World of Darkness: Attrition - Seeking Justice (A Job, pt 2) [Complete]

[Sam Spaid]

May 8, evening

Sam sat in the coffee shop and dumped cream into her coffee and waited. A slice of cherry pie sat on the table waiting for her attention. She looked at her watch, it was nine thirty, and then relented cutting into the pie with a fork and lifting the red segment to her mouth. Once more Samantha was waiting for Adrian and wondering whether his odd behavior would continue or not. Behind he the door opened with a jingle of the tiny bell. Sam looked over her shoulder to see Adrian come in and make his way to her table. He sat across from her and within a minute was tormenting a perfectly good cup of Joe with his strict lack of interest in it.

"I need your help," she began without preamble. "A kid was killed about a month back, parents asked me to look into it as the cops were spinning their wheels. I found the guy but I got nothing I can take to the cops." She continued, laying out everything she knew, though avoiding just how she came to know certain facts. By the time she was done Adrian's coffee was still full and stone cold, her pie was but crumbs and a red slick on the plate and she was working through a third cup of coffee. "I can't pay you but I can offer my help later in exchange. What do you say?"

[Adrian Moss]

Adrian tilted his head like a dog, looking past her then smiled. His eyes focussed on her and he nodded to some internal decision.

"That would work. I'm looking into a murder as well. Some religious nuts killed a guy because he was 'different'. He was unusual in much the same way as you ... but a different kind of strangeness. He got strange on these people and they hunted him down and killed him for it. Left a note declaring as much. The police are investigating the murder, but his girlfriend found the body and the note first."

"Now we have some basic information, but I haven't even put my crew together yet. Mainly I'm thinking about a street guy I know. He's an out of towner, but a good man to have in a scuffle. He's got the little in the way of a fixed address, but I think I could get him interested."

"Also, since he doesn't have a job, he can work with you full time. Me and the client could chip in some money to help things along as well."

So, basically Adrian was completely glossing over being at home in the middle of the day, in a darkened crib, with a severe allergy to anything Sol-related. It was like, to him, it never happened. Maybe that was for the best."

"Now with your case, you got your guy. What do you want me to do? I'm no assassin, but I do believe in justice being done. Do you want us to isolate this guy and see if we can shake him down, get him to confess, or some other hollywood bullshit like that? I'm up for suggestions. Believe me though, if you get into trouble, I'll get you out. I'm like ... invincible. I also were a vest."

He finished off with a boyish grin that fit in well with his teenage looks. Hard to believe he was almost twenty-two.

[Sam Spaid]

Sam nodded, "I'm not sure how I can help but if you need me I'll do what I can." She dragged a finger through the residue of the pie filling and popped it into her mouth and slowly licking the sweet cherry goo off before taking another sip of coffee, her eyes on him the whole time. If he wanted to get flirty she could certainly do the same. "The prick needs to pay one way or the other. I'd much rather he go to jail, something public that the family could see as justice being done. If that's not possible ... well then we need to make sure that this case gets closed out somehow."

Samantha considered the situation for a moment before leaning forward, closer to this strange young man. She waited and after a second he got the hint and leaned forward as well. "I need to know how far you and your people expect me to go and how far you are willing to go for me."

[Adrian Moss]

What is she trying to do? Wrap a bow around her neck and offer it up to me? This can't be happening.

Adrian swallowed hard. He didn't like having those thoughts about Sam. Sam was ... Sam, his mentor and human buddy. She wasn't a meal and she certainly wasn't the type of girl that went in for him. She had class.

Gwen has class and she's smart, dumbass.

"Pie that good?" he murmured.

He snapped ouf of his Predator's mindset then stumbled back into it when he leaned into her and smelled her deeply. New hand lotion, cherry stained tongue, and a bit of crust on the corner of her mouth. He reached out and gently, and coldly, brushed it away.

"Sam, I've killed on the job. I've put down some bad people. Shot them dead and buried the bodies. It was for my friends and the only way we had to put down a killer. We could never bring the proof we had to the cops."

"We expect you to not tell on us, ever. We have our secrets, each one of us, and you have to keep them if you figure out what they are - these secrets. We all do special things like you do, but we came by them in different ways. So, keeping our secrets is a big thing."

"We are not hired killers, but we ... do what we have to do. I figure we find the gun with this guys prints on them. That's how we put him away. If not, we find out what else he's been up to and burn him for that. I'm all for letting his associates believe he's sold them out, if he has associates. We will stalk him and find out something to bring him down with. I'm good at that."

"Now, how far are you prepared to go?"

[Sam Spaid]

Adrian surprised her by reaching his hand out toward her. Some part of her wanted to lean toward him further, anticipating what she thought was coming. Then he brushed a crumb from the side of her mouth. It was a testament to her self control that she didn't turn scarlet. Samantha slammed all those thoughts down. Hard. Shoving them aside and deep into her mind, she struggled to pay attention to his words. "I'll do what's needed but only if there is no other way. If we can confirm he has the gun still and we can get a motive that should be enough for the police to nail him. That's all I want, justice. It needn't be eye for an eye unless there is simply no other way."

[Adrian Moss]

"Agreed," Adrian said, going from Sam's gaze to the top of the table and the sugar-iceberg floating in the coffee before him.

"Sam, I like you. I like you a lot, but I've made a mess of most of the relationships I've been in and I don't want to lose you as a friend. If I come on weird, or too strong, that's just me being confused. Can you forgive me? I really want to be your friend and I see you as a sort of mentor. Anything else will kind of mess things up."

Mainly because if I think about it too hard, I'm going to really want to feed on you, just to taste what you are like, and that would change everything. I would probably want to keep you and that would lead to a huge nightmare - thank you Gwen - and I don't want that.

"Now, do you want to check out my murder first, or track your guy down? I have half a night left."

[Sam Spaid]

This time Samantha did turn red. Scarlet heat flushed her face as she sat back and looked anywhere but at Adrian. Embarrassment and confusion addled her mind for a moment before his words could actually sink in. She nodded, "I'm sorry too. I've been ... I don't know, confused I guess. That night I followed you home, well I guess technically I didn't follow you but you know what I mean. I saw you pick up some woman at a bar ... you left her pretty damn satisfied with nothing asked in return. It ... it got my mind thinking about the wrong things."

Sam sat back and tried to look Adrian in the eyes. "Besides you already have a ... whatever Gwen is to you." She shook her head, "I think we can probably take care of my needs quickly, more so than your own. I can work two at a time though so let's just see where things go." Her eyes shot wide, "Oh I didn't say that ... I," she stopped and took a breath. "I was talking about the cases not, oh dear." She felt herself turning flush again.

[Adrian Moss]

Adrian's mouth hung open there for a second when she was talking 'two at at time' then she clarified and turned redder. He looked ... elsewhere and was glad he didn't blush anymore unless he wanted to."

He stole himeself and looked straight at Sam, despite the uncomfortableness of the situation and misquotes.

"I would like to handle my case fist. The crime scene is fresh, two days old, and we can sneak in pretty easily. Not that your case can wait, but my case may lead to other murders, or at least that is what the other night threatened."

"We can run down my crime scene tonight then first thing tomorrow night we go hunting your guy. We deal with him - and I hope we have a plan by then - and then meet with the dead guy's girlfriend who found the body and the note."

"How does that sound?"

And no sexual innuendo in the lot. Nothing like getting bent over this case, or see how far we can stretch you. No, that would be bad. Ah, shut up.

[Sam Spaid]

Sam just closed her eyes tight and tried to banish anything remotely sexual from her mind. She found it difficult and sadly realized that her excitement had not been limited to her mind. Cursing to herself she finally regained control and looked at Adrian. "Fine, that's a valid point, the fresher the scene the easier it is for me to ..." She stopped not wanted to get specific. "OK should I follow you or do you want to drive?"

[Adrian Moss]

"One car should do us. Let me call my bud and have him meet us there. We can take your car. This place is well lit and no one should be trying to take it."

He pulled out his phone and dialed the number from the listing in memory.

"Moss, Adrian. Something has come up. It's case I really can't explain over the phone but it is deadly serious. Here's an address - 882 Westwood Boulevard. Can you meet us there?"

"Us as in me and a ... umm normal buddy named Sam ... mantha."

"Naw, she should be okay."

"No, she doesn't."

"No, she's not."

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Okay, see you there."

[Sam Spaid]

Sam looked at Adrian quizzically, "Sam ... mantha? And whats with all the code talk about me?" She narrowed her eyes, studying Adrian. "There something you aren't telling me?"

[Adrian Moss]

"Yes, there is something I'm not telling you. It's about our secrets. I'm sure you are holding out on me and you can believe I'm holding out on you. That's why we call them secrets. I can assure you none of my friends want to hurt you. That's not what they are about. Just as in they will keep things from you, can can keep things from them."

"It's how we operate," he lies, but Adrian knows Sam isn't ready to cross that line.

"I'll tell you more when you are ready, but you have a ways to go before you want to give up the comfortable life you are living."

Now he was being honest.

"So, let's get going, unless you want me to drive and that IS putting your life in my hands."

He was grinning at the last of it, trying to put the unpleasentness of lies and deciet behind him.

Click to reveal..

Mani+Subterfuge = 1d10 (14:48:40) ChatBot: (Adrian) rolls 1d10 and gets 10.

(14:48:47) ChatBot: (Adrian) rolls 1d10 and gets 7 = 1 success

[Sam Spaid]

Sam nodded and got up, tossing a ten down on the table as she did. "Sure, I get it. Come on, crime scene isn't going to get any less cold while we wait." She headed out the to beat up Civic she drove and got it. The engine coughed to life as Adrian brushed crumbs off the passenger seat and sat down. "And away we go..."

Click to reveal..

Detect his lie

(15:23:41) (Samantha): Manip 3 empathy 2

(15:23:52) ChatBot: (Samantha) rolls 5d10 and gets 10,2,1,5,7.

(15:23:56) ChatBot: (Samantha) rolls 1d10 and gets 1.

Result = 1 sux = push

[Sam Spaid]

May 9, 11 pm

The Casa de la Comida buzzed with the kind of low level background noise that one would expect of a bar that nearly nobody went to. Scatter conversations in hushed tones were all but drown out by the music playing out of a beat up jukebox. Sam took another sip of watery Mexican beer and then elbowed Adrian, nodded toward the entrance as a skinny Latino walked in a girl on one arm and a pretty boy on the other. "That's him," she murmured into her beer. Filthy sauntered over to a booth and sat down, the arm candy on either side snuggling up on his sides. "Apparently he's as much into the flesh trade as he is into the drug trade. Dunno if that helps us at all though." A pitcher of pale beer was brought to his table with a handful of mugs. "We only need to get enough to let the police take it and run with it." She turned to the pale man beside her, a mug of untouched beer before him, "Thoughts?"

[Adrian Moss]

Well, I can have him shoot me and we could compare the bullet for a match, Adrian thought with a sliver of a smile. Sam would freak over that one, no doubt.

"I could go over there and be all friendly-like. See if I could get him to talk."

"Just like old times," he mutters sadly," but I could do it."

After all, what was sucking some cock amongst friends. Would she think less of him? Probably a little, but if he could get the guy to talk and her to get it on tape ...

He looked into her eyes,

"Give me a mic and I'll see if I can get this guy to talk some. Maybe not this time, but I bet you I could get him to soon."

[Sam Spaid]

Sam looked skeptical, "How are you going to get him to talk? He may be disgusting but I doubt he's stupid enough to just talk to any ol' person about a murder." She considered for a moment, "If he still has that gun... if. We can get the police to pick him up for drug dealing, but we need to make sure he has that gun still." She frowns, her nose crinkling up and wiggling as she works her lips from side to side. "Damn. Ok, go over there, see if he'll see to you. We'll need to work at this slow like, but we gotta start somewhere I guess."

[Adrian Moss]

"It's about the sin in men's souls, Sam."

With that, Adrian went off to the bathroom. When he came back his demeanor had changed. He seemed more ... lost, sad, and vulnerable. He walked past Sam as if she wasn't even there and sat further down the bar.

Sam was somewhat facinated and repulsed as Adrian cast out his web. He acted just the right amount of fearful, yet needy. Filthy began looking over at him form time to time. Fourty-five minutes had passed and Sam was giving up some hope when the Bastard made his movie. Filthy came up and bought a drink next to him. While waiting for his drink, his arm candy looking on wiht a mixture of need and jealousy, the dealer whispered something to into Adrian's ear. Adrian whispered something back and Filthy smiled. They got up and went outside.

Filthy came back in fifteen minutes later. Adrain was nowhere in sight. It took Sam another five minutes to wait out the time follow after her partner. Adrian appeared at her side, chewing his gum vigorously.

"I need a soda," he confided then, "He'll be back for more. Give me a few nights with him and he'll start telling me all kinds of thing. His mind will be on other matters."

He looked at her expression,

"What? It's not like I ever wanted to go back there, but your kid deserves justice."

[Sam Spaid]

Samantha just stared, her eyes wide and her expression a mixture of stunned and disgusted. "You ... you ..." she couldn't bring her self to say it. "You didn't ... did you? My god, why didn't you just ... uuugh," Samantha shuddered visibly as they reached her car. It was a good five minutes before she was able to form a complete sentence. "What now ... play the strung out junkie until ... whatever, until he trusts you enough to be stupid?"

[Adrian Moss]

After several minutes with her silence, Adrian spoke in a lonely tone,

"You wanted this guy brought to justice. This is the only I know how. I have to do what it takes to get this guys confidence. If I had my way, I'd take your word at it and this guy would be done. As it is, I have to live with his abuses until I think he's ready."

"Then you will give me a wire and I'll get your evidence and you will put this guy away. If this is not what you want, let me know now before I go through that again."

[Sam Spaid]

Sam looked almost green in the dim street light, "I'm putting this guy away one way or the other. That kid's parents deserve to see justice. But I'm not going to ask you to do anything you aren't willing to do, and that includes ... well, that. You say the word and we'll find some other way."

[Adrian Moss]

He flashed her a feeble grin,

"Trust me, if something else I had come up, I would have opted for it. I do think this is going to work though. Let's give it three or five more days. If I come around too often, he'll get suspicious."

When they got back to his car, he turned to her,

"We'll need some sort of listening equipment, or rather, you will. If you could put it in a necklace - like a cross - that would be the best."

He also made a note to bring a soda for himself next time.

[Sam Spaid]

Sam nodded, "I'll see what I can do. Meanwhile we have your other case to work on as well. If you still want my help that is." Samantha waited for his reply still impressed by the lengths that Adrian was willing to go to get this scum behind bars.

****

May 15

Samantha looked at Adrian, already looking like a beat down drug addict. "Here's the wire, best I could do." She handed him a large pin. It was thick, maybe half an inch at the middle and about and inch and a half across. The bright yellow smiley face was marred by a blood red splotch. Sam had had to have the significance explained, but found the irony of making a wire into a pin that was relevant to a movie called "The Watchmen" rather satisfying. "Garish I know but I guess there was a movie or something lately that used that." She shrugged and watched as he pinned the object onto his jacket.

She put an earpiece in, "Ok, step out of the car and we'll see if this thing is working." Adrian stepped out onto the curb and said something in a conversation voice. The words came through clearly to the receiver. Sam opened the window, "Its working. I guess its your show now."

[Adrian Moss]

The sounds of the two men having sexual intercourse ended in a mighty climax. Sam could pick up Adrian's eerie calm along with Filthy's sounds of panting and exhaustion. She still had no idea how he did what he did, but it was becoming unsettling - some sort of sexual power that effected either sex.

Adrian remained quiet, his breathing hardly audiable. Filthy talked first.

"You some sort of killer, Baby. I'm going to keep you around ... on a rope. You keep that up and your shit's always going to be free."

"No," Adrian began his move, "you are the killer, Sanchez. You have this whole powerful, killer aura about you."

A pause,

"You ever really killed someone."

More panting then a sigh,

"Yeah, Baby. I've killed punks before. Don't you be worrying about no one fucking with you."

More intently, Adrian pushes on, perhaps too hard,

"Anyone I heard about? Anyone recently?"

Filthy was still obviously in the afterglow because he kept on talking,

"I wasted some punk whose lips weren't as sweet as yours. Shot his ass dead not but a few blocks from here about a month ago. Punk looked at me wrong."

"Jon Brot? I heard about that. You're bad!"

"Yeah, that was that punk's name."

"That the gun you killed him with?" Adrian asks softly, pushing for just a little more.

"Sure is ... what's your interest Baby. I don't like the way you are sounding."

Sam couldn't hear the gun being pulled, but she could feel its weight enter the conversation.

"What's with the gun, Sanchez?" Adrian said, trying to sound nervous, but failing.

"You some kind of cop?!?!" Sanchez responded near hysterically, his drug-charged mind switching all to easily to paranoia. Adrian said nothing but Sam could visualize him raising his hands in self-defense.

"Well, Fuck you!" the pusher screamed before the gun went off. Sam was already moving but she feared it was all too late. She heard Sanchez running off as she came up upon Adrian lying down in the alleyway. She wiped out her phone and prepared to call 911.

Adrian coughed and sat up.

"Just winged me. I'll be fine."

He looked up at Sam, smiling,

"Will that do and did you bring my soda?"

He seemed remarkable in good spirits and save being shot, why shouldn't he be. They had nailed the bastard!

[Sam Spaid]

Sam looked at the wound, "Hmm, if we can get the bullet ballistics can match it to the ones found on Jon. With the tape the bullets and hopefully the gun ... yeah I think we can nail that fucker to the wall." She pulled a plastic bottle of coke from the pouch of her sweatshirt, "Here, and I got some Listerene in the car if you want it."

[Adrian Moss]

Adrian takes the coke as he stand up. He swishes it around his mouth and spits it out.

"Listerene would be cool, thanks."

He hands the bullet over with a grin.

"Give that to your police buddies to get on this. I can't pull this trick again with this guy. Hopefully this will earn him a lifetime of regret - a drug involved felony murder. That will get your clients some real justice. They can show up at his parole hearings til the end of time."

With a soulful look to him, almost a spiritual look of someone who wants to do good,

"This is good enough, isn't it Samantha? This is the right thing to do?"

[Sam Spaid]

The two walked back to her car, and she fished out a bottle of Listerene and tossed it to Adrian. "Its a better thing than most people would be willing to do. I feel confident that we can be certain that justice will be had. This is more than enough to arrest him and once they have the weapon ... well, plenty to convict him." She dropped the bullet from the tissue in her hand into a a plastic baggy, "Tomorrow I'll bring this to the detective in charge of the case. Hopefully he'll be able to accept it without too much ego bruising."

[Adrian Moss]

Rinse and spit - this seemed to satisfy Adrian. As the car pulled away and they headed out of this suspicious neighborhood, he laughed,

"Bruised egos? I'll accept that as a sufficient price to solve a murder. Besides, they get to close the case. That makes them look good to their boss and to the community. Win - win."

They headed out to the dinner were they had left his car and Adrian looked a bit sad. He reached out then hesitated to put his hand on her shoulder, instead letting it fall in the intervening space.

"This was good Sam. I liked it - well, not the disgusting parts, but the parts were I got to work with you and see how you did things - that was good."

"I hope you feel the same way," he added nervously, looking into his lap. "Seriously, it's good seeing you work."

The car stopped and the young vampire reluctantly got out. It was time to be going.

[Sam Spaid]

"Sure. I just wish it wasn't such a crappy situation. Still I owe you, thank you for this, I don't know that I could have done it without you." Adrian shut the door and backed away from the car, taking a fresh swig from the bottle of mouthwash. Sam nodded and drove off into the night. It would be a blessing to go to sleep tonight, to go to sleep without this weighing on her mind.

****

May 16

Samantha put on a pantsuit, makeup, even a little jewelry. She wanted to feel a little like her old self, back when she was beautiful. She rarely felt that way of late though for the past week she'd been avoiding the pie and running in the morning after dropping Timmy off at school. She felt better than she had in years, some of that was due to the fact that she was going to put a murderer away, and part of it was something else, something she couldn't put her finger on just yet.

Sam walked into the police station and found her way into the bullpen, Calvin was pecking at a computer keyboard when she dropped the bullet and the tape in front of him. "There you go Cal, there's enough there to give you reason to arrest one Carlos "Filthy" Sanchez for the murder of Jon Brot." She sat down and crossed her legs as Calvin looked at the bullet and then up at her. "He grazed my partner, nothing serious but its enough. You want to take my statement?"

Calvin smiled and pulled out some paper, "Sure lets get started."

****

May 20

"... and so Mr. and Mrs. Brot I have every confidence that now that the police have arrested this man that he will be convicted for your son's murder. That's the best justice I can give you within the bounds of the law." Mrs. Brot had tears in her eyes and even Mr. Brot's eyes were moist. He nodded thanks as his wife put head on his shoulder, crying in renewed grief and joy at the same time. He slid a cashier's check across her desk and they rose to leave. "I'm sorry that your son is dead, I hope that you will find peace once his murderer is behind bars." The Brot's left and Samantha closed her eyes and smiled, it was rare that she felt so good taking a client's money, but in this case she felt that she's earned every dime and more.