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Post by skybright on Dec 12, 2006 22:21:34 GMT -5
By now, the night receptionist at Tiernan Enterprises was used to having Regina Dawson show up in front of her desk at all hours of the night.
This time around, however, Regina Dawson showed up with a scowl, a harried look that was unmistakably real, and a hole the size of a grapefruit burned in her ever-present trenchcoat. She pushed her fedora back and leaned demandingly across the desk.
"I gotta see Tiernan, and I gotta see him now."
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Post by Jordanna on Dec 12, 2006 22:30:28 GMT -5
The receptionist frowned.
"I'm not sure you can do that, ma'am. Mister Tiernan left me a message an hour ago, saying he wouldn't see anybody for the rest of the night at least. He didn't sound like he was in any mood to be disturbed."
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Post by skybright on Dec 12, 2006 22:34:12 GMT -5
An hour. Jeeze, did it take us that long to get moving? Daws shrugged off the question with some effort, gritting her teeth and turning self-recrimination into a dangerously impatient growl.
"And I'm not in any mood to be stalled." She scowled. "I've got news that can't wait. Call him up, or I'm gonna get real unpleasant, real fast. "
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Post by Jordanna on Dec 12, 2006 22:54:10 GMT -5
The receptionist scowled at Daws, but she pressed a button on her switchboard and paged her employer.
"Mister Tiernan? ...Miss Dawson is here. She says she has important news and needs to see you immediately."
The wait for a reply was fairly long, but at last Tiernan's voice came over the speaker, sounding slightly agitated--but less so than the women might have expected. "Very well. I'll meet her in the garden."
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Post by skybright on Dec 12, 2006 22:59:05 GMT -5
Daws nodded curtly. "Don't bother with a babysitter. I know the way." She turned on her heel and stalked away from the desk, heading for Tiernan's atrium sanctuary.
Okay, Ace Detective. She chided herself mentally, This is where you gotta keep that cool you kept almost losing earlier -- or it's not just Vance that's gonna be in trouble. So quit thinkin' like a girl, keep your mind off Vance, put on your professional face and let's pull this off.
Reaching the atrium -- which was, as usual, deceptively peaceful and inviting -- she took up an impatient pose near one of the benches and waited for Tiernan to show up.
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Post by Jordanna on Dec 12, 2006 23:11:44 GMT -5
After several minutes, Tiernan strode into the garden--in the company of Taniwha, who growled gratuitously at Daws.
"I am extremely preoccupied, Miss Dawson," Tiernan said without preamble. "This had better be important."
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Post by skybright on Dec 12, 2006 23:14:54 GMT -5
Daws pushed her fedora back on her head and gave Tiernan a cool, gray-eyed stare. "Mister Tiernan, I've said before that your business is your business, and I'm contented with that arrangement. You pay well, you let me work how I want -- I got no complaints in general."
She spread out the hem of her trenchcoat and gestured to the hole burned in it. "But when people who've got disagreements with you decide to ambush me after dark and take it out on my wardrobe, I get understandably cranky."
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Post by Jordanna on Dec 12, 2006 23:23:22 GMT -5
Tiernan's eyebrows raised briefly--and then he stared flatly at Daws. "Is that all you're complaining about, at a time like this?"
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Post by skybright on Dec 12, 2006 23:31:28 GMT -5
"Not exactly." Daws crossed her arms and scowled.
"Along with wrecking my best coat, that little firestarter and his friends had a message for you. I tried explaining that I'm not the Western Union office, but they didn't much take the hint."
She lashed her tail. "Message as follows -- 'You've got one of ours. Give him up, or we'll bring you a war like you've never seen. You know who we are.' I'm gonna assume that any of that means heads or tails to you -- it certainly didn't to me."
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Post by Jordanna on Dec 12, 2006 23:43:37 GMT -5
The very edge of Tiernan's mouth crooked upward in a ghost of a smile. "Indeed it does, Miss Dawson. We've had a rather busy night."
He sat down on one of the stone benches. "Our troublers set out to sabotage one of my... little projects this evening. How they learned of it, I don't know, but I expect to find out. You see, we caught one of them--perhaps the most important one."
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Post by skybright on Dec 12, 2006 23:46:05 GMT -5
"Van Linden?" Daws raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Thought my little visitor said 'him' -- but then again, I had a bone spike the size of a butcher knife aimed between my eyes at the time, so I guess my hearing might've been a little off."
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Post by Jordanna on Dec 13, 2006 21:22:03 GMT -5
"No, not her. I've made the rather extraordinary discovery that we've been chasing the wrong phantom, detective." Tiernan steepled his fingertips. "You were right to observe that Van Linden wouldn't have the strategic skill that's been used against us. I told you about a former soldier who left my employ under... disagreeable circumstances. For some time I believed him dead--but it was he who was captured."
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Post by skybright on Dec 13, 2006 22:08:35 GMT -5
"No kiddin'?" Daws cocked her head, looking thoughtful. "Well, my goodness. That puts a bit of a different spin on things, doesn't it?"
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Post by Jordanna on Dec 13, 2006 22:15:15 GMT -5
"Quite." Tiernan stood up. "And if you'll excuse me, I should go back to--questioning him. As for your problem, if you want me to arrange security for you..."
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Post by skybright on Dec 13, 2006 22:20:58 GMT -5
"Don't need it." Daws replied. "If anythin', it'll just give every other punk in New York an even stronger idea that I'm your housecat -- and I'm definitely not interested in that. Besides, they said they'd be coming to you if they didn't get what they wanted -- which I guess it's pretty obvious they won't."
She racked her brain, trying to think of any way to stall for a little more time. Proteus, old man, you better be moving fast . . .
"What about Van Linden? You still want me lookin' for her?" She shrugged. "If your new plaything is ex-military, you might find it's not so easy getting him to give anybody up -- and Van Linden may well be a co-leader of their little posse. Or important to it as a symbol, anyway."
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Post by Jordanna on Dec 13, 2006 22:45:26 GMT -5
Tiernan nodded. "Precisely. And I'm quite certain the two have some connection to one another. I want to capture as many members of this organization of theirs as we can--and as the only other one we can identify, Van Linden remains at the top of the list."
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Post by skybright on Dec 13, 2006 22:49:51 GMT -5
"All right." Daws nodded slowly. "I don't want to know how you find anything out." She lashed her tail, forcibly yanking her mind away from a whole string of unpleasant images she didn't have time to be dwelling on, "But if you do find anything out that might help me with snooping, well . . ." She shrugged. "Information is information."
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Post by Jordanna on Dec 13, 2006 23:00:11 GMT -5
Tiernan raised an eyebrow. "You'll remain informed in any area I feel you can assist me in," he replied. "Just as you have been."
Glancing at her worse-for-wear coat, he removed a small billfold from beneath his lapel and took out a handful of cash. "It seems I do owe you a new coat." He held out the money. "And I believe that concludes our business for tonight."
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Post by skybright on Dec 13, 2006 23:07:22 GMT -5
There was a very brief moment, as she reached for the cash in Tiernan's hand, that Daws seriously considered clawing the man's eyes out -- but she mastered it quickly, taking the money and tucking it away in the inner pocket of her now-ruined coat.
If this hasn't worked, Ace, she promised herself, Then maybe we'll see about doin' some severe personal harm. For now . . . just keep your cool.
She nodded and settled her fedora lower on her head. "Fine. But I'll warn you," she smiled grimly, "The guys I met with tonight are gonna do a lot worse to you than they did to my coat. Or they're gonna give it a shot, anyway."
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Post by Jordanna on Dec 13, 2006 23:17:28 GMT -5
"It would amuse me to see them try." Tiernan bowed slightly to Daws. "Good evening, Miss Dawson."
With that, he retreated from the garden, with the ever-silent Taniwha obediently following him.
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