Oren
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written by Hiver
Posts: 242
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Post by Oren on Nov 12, 2020 2:06:22 GMT -8
"Shake the right hands, you'd be surprised how many names I have in my rolodex. Where and How shouldn't be your concern. This is advantageous for you and your associates."
Elbows pressed to his knees, Penrose broadly loomed over the table, his eyes never leaving 007. He could fiddle with his toy all he wanted. Bullets tore flesh in only one, narrow direction. Everything else was just noise. "Would you like to know why?"
Oren too, would like to know why. Penrose had yet to tell him.
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Post by Kai Rose on Nov 12, 2020 11:17:13 GMT -8
This was a stronger reaction than Kai had expected from a bouncer. Weren't these people all on the same side? To react like it was such a big deal that they had a gangster's name suggested to Kai that perhaps not all was as it seemed here. Maybe it was just 007. Maybe there was a gang war going on. A lightning-fast assessment of the room, piecing a little bit together about who mattered here. Was 007 someone these people cared about, watching who was watching who? Was he important? Penrose's reply was an evasion, but there might be an opportunity here. She let the whistle go. "Now, now, if the man wants to know..." She flashed 007 a smile, leaning forward a little and lowering her voice to a murmur. "A show of good faith - a nice vendor told us about them. Said they liked to party. I can tell you all about that gentleman, if he was... indiscreet. Given your reaction, though, something tells me that Lucky either isn't welcome here, or you don't like him?"
Hooks aplenty for a reasonable exchange.
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Post by Krakenbox on Nov 12, 2020 21:07:52 GMT -8
The gangster opened his mouth to respond to Penrose, before Kai intervened. The lull in the conversation landed, save for the mechanical rhythm of him starting to clean the weapon. It was a weird time and place to do it, but the math started to come together that he didn't seem like the most social of individuals.
"The joke might end up being on you." His attention remained on his task, making them wait and drink up the party they so desperately harassed him to be a part of. He could smell that they were out of their element, and expected the champagne room over a meeting between two rival spheres of the underworld.
Kai notes that the man is given a wide breadth from all attendees, except for the servers who seem quite used to him. Some even chose to occasionally hover around when looking for a break from unpleasant attention. He occasionally eyes the meeting, but quite frankly, most people are. "Naw. Lucky isn't welcome here."
Cold eyes click to the disguised Summer, "You may want to drop your vendor. They want you in trouble."
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Post by Kai Rose on Nov 13, 2020 0:55:56 GMT -8
Kai grinned. There were daggers in the smile. "Is that so?" The cell from the dealer was produced and offered to the gentleman. "It sure would be a pity if someone skilled with computers and hostile to Lucky were to review the information in there and have access to a piece of his pink lemonade distribution network, then."
She left it at that for a long moment, just holding the cell phone out in her hand.
"How would you feel about a private conversation, Mr...?"
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Oren
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written by Hiver
Posts: 242
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Post by Oren on Nov 13, 2020 9:51:19 GMT -8
"What sort of trouble?"
Now it was Kai's turn to play the cards in her hand. Penrose's offer, a blatant vagary, nonetheless stood on its feet. He simply sat back, and listened for a potential introduction. A name to add to the docket of fish. No, that wasn't quite right...
List of suspects and/or personae of interest. That's the line!
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Post by Krakenbox on Nov 15, 2020 22:37:55 GMT -8
He takes the phone, scrolling through it as Kai speaks. "The fuck is pink lemonade?" he grunted. The request for privacy is met with a silent nod, the gun pieced back together in motions quick enough to be alarming, if just for his obvious lack of hobbies.
Sliding out of his seat and leading them back through the hallway and into one of the sound proof rooms, set up with a table and a two way mirror that looked down at the club below.
The auburn haired gangster lit a cigarette, taking a drag before answering Penrose's question. "I dunno. He broke off with the Crips. Took some of their supplies. Stole from us, too."
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Post by Kai Rose on Nov 16, 2020 14:10:31 GMT -8
Kai did not answer his question immediately. Rather, she followed along with the guy, giving a little shrug as they found privacy. "Pink Lemonade is my name for their little vials of pink drug that have been fucking people up so they can't feel anything anymore," she replied calmly. "Their cook goes by the street name Ambrosia. My understanding is that Lucky and a guy named Marquel are working for that cook." She sat down on one side of the table, letting her hand drift onto the tabletop. "Given that they're fucking with your business, it might be worthwhile to know that Lucky and Marquel jacked someone's arsenal lately, too."She leaned in a little bit, making her pitch. "I have no interest in being involved with a gang war. But what I do want to see is that drug disappearing, and I don't care much about what happens to Ambrosia, Lucky or Marquel. If they've been fucking with your stuff and your people don't care about the drug, then it seems like we might be able to help each other out."
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Oren
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written by Hiver
Posts: 242
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Post by Oren on Nov 20, 2020 6:59:26 GMT -8
Oren could see himself in a gang war. Two houses, both alike in ignobility! It actually sounded rather exciting. Would he play Tony? Bernado? Maria? They would all be reprisals. Lucky was a snake. No, a weasel. And for the moment, two snakes would dart through the tall grass looking for him. The two Lost presented a third serpent, and if they hunted alongside them, they could win their favor.
And Oren could have a new stage to play on. Penrose couldn't help but smile.
"And now, you know why."
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Post by Krakenbox on Nov 22, 2020 20:23:37 GMT -8
The man's brow pinched——a micro-expression, really.
"Yeah, they are."
A long pause followed Kai's offer, gaze clicking to Penrose as he continued to mull on the smoke. "There's a few names for that drug. Different gangs. Same cook, I think. Lucky and Marquel formed their own splinter group after a bust." He gestures dismissively, "Happens all the time. Small groups pop up and get mowed down. Police let the ecosystem take care of itself. Crips aren't happy about stealing revenue, though. What's your connection to this?" His attention was like a laser pointer. Were they DEA? Revenge for a lover or family member? Agents looking to land and scoping competition?
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Post by Kai Rose on Nov 22, 2020 22:23:07 GMT -8
"Yeah, I think it is as well. I hear they're rolling with a crew called the Diamonds, now. Recruiting at parties like this, which is how we came to be here." She frowned, wary eyes paying close attention to his reactions, his motives. At his question, she took a long breath in through her nose, letting Glamour draw in his hate along with the air-conditioned club air. How did you answer a question like this when you were in gangland turf?
Honestly. That was how. Lying took mental effort that she could be spending reading him.
"Call us... concerned citizens. We have a problem with that particular cocktail's existence. We're going to make them stop. Cool by you?"
She raised an eyebrow just slightly, her tone confident. Ambrosia and Company had fucked around. Now, they were going to find out.
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Post by Krakenbox on Nov 23, 2020 21:44:06 GMT -8
Kai's nose brings no vision of hatred, either the man was unnaturally free of anger, or he had an incredibly cool head. Rare for someone mundane to pull off, but possible.
"And how is your candy ass going to take down a gang all by your lonesome?" he asked, blinking. It wasn't exactly a shut down, likely sniffing how the wayward pair thought they weren't in over their heads, and if he could use them.
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Post by Kai Rose on Nov 25, 2020 14:51:50 GMT -8
Well. That was strange. Being blanked out on occasion for a read happened. Being blanked on the Wyrd happened, too. Both was remarkable. His question earned a shrug. "A gang?"Blink. "We don't need to take down the whole gang. Just a couple of key people. Once we have the right intelligence, then it is simply a matter of timing, tactics and correctly applied force."She folded her hands on her lap, giving him a bit of an eyebrow and a flat, scary stare that suggested that she knew damn well what she was about. The point wasn't to scare him. It was to show that she was actually a force to be reckoned with. If she could sell that her ass was anything but candy, then perhaps there would be help to be found here. The missing piece? The intel. She needed to know where they were.
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Oren
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written by Hiver
Posts: 242
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Post by Oren on Nov 26, 2020 11:43:45 GMT -8
"Hydras can only grow so many heads. I told you this would be advantageous."
He gestured to Kai. Beautiful, lethal Kai. He gestured to himself.
"Your job requires constant danger assessment. It's very hard to see anything as a possible boon save for your own hands. Let me offer you some perspective. It's an opportunity to keep your hands clean and your nostrils free of blood. A third party engages your enemy from an unseen and unexpected vector."
Was he angry? Penrose was certainly frustrated. This was becoming an embroiled sales pitch. He communicated impatience, not at the lack of acquiescence, but more as a stern, disappointed parent.
"With no conceivable way to trace it back to your club, you'd be a fool to not put the drachma on your tongue and to be thankful for the good fortune."
His eyes were dark. Elbows on thighs. Fingers steepled. See sense, child, or I will herald war upon your house. And we will be for Loch Rannoch before the sun rises.
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Post by Krakenbox on Nov 26, 2020 23:17:30 GMT -8
The auburn man forced an awkward silence as he finished his cigarette. Despite the detached affect, his eyes shone as numbers were run with their demands.
"Okay."
The last of the smoke and ash is simply ground into the surface of the table. His fingers tap, mouth twitching in the ghost of a smile. "I'm going to just accept that you're Batman. This," he gestures to the pair, "I don't know what this is. You're not criminals. Unless you're really, really good at playing dumb. So. I guess you're just into hunting down those who break the law. I'm not here to kinkshame."
His cadence started picking up — the short, hard pauses between quick sentences starting to run together, without changing his tone in any meaningful way. It was decidedly uncomfortable, where discovering bodies in his closet would only produce mild surprise.
"Dunno if you're aware of the Williams murder." He only pauses long enough to catch the beginning of a nod or shake of the head, before he continues his tirade, "Four months ago, a meth lab run by the Crips was busted by the tip of Teegan Williams. He works as a mechanic for the LVMPD with an application in witness protection that was stalled and locked — Someone didn’t want him to get scuttled away, he knows some shit." He pulls out his phone and brings up the image of the girl Oren and Kai had been investigating.
"The girl? Reshanda Williams. Daughter of Teegan Williams. She was still heavily connected with a rough crowd. Found her keys along the path of Judy Powell’s house. Name not important. Except she’s the cousin of one of the asshats that was selling the drug."
The pair recognized the face of the university student who had choked the victim to death. The fact that it appeared to be a candid shot was a little disconcerting. "Jordan Spears, also known as Rocket who works for the Diamonds. Used the keys to get a meeting. Dead now." His attention ticked up long enough to see if their expressions signaled they were following.
"When the Crips were broken up, the younger ones created their own splinter gang. They’ve robbed cartel property to load up on weapons, and skimmed this stupid fucking super meth. So. You know. If you happen to find military grade weaponry. I would recommend you just leave us a note. Anyway. Marquel and Lucky work for the Diamonds, as we know. They were faster at pumping the drug into new communities. Too fast, because they're rookies, but now we have an idea." He taps a blunt nail against a spot on Google Maps, indicating Wakeman's Storage Facility.
"That's when your chemist shows up. Ambrosia. Is the nickname that was given to the Crips. She was the cook for the Crip operation, but none of the street level seem to pin her down, and she likely has a new name. She was recruiting at that bar we were told, likely to start a new lab. Her product is coming out fastest from this specific locale. If you take out the cook, we can stop future production, then can focus on taking out what’s left on a street level. Lucky and Marquel can be stalked and black bagged. You can have Marquel. Spears was already made an example of by the Tiente. Lucky's mine."
He lights a new cigarette, and begins loading the pistol with a casual, electric energy.
The pair had a feeling they weren't going to be allowed to stray from his pitch, and were now simply caught up in the Sicario's torrent.
Wait—
Were they going to do this now?
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Post by Kai Rose on Nov 26, 2020 23:36:17 GMT -8
As the guardian began dropping names they knew and events they were familiar with, Kai leaned in just a little. The girl's killer was dead, probably by this guy's hand. Loose ends, wrapping up quickly... the man wanted the missing weapons, guns that belonged to the Arrayer. Was this guy working for Sweeney?
No. Two plus two made four. She'd met this man, the friend of the Arrayer, so quiet and direct. Hello, Fawkes. Still, she did not interrupt. Wakeman's Storage Facility. There it was. Their location, their cook, their production line. This was happening. Glancing to Oren and flashing a hunter's smile, she replied, "I'd best get changed. Let's roll."
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