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Post by skybright on Sept 13, 2009 0:22:19 GMT -5
Daws smiled warmly and ducked her head. "Thanks, Jerod."
She folded her arms, shrugging. "I've spent all these years sticking up for myself," She said quietly. "It's . . . nice to have someone else do it."
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Post by Jordanna on Sept 13, 2009 0:28:28 GMT -5
A crooked smile crossed Vance's lips. "Deciding to stick up for nobody but myself is exactly where my life got messed up--and I wasn't good at it, anyway. Might as well stay with what works."
He glanced over to where the other men were quietly conversing, and spoke up. "Okay. Nate, find us a ride." To Daws he added, "You know Handy's the expert at that, but Nate can do the job in a pinch."
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Post by skybright on Sept 13, 2009 0:35:20 GMT -5
Daws grinned. "He's a man of many talents." She remarked. "Takes after his dad."
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Post by Jordanna on Sept 13, 2009 20:23:40 GMT -5
"Heaven forbid," Vance retorted wryly.
In five minutes, Nate was back, slipping his pocketknife into his pocket. "Okay, we've got wheels. It's behind the fourth building down."
The mutants made their way around to the back lot of a storefront, and Nate led them to a somewhat old but well-kept silver sedan.
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Post by skybright on Sept 13, 2009 22:32:45 GMT -5
Daws chuckled. "This beats Simpson's police cruiser any night of the week."
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Post by Jordanna on Sept 14, 2009 20:47:43 GMT -5
"I'm glad to be back in the driver's seat, anyway." Vance leaned down to scrutinize Nate's hotwiring job under a penlight, then started the engine. "Just in case, we'll backtrack a couple blocks to lose anybody tailing us--even if I don't give Simpson credit for that much intelligence."
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Post by skybright on Sept 14, 2009 22:26:11 GMT -5
Daws made a scoffing noise. "I'm surprised he manages to dress himself in the mornings, let alone tail anyone without getting spotted."
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Post by Jordanna on Sept 15, 2009 21:49:32 GMT -5
"The trouble is, idiots are easy for other people to follow. I don't wanna take any chances on somebody being curious about what he was doing in Voegel's neighborhood." Vance turned the car away from the direction in which Doctor Ollivard's house lay.
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Post by skybright on Sept 15, 2009 22:26:59 GMT -5
"Good point." Daws glanced at the rearview mirror, looking to see if anyone appeared to be following them. "I wonder what the newspapers are going to make of this whole mess."
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Post by Jordanna on Sept 15, 2009 22:38:39 GMT -5
"Hopefully Cole can do a little damage control." Vance scowled. "It's too bad we don't know any mutant reporters. It'd be nice to have a mole or two in the media."
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Post by skybright on Sept 15, 2009 22:43:17 GMT -5
Daws grinned wryly. "Yeah, I guess it might be. Although somehow I get the feeling a reporter would be almost as big of a headache to deal with as a politician."
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Post by Jordanna on Sept 15, 2009 22:46:53 GMT -5
"Yeah--asking too many questions, and dropping more hints than we want people to know." In the back seat, Nate folded his arms. "Whoever they are, maybe that MCF had the right idea. Maybe we should start dropping some of our own red-herring notes."
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Post by skybright on Sept 15, 2009 23:02:16 GMT -5
Daws grimaced and leaned back in her seat. "Yeah, maybe. Anything that puts the cops -- and Tiernan -- off our scent is probably a good thing."
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Post by Jordanna on Sept 15, 2009 23:09:40 GMT -5
"I'll put some thought into it," Vance murmured. "But I don't know how smart it is to complicate things even more. The only thing I like less than things I can't explain is starting something without knowing how it might turn out."
He reached up to adjust the rear-view mirror, looking intently into its reflection, then nodded to himself. "Okay, I think it's safe to declare ourselves in the clear. Let's get to Caddy's."
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Post by skybright on Sept 15, 2009 23:20:13 GMT -5
Daws nodded. "I hope Caddy can tell us what happened to Timothy -- and I hope he can take care of whatever it is."
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Post by Jordanna on Sept 15, 2009 23:28:43 GMT -5
"From your mouth to God's ear," Vance murmured, steering the car back in the direction of Queens.
When they reached Caddy's house, the car Handy had been driving earlier was already there, and Vance breathed a sigh of relief. "At least everybody got here safely."
He quickly led the way up the front walk, and knocked anxiously on the door.
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Post by skybright on Sept 16, 2009 19:30:53 GMT -5
It was Hubert who answered the door, and he gave a faint, relieved smile at the sight of Vance and the others. "Ah, good." He stepped back and opened the door wider, ushering the group inside. "Glad to see everyone made it here safely."
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Post by Jordanna on Sept 16, 2009 21:10:19 GMT -5
"Yeah, we're okay." Vance stepped inside quickly, and for a moment, the full measure of his anxiousness was visible on his face. "How's the kid--Timothy?"
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Post by skybright on Sept 16, 2009 22:26:56 GMT -5
"Conscious." Hubert replied wearily, "And talking."
Daws grimaced. "Is that good news?"
"It could be a lot worse." Caddy interjected, coming into the hall from the examining room. "He was out for quite a while after Flash and Handy brought him in."
He turned to nod in greeting to Vance and the others. "Anybody else hurt?"
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Post by Jordanna on Sept 16, 2009 22:44:46 GMT -5
"Nah, just some bruises." Vance sighed wearily and shrugged out of his black jacket, dropping it on the nearest chair. "I'm sure the boys have caught you up on what went down at Voegel's place. Have you had a chance to look at any of the stuff we took?"
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