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Post by skybright on Oct 19, 2007 22:44:30 GMT -5
Early in the evening a few days after the meeting at Our Lady, Daws found herself waiting at her office. According to the schedule she'd managed to turn up, James Marcus Cole was due to be arriving -- unattended -- at his apartment at around eight that night.
She'd phoned Jerod Vance and arranged to meet him and Nathan at her office. From there, they could make their way to Cole's apartment and catch the newly-minted mayor off guard.
And then we'll get him to tell us what he's really up to. Daws sighed, resolutely trying to ignore the question of just what they would do if Cole refused to talk to them.
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Post by Jordanna on Oct 19, 2007 23:03:59 GMT -5
Shortly after seven o'clock, Major Vance arrived on Daws' doorstep, with Nathan and Handy in tow.
Vance grinned as the detective let them through the door. "Nate's trick is cute and all that, but I've had a busybody shadow of my own even longer than he has." He tipped his head toward Handy.
"If that guy Cole wants to make any trouble, I wanna be there to see ya get out it," Handy asserted firmly.
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Post by skybright on Oct 19, 2007 23:10:14 GMT -5
Daws grinned crookedly. "Hey, no complaints from this quarter. I've got a sinking feeling we'll need all the help we can bring along."
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Post by Jordanna on Oct 19, 2007 23:19:32 GMT -5
Vance smiled wolfishly. "I have other arrangements--only I'm not going to tell you loud thinkers about it. Judging from the way Cole reacted to me before, I'm hoping those facts will be safe in my head."
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Post by skybright on Oct 19, 2007 23:22:41 GMT -5
"Good plan." She glanced at Nate and added, by way of explanation, "Cole's fond of reminding me that I think louder than most people do -- makes it a little tricky keeping him from knowing exactly what's going through my head. I like to think it's a mental side effect of my tendency to mouth off."
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Post by Jordanna on Oct 19, 2007 23:40:10 GMT -5
"Or of just plain being ornery," Vance retorted. "Okay, then--let's go get this little interview over with."
With Handy behind the wheel, they drove in Vance's car to the edge of Central Park, not far from Cole's apartment. The Major stepped out and hiked away through a high row of shrubs, and was gone for two or three minutes. Then he returned and slipped back into the car.
"Just part of my precautions," he said cryptically. "No questions."
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Post by skybright on Oct 19, 2007 23:46:05 GMT -5
Daws nodded. "Need-to-know information that Cole doesn't need to know. Got it."
She shrugged and gestured towards the apartment building in which Cole lived. "Security staff does a changeover at about this time every night. Getting in through the service entrance shouldn't be a problem."
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Post by Jordanna on Oct 19, 2007 23:56:19 GMT -5
"That suits me fine," said Vance. "I never trust front doors."
After finding a suitable place to park the car--a perennial trick in the city--they moved down the sidewalk in the deepening twilight, heading for the rear of the building.
Vance shrugged. "Okay, Regina, you're the one who's been here before. Lead the way."
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Post by skybright on Oct 20, 2007 0:03:45 GMT -5
Daws nodded and led them to the back of the building to a heavy door marked Service and Deliveries. With a crooked smile, Daws produced a lockpicking kit from within her coat and bent over the lock for a moment, then pushed the door cautiously open and peered inside.
Seeing nobody, she gestured the others inside and quickly pushed the door shut. "All right, the service elevator's this way," she hung a left down a short corridor, "Unless of course you're in the mood for seventeen flights of stairs."
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Post by Jordanna on Oct 20, 2007 0:12:05 GMT -5
Nate grimaced. "Let's not."
"Where's that boot-camp stamina, boy?" Vance smirked. "Okay, the elevator it is--so long as we won't be seen."
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Post by skybright on Oct 20, 2007 0:21:48 GMT -5
"The cleaning staff oughtta all be off for the night." Daws replied, leading the way into the elevator, "And the security guards use the regular elevator when they need one. We should fly right under the radar."
The elevator carried them to the seventeenth floor and -- after a brief glance to make sure there was nobody in the corridor -- Daws stepped out and led the way to Cole's door. "All right," she said, "This is the place."
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Post by Jordanna on Oct 20, 2007 21:12:17 GMT -5
"Swanky," Handy muttered disdainfully, looking around the hallway with its plush carpeting and elegant light fixtures. "So this is what these politicians bilk us ordinary folks out of."
Nate, who was still not entirely used to the company of other mutants, smothered a chortle. "Ordinary?"
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Post by skybright on Oct 20, 2007 21:34:50 GMT -5
Daws spared enough time from picking Cole's lock to grin cheekily at Nate. "Oh, sure. I mean, I can't speak for those two . . ." There was a satisfying click and she pocketed her lockpicks once again, "But me? I'm as normal as they come."
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Post by Jordanna on Oct 20, 2007 21:44:59 GMT -5
"Oh, thanks. That's reassuring. I didn't think lockpicking exactly fell into the definition of normal," Nate replied seriously.
Handy watched with some trepidation as the door swung open. "Ya think he's here already, or are we gonna wait for him?"
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Post by skybright on Oct 20, 2007 21:50:18 GMT -5
Daws shrugged one shoulder and peered into the darkened apartment. "It's not quite eight -- and unless he's sitting in there in the dark, I'd say we got here ahead of him."
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Post by Jordanna on Oct 20, 2007 22:06:45 GMT -5
"Great. I say we raid the fridge." Vance sauntered into the apartment and dropped himself lazily in an armchair. "I'm guessing the Big Brain will sense we're here before he even opens the door, so there probably isn't much sense in hiding."
He reached out and collared Handy, who was making for the kitchen. "I was joking."
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Post by skybright on Oct 20, 2007 22:11:31 GMT -5
Daws shrugged and perched on the arm of Cole's couch. "Here's hoping he doesn't take off if he does sense us. I don't think he'll call security, but he might just plan on staying away until we give up and leave."
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Post by Jordanna on Oct 20, 2007 22:31:47 GMT -5
Vance smirked. "In that case, I'm prepared to make myself quite comfortable here as long as his food lasts." With his good eye he watched Handy edge toward the kitchen again, and with a long-suffering smile, he gave up trying to stop his sidekick.
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Post by skybright on Oct 20, 2007 22:38:08 GMT -5
Daws chuckled quietly. "For all the grief he's put me through trying to figure out what his game is, a meal or two would be small compensation."
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Post by Jordanna on Oct 20, 2007 22:47:01 GMT -5
"I'll bet he's got caviar," Nate said absently, lounging on the sofa and staring up at the ceiling. "I've always imagined politicians have cases of it stacked in their cabinets."
Vance made a face. "No fish spawn for me, thanks."
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