xp_logs | Turf War: Taking Stock

Angelo and Amanda take a time out to trade what they've learned, and make further plans.

With an audible 'click', Amanda turned off the inducer, putting it on the bedside table. The motel was one of thousands, an anonymous cheap little place where you paid for the lack of attention rather than fittings. Running her hand through her hair, the now-blonde English witch glanced over at Angelo. "Nice ploy, tellin' them we were visiting your mother tonight - they won't question that. And if I didn't get to turn that damn inducer off soon, I was goin' to go nuts. Dunno how you managed with it all those years."

"I wasn't wearin' it most of the time", he pointed out. "Only when I left the mansion an' it mattered."

"An' you were wearin' your own face, sort of. 'S right weird, lookin' into a mirror an' seein' someone else." Amanda's accent was a mixture of Angelo's intonation and her own slang, as she relaxed a bit. Flopping backwards onto the bed with a tired sigh, she continued: "So, Maria was mentionin' something about a supplier. Not much past he's some big shot, since she was completely off her face when she was tellin' me this - have you heard anythin'?"

"Not much. Ricardo's not stupid, he doesn't trust me all the way yet. So most of it's been from the junkies, an' not much more than you've got. There's s'posed to be somethin' goin' down soon, though."

"I'll see what else I can get out of the girls, without givin' the game away. Or givin' Alejandra a reason to shiv me - she's watchin' me like a hawk, waitin' for an excuse to give me shit. If I didn't know better, I'd say your ex was jealous or somethin'." She lifted her head to give him a wry grin. "Interestin' taste in women you have, love."

"She wasn't always like this." His tone was almost - or more than almost - sad. "I mean, yeah, she was tough, but this... junkie bitch... she is now... she used to be the princess, when we were kids."

Her smile faltered and she sat up, to look at him properly. "'M sorry, Ange. I didn't mean..." Alejandra had meant something to him, she was realising. "She's not going to make it easy, but we'll get her out." She smiled a little. "Even if we have to drag her out by the hair."

Angelo managed a faint smile. "Damn straight we will. If it comes to gettin' her alone an' kidnappin' her, we'll do that, too."

"Don't tempt me," she said, still joking. Then she sobered. "It'll be tough, gettin' off this Kick shit. There's a few places around that'll be able to help, but the tough part is gettin' her clean and keepin' her that way. The more I think about it, the more I think we're gonna have to try an' take down the gang as well. And we don't have the manpower for that. I could try the Trenchcoats, but this isn't their sort of thing, not really. And it needs to be legit, otherwise they'll just start up again in another few months. The leather brigade got any clout with the cops in LA?"

"...hm." He sat up suddenly, a thought occurring to him. "There was a thing last year, with one of the girls at the school... she was complainin' about this guy tryin' to get her onto a website, an' it turned out to be some kind of mutant porn ring. The team went in an' took them down..."

"Maybe get in touch with Summers or 'Ro, see what the deal is?" Amanda suggested. "Sounds like somethin' they would've needed official permission to do, and that might be our loophole. Get the leathers in, get Alejandra out in the confusion? If we're lucky, we might even be able to get this supplier as well."

Angelo nodded. "I promised to check in with them anyway. Can't hurt to ask, anyway, an' it'd sure as hell kill this turf war before it starts."