniendo aquí para asegurarme de que Cecily está bien. ¿Y vienes aquí, hurgando en mi vida? Vete a la mierda bastardo," she coughed before pulling her phone out of her bag and starting back towards the house. "Sí, información, necesito un taxi," she said into the phone.
I don't know who the hell you think you are but I already placed my job on the line by giving you any fucking information on the case and coming here to make sure Cecily is okay. And you come here, digging into my life? Fuck off you bastard.
Yeah, Helga was exactly what she had expected her to be. Yeah it was bad to conjure up a stereotypical prejudice of who a person was based solely on their name, profession and the barest of descriptions, but come on. Why even work at a massage parlor doing deep tissues massages and be named something like Helga if you weren't some sort of brawn hilda. The chainsmoker voice was a smidgen unexpected, however: Mali's imagination only went so far as to input a thick German accent.
"Sorry, it took me a bit to realize I'd forgotten to press the button." A lie, but was it really important for her masseuse to know that she was pacing around the room like a psycho thinking about conspiracies and Ancient civilizations? No, it was easier and faster to just fudge the truth. Mali chuckled at Helga's possible joke about not being able to perform a massage when there was no tissue to work with, but at the same time there was some nervousness deeper in her psyche triggered by the "snapping like a twig" line.
Every new thing she learned about Helga indicated that the coming massage would be highly intense at the least. However, she was determined to ride it out as best as she could. It might just be an ego thing, but she wanted to avoid having to ask Helga to lighten up if at all possible.
Felix let out another sigh of relief. Okay, so with Riley and Marc alive it meant that the killing and attacks had ended with him and the orderly back at the asylum. He didn't want to admit it, but he was glad that he hadn't caused more than that, he would've just had more and more guilt stacking up on him, not something he was thrilled about having to experience over and over again. After he got out this place, he'd have to apologise to Marc for provoking his old friend and causing that whole scene, after all if he had just been a kind writer/interviewer, he'd still have both eyes.
"yeah yeah I get you," he replied with a hiss of pain. "Never really been in a hospital like this before, one time I was in one in Berlin but it was cushy and my mom was there" With this he really put his best attempt and american accents on the mom, probably pulling off a horrific charicature of the accent. "I know it sounds weird but there's something up here, this whole town has a weird vibe to it, you must know that as well judging by the stuff you've been through"
he looked to the nearest wall, locking his good eye on it and shifting his view to the door again, keeping it in his sight. "But listen, if you can't make it to this hospital, there's this thing in my room, got it in the post no idea what to do with it. If you can find it before anyone else does maybe you can figure out why someone anonymously sent me it"
Riley watched Roy and Pyira for a moment and then nodded towards Roy putting her hand over the phone for a moment. Don't worry I'll stay put right here." Riley called out as Roy followed his new partner off to the conference room. Riley then turned her attention back towards the phone putting it back onto her ear. "Trust me hospitals aren't all that fun, spent a few days there after my accident. Still need to buy myself a new ride after that." Riley said as she started to take another drink from the cup of coffee, and leaned back in the seat sighing slightly as she rubbed her eyes for a moment.
"I agree with you some weird shits going down here, just don't know what yet. I still don't know if that car accident that caused the pile up I was in was an accident or not aside from what happened last night as well." Riley said and then listened to Felix on the other end she wasn't sure what he was talking about it sounded important. "If I can get back to Boston Heights i'll try and get there, whats the thing look like and where in your apartment is it exactly?"
Riley would look back over towards the conference room, she was starting to get curious as to what it was exactly that Roy's new partner was talking to him about. Riley then went back to her conversation on the phone. "I'll be there at some point today no matter what i'll give you my phone number you can call me on alright got a pen somewhere or can you memorize it?"
Location: La Hacienda - Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico
So far, she had been successful in her mission to fade away into the background. No one had quite approached her for a conversation and despite Caesar instructing her to go find Thalia, she couldn't help but feel like getting some space to herself. Was it the best idea? No, not by any means. With her drink in hand, Cecily weaved her way through the crowd, never hovering in one location too long. Yet that was only entertaining for ten minutes, tops. And she had already been spending a fair deal of her time trying to avoid socially awkward situations at a wake.
Eventually, by some stroke of luck, she managed to find a quiet spot. She took a quick sip of her drink almost as by reflex before she pulled out her phone. It had been off since she left Justice. Was there a possibility that it had been bugged and that turning it on would put them all in danger? Of course, yet she felt it was rather slim. It wasn't her normal phone and it hadn't been out of her sight at any point - not that she was aware of. There were probably texts waiting for her. Slipping the phone in her pocket, Cecily went through a little mental exercise, thinking who would've sent her a text in the last few hours.
Riley. Straight off the bat, that one was obvious. She had shared a kiss with the rockstar and they had gone on a date - but were they friends? Were they something more? The forensic technician turned coroner didn't have an answer. She never really liked people that way.
Roy. She bit her lip slightly. With everything that had happened, some things had become a blur. Did she let Roy know that she had left the country? He had told her to stick with Caesar. And of course, she couldn't help but dwell for a moment on the troubling information Roy had disclosed to them the day before...It didn't simplify things by any means.
College Friends - Will and Ravi. She and Will had been roommates, both completing a Chemistry program. And Ravi had been doing his residency at the University of Pittsburgh. They had gone to conventions together, where Cecily explored her love of cosplay. She and Will had always done a killer Black Butler. She still had the costume with her - just in case.
But was turning on her phone worth the data fee for out of country roaming and the potential to signal down their location? She couldn't justify it. Instead, her eyes swept through the crowd, seeing if she could locate Thalia and the Luchadors - just so she'd know where they were. She couldn't help but watch to see if Natasha or Caesar returned.
Iris Kingston
Location: Justice Asylum
Jaina was as happy as could be. Sure, she felt a lot of pain at the moment and movement would be a little bit tough, but she was a special sort of crazy. She focused on her bliss to the exclusion of other sensations, causing her to just giggle as she stayed down - at least for now. It was entirely possible for her to go on the attack again, even if it meant hurting herself. She didn't understand the concept.
"Они платят вам за это? Зачем беспокоиться?" Jaina asked, a bit confused. Death didn't make any sense to her. Show her a corpse and she'd expect it to keep on moving, for the person to just shake it off and continue about their day. "Я думаю, что некоторым людям нравится снова и снова заниматься одной и той же работой - я просто их зацепил. Не нужно беспокоиться о том, что они снова вернутся сюда!" She giggled a bit, grinning like the Cheshire Cat. The suit lady was a BIG improvement over the doctor. She'd keep her happy and bubbly, the psychopath decided. For how long? That was anyone's guess.
Iris was holding her head, using the wall to rise to her feet. The pain was extraordinary, but her driving force was a patient in need in front of her. There wasn't a guarantee they'd have a translator again, so if she could work through this splitting pain without vomiting, she'd try her best to do it. "Qu'est-ce qu'elle dit?" Iris asked. If they were lucky, it'd help with her treatment.
And in the back of her mind, she wondered if Jaina knew anything about Cynthia and her mother. "Et si vous pouvez...Est-ce qu'elle sait quelque chose de Cynthia McMillan?"
Они платят вам за это? Зачем беспокоиться? = They pay you for that? Why bother? Я думаю, что некоторым людям нравится снова и снова заниматься одной и той же работой - я просто их зацепил. Не нужно беспокоиться о том, что они снова вернутся сюда = I guess some people enjoy doing the same job over and over again - I'd just chain them up. Don't need to worry about them getting right back up that way! Qu'est-ce qu'elle dit? = What's she saying? Et si vous pouvez...Est-ce qu'elle sait quelque chose de Cynthia McMillan? = And if you can...Does she know anything about Cynthia McMillan?
So much for not reacting. If Natasha wanted to leave the gathering early, Caesar wasn't going to stop her. Unfortunately, if she was an innocent, her mere presence here would put her under scrutiny by the wrong people. It didn't matter to Caesar, seemed to always attract the wrong people, and the damage was done with Cecily, which is why she had been receiving the ongoing protection of himself or his employee, a particularly large British man who Caesar needed to punch very, very hard out of general principle.
"Talking privately was for your protection, Doctor," began Caesar, barely raising the volume of his voice. "We don't know each other very well. If I wanted to intimidate you, I would have said what I did in front of Maria. Or Thalia. Or half of the people in the courtyard. But I do need to apologize. Allowing you to come here might have put you on Juno's radar if you weren't already." That last part was a little sobering for the venerable Mexican. If Natasha was uninvolved, the fact that she accompanied him to his family's home in Mexico would paint an interesting picture for the opposition.
Regardless of personal insult, Caesar did not get angry. It was in his nature to react to insult, but not solely from basic, grade-school level name calling. Much more had happened to him in a lifetime of horrible things for something as trite as that to provoke his ire. She did have a point, though. "You are right about one thing. I am a bastard. And I have more direct methods of getting information from people than having a polite conversation. I know what I know because my company is pursuing their own investigation into a series of related murders, one of which is M'hija. Your boss is involved. Your hospital is a crime scene. I will ask questions about people who are near that, and are then near my family. And my people keep me informed."
Switching direction, Caesar offered, "I would prefer it if you did not, but if you insist on leaving, I can have someone drive you. The cabbies here will rob someone like you blind."
Meanwhile, in the courtyard...
"Oh, there you are!" This from Thalia, just locating Cecily's quiet nook away from the press of friends and family members. "Hey, they're about to start passing around food, if you're hungry, girl." Of course, she didn't really look like she found an unattended corner someplace because she wanted to have a lot of company. "Hey, you came down here, you saw a few people, you paid respects. This is going to keep going for a long time. There's no shame if you want to get back up to your rooms. I'll go with, if it makes you feel any better."
A scowl crossed Bart's face, not used to having his intelligence insulted. "Hey Ma'am-" He began to say, before a large man approached him. He cleared his throat as he watched the conversation unfold between him and the woman. He then froze for a half second when he heard the phrase "last meal". Given that put together with the now repeated veiled threats lobbed towards him by the woman, he began to feel as though he may not be the safest here, to say the least. His mind quickly began to turn to panic, starting to race and roar as the potential danger began to sink in.
"Stop. Think." He thought to himself, making his mind slow down and come up with some kind of action plan. "There's never been anything I couldn't think my way out of, there's no reason this is any different." His eyes darted towards the door, trying to map out a route to the exit. Unluckily for him, he was seated on the other side of the room from the door, but he could make a straight beeline if he wanted. On the other hand, he could walk as close to the bar as he could, and then make a break for it once he was as close to the exit as he was gonna get. Since he was sitting, he settled on option number two. Lull the man into a false sense of security, and then get the fuck out.
"A-alright," Bart said letting his voice get a little rattled, which wasn't hard by a long shot. He stood up, and started to walk towards the bar, a bit of a quiver in his step. Once he was lined up with the exit, he broke out into a break neck sprint. Not exactly his thing, but he had to get out of there. Once he put distance between him and the club, he could slow down and keep up the distance for as long as he conceivably needed. He just needed to make it outside...
She couldn't understand why he wasn't happy. This was progress, wasn't it? Instead, he wanted to sit on his ass and not do anything? She knew plenty of cops like that, only here until they hit retirement and then sit pretty. No, she wanted more than that and she knew others deserved more. The victims deserved more.
"Your concern is noted and appreciated, but I can handle myself just fine. If you'd rather, you can go back to whats-her-name and deal with that and I can go over the evidence that I found and go from there." She stressed the I in that sentence, though she hadn't intended to. It wasn't his fault he wasn't there to meet her when she started. At least, she assumed. Either way, if he wanted to sit back on his legs and do nothing, that was his prerogative.
Diamond District: "Ha, no problem. You just relax now. You are in my hands now. Fix you up right," Helga said as he worked on Mali's shoulder muscles. Her touch was surprisingly light to start with but with each pas she dug a little deeper and her fingers curled a more. Between the valleys of muscles she went easier on but on the thickest muscles she pushed much deeper. She went slow enough to where if Mali needed to tell her to let up she would know the area and where to go easier on but she kept a decent pace nonetheless.
For most people the way she was working could have easily been too much but with Malis amount of muscle mass and the work she had put her body through to get to this form, Helga didn't have any doubt in her mind that Mali could take it - hopefully more than just tolerate it but actually enjoy it. It was a good half an hour before Helga had worked over Malis back half and was patting her on the shoulder. "Time to flip," she said as she took the side edge of the sheet she had been using to drape over parts of Malis form when she wasn't working on them. Lifting it slightly she turned her head away from Mali so she could roll over with ease.
Police Department: Station 54: Roy sit down and sighed. "Yeah I'm sure you can. Lawson thought he could handle himself as well. Former Seal and all. Yet he's buried now," he said pointing out the obvious. Didn't matter how good you were or how sure of yourself. Justice kills. "And no, I'll go over it with you. I am the lead on the case," he added as he motioned for her to go ahead and get started. "Now, catch me up on what Tinder gave you."
His eyes darted over towards Riley. She was still on the phone so he figured she was either actually getting somewhere with the guy on the phone or Felix was confusing her just as much as he had been confused himself. Either way, he wasn't having to deal with him and she was in sight so he could keep an eye on her.
Club Afterdark: Scott started to lead Bart over towards the bar but he half froze when Bart made a break for it. His brow coking high as the kid made it back outside on the streets and to the chalk outlines of many a dead. Scott hadn't tried to stop him, just simple looked over towards Trisha. Trisha was laughing, her shoulders moving up and down as she gripped to her papers in one hand and pulled off her glasses with the other.
"Think that is the fastest I've ever sent someone running," she said between the chuckles. Scott looked down at his watch and nodded.
"183 seconds between approaching your table and darting," Scott confirmed.
"New record," she laughed as she shook her head slightly.
"Well if that kid keeps running like that every time he gets spooked he might just survive Justice after all," Scott said as he slipped back behind the bar. Trisha though didn't agree and it was clear as the laugh faded.
"Not if he keeps asking questions like that he won't," she said as she picked her glasses back up off the table and went back to work.
Outside a few cars were passing by Bart as he started to slow down. He had managed to put some distance between him and the club. There were other places to eat, looked a lot worse than Club Afterdark did. Granted there were plenty of places one wouldn't have to walk into to get food. Street Vendors and sidewalk shops with standing service only were common in the area, for most of the city actually outside of the Diamond District.
La Hacienda: Natasha didn't hand up the phone, simply covering the speaker end with it as she glared over towards Caesar. "I really could give two shits about your reasons or any of the people here Senor or what they could do to me. What I do care about is that you went digging about my private life. You could have been up front, asked, or even just informed me that you were going to because of the circumstances but you fucking didn't and that right there tells me you are a man of no honor - just a drive to get whatever the fuck you want no matter what bridges you fucking burn in the process." Her voice was cold as ice as she spoke and despite how fragile she looked, there was fire in her eyes.
"And since you did dig, pretty sure you found my fucking medical records. After the shit I have lived through there is nothing and I repeat nothing you or anyone else could do to me that would be worse than what I have already survived. In fact, other than losing your daughter, I can easily state the following as fact... I have lived through worse than you could ever fucking imagine. So I will take my taxi, like I have before in Mexico, and take my chances with the asshats out in the streets because at least there I am not foolish enough to think that they aren't trying to dick me over. A mistake I won't make with you again," she added before turning and finishing up her call.
"Si, gracias," she said before hanging up and making her way back into the house without giving Caesar a chance to reply or retort. If he wanted to say anymore to her he would have to do it in front of his daughters dead body and a room full of people mourning. Maria looked up as the door opened and her brows furrowed as she saw the look on Natasha's face.
"He opened his mouth..." she muttered to herself as Natasha made her way towards the stairs.
Justice Asylum: Risa kept her eyes over on Jaina as she listened to the deranged woman and then the doctor in turn. They really did need a translator up in this place but Risa was glad that wasn't the extent of her experience. If she had come into this place as just the run of the mill wordsmith that doctor might be dead and that maniac might have broken out by now.
"1Вот почему вы должны изменить ситуацию. Убийство - это как любовь, может быть скучно, если вы не будете держать вещи свежими," Risa said as she squatted down to stay at a good angle if Jaina decided to try anything else.
Glancing over towards Iris out of the corner of her eye she shook her head slightly. "2Ne t'en fais pas pour ça. Je vais demander, mais ne vous attendez pas à une réponse directe," she said before taking a breath and turning her attention fully back to Jaina.
"3Вы знаете Синтию Макмиллан?"
1 - That is why you have to change things up. Murder is like love, it can get boring if you don't keep things fresh. 2 - Don't worry about it. I'll ask but don't expect a straight answer 3 - Do you know a Cynthia McMillian?
Location: La Hacienda - Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico
Cecily jumped a bit, as Thalia found her in her not-so-quiet-anymore corner. She wasn't sure how she had managed to lose sight of Thalia, only for the Gonzalez to end up right in front of her. If this hadn't been Thalia's cousin's wake, Cecily might've informed Thalia that she was wasted as a chauffeur and should look into becoming a certified ninja. But then again, it was entirely possible that Thalia was a certified ninja already. With Caesar's family, it wouldn't have surprised her in the slightest. They seemed to be a clan of badasses that probably was the inspiration for Agent Melinda May.
"Oh, I'm not really hungry," Cecily answered, though it was only partially true. It was more motivated by perceived social awkwardness than anything else. "And no, you should stay here. I'm fine - really." She didn't want to take her away from the chance to mourn someone who meant a lot to her. And Caesar had instructed her to stay with Thalia - so staying in the same general area had been her plan. Going back to her rooms probably wasn't the best choice. If anything, she'd find Natasha once she returned - hopefully, it had been a misunderstanding.
"How are you holding up, if you don't mind me asking?" Cecily then inquired. This couldn't have been easy.
Iris Kingston
Location: Justice Asylum
While Iris didn't have any medical experience outside of psychiatry and psychology, she did come to the realization that she had been speaking in French. Since Risa had responded in the language, Iris hadn't thought much of it. It had been natural for her. "Oh dear, I'm so sorry...I hadn't realized I switched languages," Iris apologized, her British accent strong once more. "It's a habit of mine. Dreadfully sorry." She did enjoy speaking in her two native tongues, but she felt bad for being as presumptuous (even unconsciously) that Risa would wish to communicate in both.
Jaina snickered at Risa's comments, her eyes sparkling with joy. The assassin was quickly winning over the psychopath's favor and affection. Yet given that Jaina could not understand the consequences of her actions, that didn't mean she wouldn't still attack Risa. It was how she played with people - some made it out unscathed, others joined the orderly six feet under with a bobby pin jammed into their jugular.
Iris nodded, grateful that Risa was going to attempt to ask. She couldn't understand Jaina's words, but the deranged patient was staying down for the moment - that was good. Her body language was positive, for the most part, and she didn't seem like she'd attack the translator. Of course, Risa was more than a translator - she also seemed to be well versed in fighting.
"Khochesh' sygrat' v igru?" Jaina said after a pause, shaking her head as to rearrange her mess of blonde curls. A few of them landed on her face, with one of them even going into the girl's mouth. "Yesli vy vyigrayete, ya rasskazhu vam, chto vy khotite znat'. No yesli ya vyigrayu ... mne pozvonil. Key?"
Khochesh' sygrat' v igru? = Do you want to play a game? Yesli vy vyigrayete, ya rasskazhu vam, chto vy khotite znat'. No yesli ya vyigrayu ... mne pozvonil. Key? = If you win, I tell you what you want to know. But if I win...I get a phone call. Kay?
Mali had been expecting so much from Helga that she was almost disappointed when she didn't have hands that alternated between the modes of hydraulic press, industrial pistons and vice grips. Regardless of unfulfilled built up expectations, Mali appreciated the thoughtfulness in the technique and form inherent in the massage. Even with the low resolution tactile image provided by the back, she could tell that the masseuse really wanted her to enjoy this.
The past few weeks had been so stressful that she'd been in a near constant cycle of tightening up like a coiled spring, realizing that she had gotten worked up and then trying to relax to varying degrees of success. She wasn't an easygoing, carefree person by nature, but getting tangled up in Juno seemed to amplify any preexisting penchants for worry, doubt and over-analysis. This was her chance to completely relax for once and completely noodle out. And yet, as she rolled over, she couldn't stop herself from checking Helga for a ♀ in the very unlikely chance that this was some form of elaborate trap.
Riley leaned back in the seat and sighed slightly to herself as she waited for a reply on the other end from Felix, she figured he was still in a lot of pain as she would look over towards the conference room that Roy had entered seeing him sitting down. She knew that it would probably end up taking awhile, Riley would look over at the other officers and detectives in the room. She wondered what they were actually talking about in there.
As much as Riley wanted to get up and leave, she was still very paranoid what happened last night and just losing Chloe earlier in that at she ran a hand through her hair. Riley took another drink from the cup of coffee that Roy had given her and moved over towards his computer, looking around for a moment. She decided to try and type her own name to see if there was any information, and she wanted something to do as well.
Felix clenched his jaw, feeling his muscles seize up in pain from the agony his face was still in. He tried ignoring it and unclenching his jaw and nodding with a breathy laugh. This was all just too much at this point. Isolation was annoying, the fact that the police hadn't believed a word he'd said because of his inability to be rational and patient, again was annoying. At least Riley was going to make some attempts to help keep him and the others safe.
The accident. Yes he'd heard of it. He'd come across it during his research and snooping around following the attack at the stadium. Funny that, Riley had had a nasty accident too. "I know about that accident, when I was finding out more and more it came up. In my room in my second top desk drawer you'll find a multi-sided object. I don't know what it is but it sticks out like a sore thumb in that jumble of writing supplies. I personally think it's either something to be kept safe or a death signal to me. Either or, whoever sent it has other people trying to reclaim it."
He let out a grunt of pain and gasped. "Don't endanger yourself alright, I'll hang tight in here, but yeah, give me the number." He retorted, reclaiming his pen and notepad from where he had placed it.
