There once was a...

[Shameless]

Cole shook his head.  "No that wasn't an accident at all."  He'd seen it happen, and truth be told it had all the markers of a professional hit."  "Whoever that was had alot of firepower to make sure the job was done.   I've been around awhile, and for them to shoot at an Ambulance, well, that invites alot more heat than I can imagine is healthy.   Nobody shoots at an ambulance.  Not without being desperate."

Cole knew too that there was a sort of unspoken rule to not shoot up first responders, those that did were quite poorly thought of.   That these guys had meant they were after someone in this trio, and were more than willing to suffer the increased heat and scrutiny, and the hit to their reputation if they were caught.   "Who's got that much hate to throw away good sense?"

[Nina]

Glory listened to the nervous chatter and watched the street ahead, to the sides and behind. As they approached an intersection She told Jo to pull over, She took a wad of cash out of her pocket and counted out some bills then leaned back over her seat and thrust the money at the man who said his name was Cole.

 

"Take this, buy as many pre-paid phones as you can, the cheap ones. We'll drive around the block and pick you back up."

 

Cole hesitated then took the money and got out and went inside the store on the corner as the big garish vehicle drove off.

 

"Go around the block take your time. How is he?" That last was at Scarlet alone in the back now.

[Shameless]

Cole could tell Glory was suspicious, but he didn't care.  He entered the store, attended by an older man, and he smiled.  He saw several different kinds of prepaid phones, and of course, the camera watching the counter, Only one of the phones had five of the same.   He did a bit of mental calculus, and nodded.  "Good morning.  I need to buy those five phones."  The older man looked at him, and seemed about to ask questions, and Cole simply laid the Cash on the counter.   "I imagine this will cover it."   The amount he laid out would pay for the phones, taxes, and another fifty as a tip, for no questions."

The older man nodded, quickly ringing them up, activating them and placing the money in the drawer.   He bagged them up, and Cole smiled.  "Thanks."

"To you as well, sir.   Enjoy your day."   Cole took his phones and head out the store.   Jo and the hummer were just coming back around the corner, and he got in.   "I got enough for each of us, all of them the same, and all are properly activated."   He shrugged, he still had some of the money.  "I have your change as well."  It hadn't been enough to get another phone, so he didn't try.

[Nina]

Glory took the phones and just looked at the guy when he offered her the change. She turned around and opend up one of the phones and started setting it up. 

 

"Here's the thing," She started talking  occasionally indicating where Jo needed to turn, "We were tipped off that the fire at your club was the first move in an attempted take over of the Southside by the Tongs. But those guys weren't chinks."

 

"How do you know that, they were wearing masks."

 

Glory pointed at Jo. "Because when Miss Muscles here charged them she caught em flat footed. All the Tong soldiers are trained in martial arts, those guys didn't know any martial arts or she would have been met with a bit more of a challenge." She pulled out her own phone held it up to the new burner phone. "Turn you phones off and keep em off."

 

"So what does that mean?"

 

"Like I said earlier, someone had to have been following us, or that little ambush wouldn't have worked. The Family knows we were tipped off about the chinks, if the ambush would have worked, it probably would have started a war. Might still." 

 

She pointed up the street they were on. "There's the clinic pull around back, there's an emergency entrance for ambulances."

 

Jo did as she was told. 

 

Glory looked back at everyone. "Stay here I need to go inside and talk to the doc. I won't be long." She opened her door and slid out of the Humvee and disappeared inside.

[Exile_Jeane]

Well. Before, this situation (forcibly) had her attention. Now it had her interest. The small hot fire at the back of her mind burned a little higher and ate away at Scarlet's restraint now that the enforcer's actions were going to loop even more people into this hostage crisis. As much of a bad reputation as the SUC had, each of them had been young and driven and devoted to their mutual craft as she was and they didn't deserve this. 

 

"Be right back. Need to use the bathroom while I don't have a gun pointed at me," she flatly intoned, holding the gaze of the gunman and the corrupted actress for a heartbeat before slipping out the back of the hummer. Without waiting for an answer, the blond medic dropped into a crouching walk, hugging the walls of the building and heading left towards the inevitable picnic table smoke pit, hoping to catch one of the employees on break and alert them to the impending hostage crisis.

 

Spoiler

Rolling Crime+Stealth. 3 dice.

2 basic successes.

 

[Shameless]

Cole sat there, and sighed once it was just himself, Jo and the injured man.   "What a bloody damnable mess."   He looked to Jo, and shrugged.  "We're in too deep now though, both you and me.   We hit them, and I killed them.  We can't just walk away, unless we want to look over our shoulders for the rest of our lives."   

[Asarasa]

Jo watched Glory exit the vehicle one way, then Scarlet slip out the other way with a very transparent excuse. Jo groaned, thick tendons in her forearms dancing as her hands tightened on the steering wheel. This was far from the best situation, and it looked like there was every opportunity it might get worse. Glory entered the Clinic. Jo looked the other way, and saw Scarlet disappear around the corner of the building, and sighed in unison with Cole.

An arm on the back of the passenger seat, Jo looked over her shoulder, first at the raggedly breathing Basilone, then met Cole's eyes. "Ah ain't never walked nor run from a fight before. Ain't gonna start now. They burned down mah bar, and Ah wanna find out who did the deed and make the fuckers pay fer it. It was mah bar. Ah paid fer it. Ah helped build it, and Ah ran it. It was mine. They don't get to take it away. Don't care if it was Tongs, Mob, or whoever else."

Jo hand balled into a big fist, her bicep swelling impressively. "Ah'll find 'em and show 'em whatta mistake they made puttin' me in the middle of their shit."

[Shameless]

"Fair enough.   I definitely understand."   He sighed.  "This isn't good at all for me, but as I said, I'm in too deep to walk away.  I'm not big on walking away from a fight either, but all the same, getting involved in a gang turf war isn't fun for anyone.  The Tongs are some of the worst to cross, and she's right, whoever that was, that was not a Tong hit team."

[Nina]

Glory was spotted by her target the second she entered the clinic, Doctor Jacob Zareem, a Tall rail thin black man, very good looking, an immigrant from South Africa by way of the United Kingdom. When he saw her, he immediately looked all around then with a word to the nurse standing by him walked oward her and then turned into an empty examining room motioning for her to follow him. When she did, with one last look around he closed the door.

 

"Gloria it has been some time." His accent was very hard to place due to his origins but his diction was perfect. "I hope this is a friendly visit as this clinic does not do what I used to do."

 

"I know Jake. that's why I cam to you. I have a very seriously injured man I need to get to a hospital. Anonymously.

 

 

Scarlet found the smoking area and she was in luck two women where there  and both wore the blue green scrub tops most nurses in the city wore. The women were  Latinas , and probably in their late twenties. The nurses had seen the big garishly painted Humvee roll past and into the back of the building by the emergency entrance but they were some what surprised by the appearance of an EMT coming around the corner. 

 

As the put out their cigarettes the taller of the two spoke. "Can I help you?"

 

 

[Exile_Jeane]

"Yes," the blonde EMT answered with her best disarming 'things are bad but we've got the skills to solve them' smile, instantly putting the two nurses on guard, "As we speak an armed and dangerous criminal is trying to admit a badly injured Basilone mobster to the SUC after a fire fight that's gotten 4 people dead. I don't know what her plan to do so is, but even if she doesn't take the staff hostage openly like she did my partner and I, the patient is absolutely going to bring a lot of heat from a lot of dangerous people down on you all. I need to get back to the Humvee before she misses me and gets more violent, but you two need to get the word to the police and get everyone out of the building safely before it goes wrong." 

 

This was The City. Its medical staff were no strangers to things going wrong, veterans of the SUC more so than most. 

 

While the two nurses digested that, Scarlet rattled off a quick description of Glory, indicating the enforcer's height with one hand. She took their silence as understanding and smiled more reassuringly, "Got it? Good luck."

 

Spoiler

Rolling Smooth+Speech, 5 dice

Two basic Successes. Whew.

One Feat-based reroll later...

A Success critical and a Success basic, lol.

 

Edited November 13, 2023 by Exile_Jeane
Rules for fun and profit.

[Nina]

Glory and Jake were working the last of the details when Juanita and Maria, nurses at the clinic, came in eying Glory and relayed Scarlet's warning to the Doctor.

 

The back door to the clinic opened and two young men, one white and one Latino, came out with a wheeled stretcher. They were followed by A doctor and Glory. They proceeded to unload Basilone while Glory checked her phone frowning at the messages.

 

The mob assassin, for that is how everyone was thinking of her, gave Scarlet who was talking to the Doctor now, a studious look. As soon as it looked like Scarlet had given all her information on Basilone, Glory stepped in and addressed Scarlet.

 

"I was going to leave you here so you could get back to your life, but from what just happened with Juanita and Maria I obviously can't trust you. Get back in the car, you are coming with us."

 

Spoiler

Everyone hears this so anyone can chime in here if desired.

 

[Exile_Jeane]

"Works for me. The one-and-only basis for trust between us is the men you needlessly killed, so the only time I'd *not* expect a bullet in the back as I walk away would be after I double-checked you for a lack of pulse, Miss Assassin," responded the blonde EMT with enough acid in her tone to bleach the paint on the humvee, body language radiating contempt as she strode past the killer.

 

She had done her best. The people of the SUC knew what might follow this exchange, and whether or not they could act to deflect that storm, Scarlet would sleep easier knowing she tried.   

 

Her body thrummed with adrenaline, knowing now was where the danger really started, when the hostage taker saw she was non-compliant and might take measures to break that behavior. Flickers of a man in a red coat looming over a younger Scarlet and her friends in a dark cabin danced in the corners of her vision. If this was the storm, let it come. Her past was not today. She'd done too much work to let it be. God, let her assessment of the other two be correct if it came to that. 

[Shameless]

Cole shook his head.  Scarlett was going to push too far, and while he certainly understood, now was a time for discretion.  He knew Glory was already watching him, his skill with a gun had already put her on edge.   Still, short of killing her, there wasn't a way to extract from this situation, and guarantee the safety of Jo or Scarlett.   Fine, I'll go along.   This isn't something the Concern normally gets involved with, but with such violence so close to home, we can't afford to turn a blind eye to it.   He was aware he'd likely have a hell of a debriefing after this, but that would only be if he survived.

[Asarasa]

"Ah'm guessin'  you've got lotsa friends," Jo muttered wryly to Glory when she climbed into the Hummer.

She might not totally disagree with the consiglieri or whatever she was in how she had dealt with the gangers shooting at them, but forcing the EMT to come along, even if Scarlet was making their lives harder was another thing. The huge woman put the equally huge SUV into drive and accelerated away from the suspect Emergency Clinic at a non-suspicious speed. She caught Scarlet's eye in the rearview mirror and gave her a discrete shake of the head, trying to convey she'd get her away as soon as she could.

"Ah ain't no investigatah, so where do we go or who do we all need to be 'talkin'' to, to find out who here is behind all this shit and make 'em stop?" Jo asked. She was a fighter and a lover, and direct in both cases. She wasn't made, in physique or personality, to equivocate or dissemble. "Can we find out who tipped yer lot off, Glory, see if they're behind this? Or maybe talk with the Tongs, see if they know anything?"

[Nina]

"Turn left, head toward Berkshire." Glory instructed. She though about Johansson's questions, but in truth she didn't know the answers. Glory was used to being given a task, a job, a target. Here she was on her own with three strangers and no idea what was really going on.

 

Her instincts said to cut them loose, get away from them and go it alone. BUt she also felt that if she did they would end up dead and for some reason she felt responsible for them.

 

This wasn't like her. Not at all.

 

"We need to ditch this truck, find something less conspicuous." While she had been thinking and Jo had been driving she had been using her phone.

 

They hit Berkshire. "Which way," asked Jo?

 

"Right. There is a parking garage with an automated entry go in there. We need to figure out what we are going to do. and find some new wheels."

[Shameless]

Cole was looking out the window, and happened to look behind them.  There was a car that seemed to be trying just a little too hard to not be noticed behind them, yet it was staying there, doggedly keeping up.   "We may want to make a detour, I do believe someone is following us."  He didn't point, simply kept looking out the window.  "Green sedan, about 4 cars behind us on the right.   Turn somewhere and let's see if it follows us."

[Exile_Jeane]

Scarlet's eyes shifted away from her scan out the left window to find the car in question and grunted softly. She pointed out her window to a dark blue SUV a few cars back, no surprise evident on her face.

 

"There's two, actually," she returned flatly with a shrug and little chuckle, "At least two, maybe. Our conspiracy could have more of them hiding in the traffic flow or parallelling us on other streets."

 

She pulled out her portable medkit inventorying its meager supplies, not entirely unhappy. More heat on them should mean less heat on the SUC. And that was something to be hoped for. And it showed all her training under her Uncle and others hadn't been entirely wasted that she'd managed to find the two cars.

[Asarasa]

"Good!" Jo growled as she drove pass the entrance to the parking garage. She glanced at the rearview and side mirrors, catching sight of one of the cars, and taking the word of her passengers that they were indeed following them. "If we can catch some of 'em ahlive," she said with a quick look at Glory, "we might be gettin' some answers, ah reckon. And maybe some new wheels to boot."

Jo flicked on the blinkers to turn left, then took a sharp right around the parking structure, stepping on the gas. "Hope this place has an entrance on th'other side. Ah'll go down to the bottom where nobody likes to park. Fewer risks to those not involved. Ah'll slow on the way, our gunwoman and gunman jump out, and if one of 'em follow us, y'all come up behind 'em when they think us cornered."

Jo took another right, slowing back to the speed of the surrounding traffic, and letting out a breath as she saw another entrance to the garage. Adrenaline began pumping once more. "Good? Hope, so, since Ah'm going in."