Pilatus

SOL CITY - Modern Slice of Life - Chapter 2 - Completed & archived. 2/2

SOL CITY CHAPTER TWO FINALE

24 HOUR TIME SKIP WARNING

EPILOGUE

--------

Yes ladies and gents this is it, we've made it all the way through Chapter Two for Sol City marking our SECOND CONSECUTIVE completed RP in this genre. With the aftermath of the Club explosion and downtown drama, the last time skip will encompass whatever you see your characters doing inside of the next week so keep that in mind for your posting and be clear what time you're in. We don't want to end with any spatial disruptions.

So the city is yours. There are no events this week. Everything is winding down from the finale. Life goes on in Sol for another Chapter.

SOL CITY - Modern Slice of Life - Chapter 2 - Completed & archived. 2/2

SOL CITY CHAPTER TWO FINALE

24 HOUR TIME SKIP WARNING

EPILOGUE

--------

Yes ladies and gents this is it, we've made it all the way through Chapter Two for Sol City marking our SECOND CONSECUTIVE completed RP in this genre. With the aftermath of the Club explosion and downtown drama, the last time skip will encompass whatever you see your characters doing inside of the next week so keep that in mind for your posting and be clear what time you're in. We don't want to end with any spatial disruptions.

So the city is yours. There are no events this week. Everything is winding down from the finale. Life goes on in Sol for another Chapter.

SOL CITY - Modern Slice of Life - Chapter 2 - Completed & archived. 2/2

Paige Kennedy & Milo Ventri

The next thing she knew was Milo’s shirt covering her face and crashing hard back down to the floor. The wind was nearly knocked out of her, but the deafening shock that followed nearly stopped her heart. Reverberating through the floor and followed by a perfect lack of sound. Her ears rang painfully and it felt like time passed while she stood still, separated from it like a passenger in her own body. The definite feeling of weight on top of her was the first thing she could even process. Arms were holding on to her. Did I just die?. She thought. A memory crashed back into her conscious like a train derailment. A grenade, then Milo. Her head was swimming. No. Blurred images swirled across her eyes. God… No, this isn’t right… Milo! It felt like her arms were moving again, but she couldn’t see them. She coughed and a strong chemical scent filled her senses. Images bending in the lense of her eye were a hazy static and then were suddenly exploded back together and she was thrust fully back into reality.

‘Paige!” Milo’s voice shouted in her face. “PAIGE! Goddamnit!” His grip firmly shook her shoulders. The room was full of smoke and her ears continued to ring. Still disoriented, she touched his face for a moment seeing his expression towards her lighten. However as the ringing subsided and her equilibrium returned another unmistakable sound became all to present: a jet engine.

“Oh Shit…” She said looking back towards Milo. Her eyes then darted past him at Sammy, slumped over and unmoving.

“He’s gone.” Milo said grimly looking back over his shoulder. “We gotta go.” The sound of the engines became more focused and moving.

From the corner of her eye, Paige could see blood spatter along the small hallway as they bolted through the corridor where one of Milo’s rounds had apparently connected with their attacker. The hangar beyond was dark with only a sliver of light from a partially open doorway on the far end. The contrast of light from the office made the whole area nearly pitch-black. Even being as cautious as she could in her haste, she bounced off something solid and tripped over something else on the floor nearly toppling over her own feet before catching herself against a pane of glass on what felt like a small airplane. Milo cursed behind her tripping over the same obstacle and kicking it with force sending it clamoring through the darkness. Her eyes strained to refocus themselves for the absence of light, concentrating on the small glimmer of outside air that peeked through the gap. She steadied herself on a wing strut trying to regain her balance again. Her side ached from the impact. The engine sound was farther away and she knew they’d soon be making their turn into the takeoff roll. She moved again, gaining only a few quick strides before another object caught her knee. She yelped in pain, but Milo grabbed her up, nearly like a football plowing his way ahead until the door was within arm’s reach.

They burst through, thankful for soft grass and dirt, the outside light showered back into focus with tall pines, broken clouds and in the distance, Paige could see the wings and tail surfaces twitch in the pilot’s final checks at the far end of the field. There was nothing they could do as the engines throttled up, but stand and watch as the nose rotated for the sky and the gear folded up sleekly beneath the polished airframe.

SOL CITY - Modern Slice of Life - Chapter 2 - Completed & archived. 2/2

Just a casual warning that we are soon going to be sliding into the epilogue for this chapter of Sol City. There will be an official announcement to come. Normally we allow a period of one week following the finale for players to pick a day and wrap up their stories for the chapter- more on the way soon.

~P

SOL CITY - Modern Slice of Life - Chapter 2 - Completed & archived. 2/2

Paige Kennedy & Milo Ventri

There were a few different routes they went over depending on what they found when they reached the island and Paige set off directly for what used to be a civil aviation office. The windows were dark and she approached cautiously with Milo directly behind. The island was still quiet and she could faintly hear the sound of voices on the other side of the building. She leaned against the old cinder block and eased her grip around the door knob. Wind gently buffeted against the structure, chilling her body that was still only covered by her gym clothes from Luna. The island out on the ocean was damn cold. She suppressed a hard chill through her body and exhaled briefly gathering her thoughts. Glancing down at the earth, the swaying pines that bordered the airfield and a few breaks of blue sky through the passing clouds, she brought her pistol up and gently pushed the door away.

The room was dark, but immediately she could sense the presence of another person. There was no ambush set and instinctively she reached for a light switch as she peered around the corner behind her gunsights. The light came on revealing an empty office. Age-stained white walls with loose paper and trash was scattered around the perimeter. In center, strapped to a chair was the beaten figure of Sammy Giancana, slumped over with only his restraints holding him in place. Blood stained his exquisitely tailored white dress-shirt and slacks and spattered the floor around him, still dripping from his forehead. Barely audible, his breathing was a quiet battle for each remaining breath that he could muster.

“Shit…” Paige muttered and glanced back momentarily at Milo who stood watching like a sentinel. There were no windows facing them, only a small partition covering a doorway. He assumed the corridor led to a repair bay or a hangar of some kind, but it was the only way someone could come at them head on. He stepped to the side shifting his glance between Paige and a better angle to keep a lookout behind them.

“Is he alive?” Milo asked.

Paige felt for a pulse. Her touch seem to startle what nerves still functioned in his broken face. Like Nikki, Sammy also kept his head cleanly shaven, but so pulverized was his visage, that Paige visibly winced at the sight of him. He looked as if he’d been hit by a train: Eyes were nearly swollen shut as he strained to lift his head and look at her through the sting of blood and sweat. His head bobbed involuntarily as though it wasn’t fully attached to the rest of his body, but still he beheld her carefully, completely focused with the faint life that still existed in his consciousness. Studying her fallen blonde lockes and small frame, he managed the tiniest of smiles and his voice exited in a whisper:

“Shannon…”

Paige pulled away at the sound of his wife’s name wiping his blood on her shorts and stepping back. Milo cut his glance at her strangely, never seeing her appear so spooked. “What did he say?”

As soon as the words exited his lips the sound of a small turbine could be heard spooling up outside. He’d spent enough time around machinery, aircraft included, to know the characteristic high-pitched whine of the small engine used to begin the startup procedures. He stowed the inquiry away and knew whatever it was that bothered Paige would have wait. “We need to get moving.”

Paige looked at Sammy and knew she would have to make a choice. He would be worth an untold fortune of information if they could keep him alive long enough to get back to Sol and in a hospital. If he would talk, they would have more than what they needed to take Nikki down without any red tape or bureaucracy. With Sammy under oath there would be direct connections and irrefutable evidence and she would have unquestioned support in bringing Nikki in, a slam-dunk. Or she could do what she and Milo planned to do: walk out on that tarmac and put an end to it without any witnesses. As she turned to Milo a figure burst through the far corridor who as she snapped her focus back, immediately recognized as the man from Luna Sports Facility. He leveled a large caliber revolver in her direction, similar to the ones that Milo fashioned and opened fire.

Falling away, Paige could hear the sonic rush of a bullet fly past her ear as the deep blast of the revolver echoed through the small room like cannonfire. He was aiming for the head. She cracked off two shots from the hip as she dove away, but his volley was suddenly silenced as Milo opened up spraying the corridor with fully automatic fire. The man ducked away with the piercing sound of Milo’s suppressed AK that quickly ventilated the old structure with small holes. The smell of cordite filled the room and short pause followed the exchange. Paige wasn’t sure if either one of them had connected. She knew she wasn’t hit and it appeared the man hadn’t even counted on Milo’s sudden barrage, but as she got back on her feet a different sound slowly eased through the room. The sound of something metallic rolling against the wood floor. Her eyes quickly found the object, close enough that she could see the small military logo on rotating along the side a olive drab cylinder: a grenade.

SOL CITY - Modern Slice of Life - Chapter 2 - Completed & archived. 2/2

Paige Kennedy & Milo Ventri

A passing cloud layer broke beneath them and the island was fully in view along with the airfield. The surf-beaten Pacific rock and grey-green of weathered pines were plowed away decades ago for a single runway and a few hangars, same as Marlin said. A checker patterned water tower stood over the facility and the whole scene looked like an old photograph. Paige watched carefully. She could feel the beat of her heart pick up. The amphibious plane she followed on her phone sat on the the end of the runway in the distance parked next to a sleek white business jet and another helicopter. A few small aircraft were tied down along the hangar taxi-way. A small group of figures moved around between the two aircraft but didn’t seem to pay any mind to the Daedalus helicopter. The island was still a public field. Paige slid a magazine into her pistol and worked the action to put a round in the chamber glancing back briefly at Milo knowingly.

As they crossed over the airfield to the south, she saw him: Nikki, standing nonchalant. He didn’t even look up. His hands moved in conversation with a few a others gathered in front of the business jet. One of them was the same man she had chased from the Luna Sports Facility. She gritted her teeth at the sight of him immediately thinking back to how they’d tried to kill her; her bloodsoaked apartment downtown, how they’d gone after Milo and nearly done the same, the Club reduced to ashes, Elvin dead and no telling how many other people they had destroyed before they made their way to Sol City. A strong breeze from the north buffeted against the helicopter’s nose breaking her momentary contemplation, but Marlin swiftly countered and had the wheels daintily on the tarmac behind one of the civil aviation offices. Paige didn’t know much about flying, but it seemed like a pretty slick move and they were on the ground in no time as the rotor blades again picked up and beat away back over the ocean.

Finally removing the contents of his bag, Milo attached the stock and silencer on the ends of the base AK-47 build he’d set aside for weeks in his shop. The unmistakable curved magazine slid into the receiver with the precision of a finely crafted watch. He looked at Paige and there was nothing but quiet silence over the island as the echo of Marlin’s helicopter faded away. There wasn’t much to be said. It seemed like things were at least going in their favor for a change. She told him not to think about it, but the thoughts continued to creep around his mental blocks. What would happen if he had to shoot people? He wasn’t a soldier or a cop. Could she really ‘take care of it’ if he did? She seemed pretty confident about it which even to him, knowing her for more than a decade, felt a little unsettling, but then that was something he understood about her and he knew he was one of the few that got it: Paige didn’t join the Marshals because she was interested in justice, she joined so that she would have near free-reign to do whatever she wanted. All the time they had known each other, he had only heard her stories. He never thought he’d be in one, but here they were about to go after a Detroit crime boss on some derelict airfield on an island in the middle of the ocean.

What sounded like a small turbine began to spool up on the other side of the building breaking the silence. “C’mon, let’s get this over with.” Paige sad flatly.

SOL CITY - Modern Slice of Life - Chapter 2 - Completed & archived. 2/2

Paige Kennedy & Milo Ventri

Paige swifty stepped into the front seat tossing her bag and pulling the door closed firmly behind her while Milo likewise did the same in the passenger cabin. She had rode in a helicopter before and paid little attention to Marlin’s safety briefing as she first fastened her restraints and adjusted the headset mic as if she owned the helicopter. The Daedalus fleet was significantly more posh than the smaller, utilitarian ones used by the Florida Highway Patrol. The heat was running nicely and felt good against her exposed legs that were chilled after crossing the open air of the football field. The English girl was at least prompt as she continued to speak and the rotors quickly picked up overhead pulling them off the manicured turf before they were easily clearing the cheap seats of the stadium and the high nightlights.

God she likes to talk…Paige thought sorting through her bag and still listening passively in the background as Marlin mentioned something about “flying low” and “unofficial training” which seemed more than a little unprofessional, but her regular stoic expression remained unchanged. Finding her phone, she looked for a saved link from the FAA that displayed air traffic around Sol City and over the coast towards their filed destination. Turning the phone in her hand as the cityscape moved outside the windscreen, she flipped and zoomed the map adjusting the settings until she found what she was looking for: a single flight, departing from the river moving west. The tail number was registered to an amphibious aircraft and a private owner. She screenshot the information and glanced up briefly.

There was no novelty in flight to Paige, it was strictly transportation, just a faster and more convenient method. It seemed like Marlin really enjoyed it and had probably seen a few too many movies the way she spoke so dramatically and assumed there was going to be some element of imminent danger where they were going. Catalina Island was still publicly accessible, though rarely visited and Paige was confident the people they were after would have no idea they were coming. What happened after that could go several different ways, but Marlin would be long gone by then. Her eyes scanned the city as it passed by and they picked up some altitude against a light jostle of turbulence. She couldn’t care less about bridesmaids dresses or English weddings. The faster Marlin was gone, the better.

What was a surprise was the girl’s sudden question about Bob. Paige looked ahead considering her words as Marlin spoke. In all honesty, with the Giancana case in full-swing, she hadn’t gone back to Bob’s file in several days to catch up on what Lupe and his band of delinquents were up to since their handler was behind bars. “Yes…” She said as some of the memories of the night played in her mind. “He was holed up downtown,” She turned and her expression lightened some at the comedy of it all knowing she couldn’t tell everything. “...In the Ritz” She added with some sarcastic amusement and a slight flair of her eyebrows. “I checked a few leads and we got a good tip on when we could grab him and it worked out. Things usually don’t go that smooth, but it was a good catch.” She thought about the others. Bob had spilled on a certain ill-fated soiree the posse had been involved in around the town of Cabo San Lucas. “The rest of them have been laying low for a while, you may not ever see them again.” Her momentary eye-to-eye glance with Marlin carried the full weight of the information she held back. “...but even if you do, they’re in some deep shit either way.”

Milo observed casually from the back. He had nothing to say to Marlin. He was done with their family, but what was amusing was watching Paige use them for her schemes. For all the years that he had known her, he knew she could be the most cold and calculating woman on the planet one moment and the next turn on her southern charms with a wink and a country-girl accent. Whatever it took to get what she wanted. She made acquaintance with Marlin for her own convenience, not from any sense of friendship. If some other pilot just happened to have been on the field, she would have talked her way into it all the same.

As he watched the city go by beneath them, he thought about what it was he had gotten himself into, about Paige and about Ana as well. Feeling the weight of his partially disassembled rifle in the bag at his feet he let his mind wonder. The two of them were so different. Only a few months ago he never would have dreamed in his wildest imaginations that he would be with Paige. Maybe it was his own sense of adventure that lured him. She was always into something exciting and it was like watching a wildfire blaze out of control across a dry forest, mesmerizing; while Ana had been the image of class: quiet, beautiful and unpretentious like a sunset over the ocean and equally as captivating. If for some reason he didn’t come back from the island he felt lucky for having known both of them.

He crossed his leg over for a moment as if he were on a regular flight watching Paige talking from the cockpit in silence as the mic was off. She assured him that if things went badly, he only needed to worry about shooting straight and she would handle the details. His own sense of justice was starving for closure. He remembered how they had nearly killed her and it was only luck that she survived. The memories of the night passed behind his eyes as the tide fell on the beach below them.

@PrinceAlexus

SOL CITY - Modern Slice of Life - Chapter 2 - Completed & archived. 2/2

Paige Kennedy & Milo Ventri

Paige immediately set about checking Agent Barrett’s pockets as quickly as possible though she couldn’t help but smile some at Milo’s appearance and absolute perfect timing. The other man was getting away and they had to move if they were going to catch him. She dumped the contents of his wallet scanning frantically for any clue to his presence behind the sealed door, but finding little other than credit cards, IDs and a few pictures of his children. However, she did pocket the key card he’d apparently used to get inside.

Milo watched carefully, “How is it that the key cards are working?” He said. “I thought the power was out?” He looked around the dark hallway then glanced over into the field at the parked helicopters.

Paige straightened up momentarily at the realization and the moment replayed in her mind. The man she was after used a card, she’d seen it herself and door opened obediently. It was possible the facility was on a backup generator or something similar, but the counter staff had to manually open the security system for her to get through. “Oh my God,” She looked at the card in her hand then at Barrett. “We’ve gotta get out of here.” She stuffed the card in her bag and started to get up, but again hesitated.

“Yea, I guess you didn’t get my text?” Milo checked his watch. He had a bag slung over his other shoulder that had become slightly off-balance from dispensing of Agent Barrett and he adjusted it slightly. The weight of it was evident. “Seaplane just landed in the river.”

Her mind was racing as her hands, very carefully using a t-shirt from her bag, took Barrett’s sidearm and cycled the action ejecting one bullet on to the floor.

“What are you doing?” Milo asked.

“Insurance.” She kept her fingers covered from touching directly onto the casing and deposited it into her bag before putting the gun back in his holster. Barrett groaned slightly, beginning to regain consciousness. “How did you get in here on this side?” Gathering her things back together, she rose to her feet and looked Milo hard in the eye.

“Guy came out the side, bookin’ it. I caught the door before it closed.” Milo said. His glance narrowed slightly back at her. Her piercing stares had no effect on him. He’d been on the receiving end enough times to build up a sort of tolerance for it. “...Why?”

“What was he wearing?”

“Gym clothes, I dunno…” He scratched at his beard some knowing she wanted a more thorough description and certainly not, I don’t know, however Paige’s line of questioning became rapidly apparent: “That was our guy wasn’t it? …Shit...” He growled shaking his head and clenching a fist, continuing to curse at himself within his own thoughts.

“We’ll never catch him now,” Paige said and looked back down at the helicopters on the field. “But we know where he’s going.”

A text appears on Marlin’s phone:

Headed your way, hope you still have that flight plan filed, Uncle Sam is paying.

~P

@PrinceAlexus

SOL CITY - Modern Slice of Life - Chapter 2 - Completed & archived. 2/2

Paige Kennedy

The message wasn’t from Milo and neither was it anything she expected, but popped right up as her phone obediently unlocked; just two images: a pair of black shorts and a gray shirt, what looked like men’s gym clothes. Paige’s brow furrowed slightly. She still had a Delta City area code and wrong numbers were not at all common for her in Sol City. Her lips twisted slightly in annoyance, but as she looked up briefly she saw it. The very same clothes as the image. They were on a wiry framed man. He looked about middle-age with short hair and had ears that were distinct, cauliflowered like a boxer. She could only catch a few glances as people passed between them across the lobby. He carried a bag over shoulder and was moving away from her quickly. Raising back up to her feet she watched him swiftly access a secured door where he casually swiped a magnetic card and moved along.

She didn’t think, just reacted, feeling for her star inside her bag. She produced it quickly as she rambled up to the reception counter at the center of the lobby. People regarded her frantic pace strangely and the staff that were calmly chatting looked on her at first with a sort of childish amusement. “Can I help you?”

“Open that door.” She commanded flatly and nodding where the man had just slipped away.

“I’m sorry that door is for staf-”

“Open the Goddamn door!” Paige growled back through her teeth, green eyes blazing beneath her cap and cutting off the woman. She slapped her leather badge holder on the counter top showing the silver star to all who had taken notice. “Please.”

The receptionist looked dumbfounded and slightly embarrassed, but very quietly tapped a few commands into her keyboard. Paige didn’t bother to look back as she took off for the door and only caught a fleeting glimpse of one of the staff picking up the phone as she shot through the newly unlocked doorway. It occurred to her that “GD” was probably not the best choice of words immediately after submitting a prayer to the Almighty, but her mind was focused again. She was moving. He couldn’t have got that far in only a few seconds. Her thoughts raced. The corridor ahead was long with various sports offices along the side. Considering the man’s pace, she was sure he wouldn’t likely be stopping and she was somewhere between a healthy jog and a sprint as her running shoes patted against the firm office carpet. She was still carrying her badge in one hand while her bag bounced along behind and she was again glad for changing clothes.

Windows lined the opposing side of the corridor viewing the football field below and again she felt her anticipation screaming that she was on the right track. There were two Daedalus helicopters parked along midfield, rotors drooping gently at rest. If one of them was Marlin then her luck was soaring again. She glanced, midstride, partly watching where she was going as a corner approached and partly seeing a couple people talking next to the machines on the field. One was female, definitely blonde. YES! Her thoughts screamed as she rounded the corner... and ran face first into a black and white suit-clad figure. For a split second she only caught the flash of a red tie directly in front of her eyes as she heard the wind knocked out of him and she hit the floor. Her eyes instantly shot back towards the obstacle and the heavy set figure that did not likewise topple over; finding the less than imposing, overweight yet barrier-like figure of FBI Agent Barrett.

“Gah! What the hell!” He roared nearly losing his glasses. Pushing the frames firmly back up his wrinkled nose, his other hand instinctively gripped his sidearm as he regained his bearings.

Paige knew she was fast, but not fast enough to pull her own gun from her bag- It was first her first reaction as well, but he had her dead to rights. She got up slowly, feeling her pulse slamming through her veins as his hand rested on the grip and he recognized her.

“Well, isn’t this just perfect timing Marshal Kennedy.” His hand didn’t move from the pistol. “I was just about to call Chief Deputy Sterling to put a BOLO out on you, but this will save me the trouble.”

“For what?” Paige snarled. She stood defensively in a staggered stance with her hands at her sides. He wasn’t going to take her in. If he pulled on her, she was just going to kick his ass. She never believed in the twenty-one foot rule, but was willing to bet her life on being able to put a fifty year old man on the ground before he could clear his holster.

He grinned through coffee and cigarette stained teeth. “I have the video of you collaborating with Shannon Giancana to set up Elvin Santos’ murder. I knew you were dirty, Marshal, and I’m going to prove it. You may have got away with it in Delta City, but not here.”

That was it. Paige wasn’t sure, down deep at the molecular level, maybe somewhere atomic or even smaller, where the first audio-neural receptor received the words out of Barrett’s disgusting face, but that was where the fire ignited inside her soul, exploded down her arm into a clenched fist that was programmed and aimed directly at the man’s sweaty nose, but before she could unload, Barrett hit the floor face first before her in a heap.

Milo glanced down at the unconscious body between them and rubbed his forearm slightly, then looked up at Paige’s outfit quizzically. ”Guess they cancelled Sweatin’ to the Oldies, huh?”

@PrinceAlexus

SOL CITY - Modern Slice of Life - Chapter 2 - Completed & archived. 2/2

Paige Kennedy

Paige wasn’t entirely sure why she was headed to the Luna Sports Facility other than when she heard it on the scanner earlier next to Club Aether, her instincts simply told her GO and her gut feeling seldom ever let her down. The small light bar on the dash of her BMW scattered the traffic for the most part and she made it to the expansive parking lot of LSF only catching a few glimpses of the smoking MODUS building along the way. Elvin was dead and his office was on fire, but it would have to be dealt with later. Sol City Fire & Rescue wouldn’t be letting anyone near an active blaze. Her frustration mounted. The whole morning felt like they had been set completely back to zero and she gritted her teeth furiously at the thought. Nothing Shannon said had been true, but the fact that CT had unknowingly seemed to verify it was even more unsettling. She stopped to text Milo where she was and flung the door open letting the heat of the interior clash against the cool morning again.

Staring at the massive facility, she stopped in her tracks momentarily before closing the door. The parking lot was still mostly full and people were chatting outside, coming and going, even making light of the situation. In spite of the morning she was having, it was interesting to remember that to the average citizen, things still weren’t that off-kilter: There was a fire in a high-rise and an unfortunate gas ignition at The Run had exploded overnight. Fires happened and gas exploded- Power outages happened. It was still Friday and people were glad for the weekend, everything else be damned. Paige glanced back inside the car at her gym bag and then back towards the entrance. Her instincts again tickled at her subconscious. The bright yellow lettering on her blue Marshal’s jacket would make her arrival evident along with her standard brash entrance. Her lips twitched in consideration, playing out the possibilities in her head before she tossed her jacket in the trunk, tucked her gun and badge in her gym bag and set off.

Not wanting to go through the main entryway, she found what she was looking for in a local contractor working to restore the outage. A service-van was parked on the curb outside an emergency exit and the technician had propped open the door with a cone saving the trouble of having to continually unlock the mechanical handle. Her intuition was forming a clearer picture and she was sure she was being followed as she swiftly ducked through the open door unseen.

The corridor inside was dimly lit in a blue-gray wash of light from backup power. Still, she could hear the sound of conversation from the lobby echoing through the walls. The area she entered was not a part of the regular facility, but reserved for the professional sports teams. She crept carefully along the wall passing various posters and placards displaying the Sol City Angels football team that she so loathed until she found a women’s restroom and checked over her shoulder before going inside using the light of her cellphone.

Reemerging a few moments later Paige’s glance was partially concealed under the brim of a weathered Florida baseball cap. The rest of her ensemble blended in nicely with those congregating in the lobby: A black form-fitting tank top, some olive drab shorts and high-socks that matched the hat with black sneakers. She ran a hand through her ponytail tucked through the cap and put her phone against her face as she walked though there was no call on the line. The lobby was in a fairly jovial attitude, much like the outside and with the power outage the smoothie bar was giving away the entire stock for free before it spoiled. With the outage it seemed the management hadn’t even attempted to vacate the building, but were merely just trying to wait it out like everyone else. Scanning, she walked on between small gatherings and others making calls or simply hanging out. The sound of free-weights clanging from the gym amidst more chatter could even be heard with the regular ambient music silenced. The great skylights of the lobby made visibility at least somewhat workable though the realization that was catching up with her finally brought her to a stop and she leaned against the wall dropping her bag and sliding down to the floor.

The trail was cold…

She didn’t know what or who she was looking for and felt stupid for changing her clothes just to blend into the crowd. Her senses felt scrambled, like a bloodhound that had lost the scent and she felt it was the fact that she didn't know what do that she was really running from and not some unknown pursuer. There were no leads and nowhere to go. While she sat alone watching everyone moving about so careless and oblivious, Nikki and his thugs were likely laughing at the whole Marshal Service operation and her especially. It was supposed to be her big opportunity, her big score and instead the whole day had been a complete disaster just like everyone else that attempted to tackle the Giancana file. She felt exactly as she had when they told her she was being reassigned from Delta to Sol City: Completely Defeated. She hung her head. Goddamnit Paige, you fucking dumbass. She thought. Her mind was blank as she stared ahead at the carpet, cursing herself silently. Different faces passed through her mind: Milo, Sio, her fellow Marshals- She didn’t want to show her face back at the office and she thought about how the others would view her failure. No one would say anything openly, but it would just be there like a wet blanket on her career right next to being transferred from her home and in the din of a moment she hated herself. An image of her father drifted behind her eyes and as she thought about him, did something she hadn’t done in years.

She prayed.

It wasn’t anything reverent or even particularly spiritual, but it felt right and she knew her dad would be glad she had done it. She sat alone watching, thinking about how she could possibly make a living as a private investigator when her phone blinked with a new message on the floor next to her. Thinking it was likely Milo, she swiped her thumb.