Guns for Hire - Script Forty Five

Forlorn Hope, Night City 9.44pm - 22/12/2016

Struggling to digest Skinpin's shocking news Vrasten numbly thumbed open the two letter

"It's from Helen" mumbled Vrasten in suprise, "looks like little sister, well not so little anymore, paid Helen a suprise visit."

Briefly it was discussed about taking a flight to NZ however after opening the second letter this was put to one side.

"Shit on a stick" exclaimed Vrasten, "it's from some lawyer outfit, seems Frank Uzzitt died a couple of months back & we got connected to his estate some how, some lawyer lady called Addison, wants me to call her to talk"

"Probably left a heap of debt" added Alex

"Who's Frank Uzzitt ? Why'd you tell a lawyer where to find us ? You stupid or what ?

"T-Bird, wind your neck in, it's red enough as it is, this ain't your business."

Muttering, Vrasten folded the letter up & slipped it in his pocket intending to call mbd the following morning to see what it was all about, whilst they waited for Idwal to turn up they continued to discuss Skinpin's news about Mariusz's RTA.

Forlorn Hope, Night City 10.42pm - 22/12/2016

Eventually Idwal Knox turned up with a fistful of beers, they'd not come across him in person before although they'd heard his name mentioned occasionally as a small time fixer come bottom feeder.

Grinning he took a seat & proffered the beers,

"So boys" chirped Idwal ignoring the obvious fact that of the three sat around the table one at least had a couple of puppies under her shirt, "how's you doin' then."

Justifiably wary of the lack of credentials they had for Idwal his reception was a little cooler than he probably would have wanted, in fact from Alex it was decidedly frosty, when he started to hint at the potential deal, it didn't get any better.

"Is it the bankroll ? I can maybe talk it up on you behalf"

Before he could go on all three around the table collectively dismissed all further discussion,

"Listen Idwal, nothing personal, but it's not us you want, sure we play with guns but we don't do termination's, at least not premeditated, we are not killers"

Vrasten listened to what Alex & T-Bird were saying, despite Idwals offer of more money, for a minute it made him feel all gooey inside that whilst he'd sunk low since his time behind a badge had turned to shit the people he know called friends wouldn't stoop so low as cold blooded murder.

Realising that he was drawing a blank Idwal cut his loses & apologised for the duff information that had lead him to their table,

"Bronnau fel bryniau Eryri"

With Idwal out of their face Vrasten, on the back of Alex & T-Bird's rejection of the hit, made an offer from the heart,

"Ladies & gentlemen, the beers are on me for the rest night"

Forlorn Hope, Night City 11.12pm - 22/12/2016

Before leaving the Hope for the night Alex had a quiet word with John Freeman, the bars owner, to see if he, or anybody he new, could recommend a dependable lawyer well versed in charitable law, Freeman didn't bat an eyelid at the request, he dealt with the mundane to the positively bizarre at the Forlorn Hope, as far as he, freeman, was concerned what happened in the Hope, stayed in the Hope & was no other fuckers business. Promising to let Alex now via Vrasten Freeman deftly slipped between two other slightly worse for ware patrons who were about to come to blows, smiling benignly he promised them both the use of wheelchairs if they didn't kiss, cuddle & make up.

The Apartment, West Beach, Night City 9.03am - 23/12/2016

Vrasten paged through his chipped numbers until he got to the one he wanted, transferring it to one of the disposable mobiles he pressed dial & waited,

"Er, hello, that you Helen, how you doin' ?

"It's five in the morning Vrasten, I was sleeping, how'd you think I'm doing"

For the next seven minutes Vrasten exchanged news with Helen about her sisters visit & Mariusz's accident before hanging up, promising that next time he'd try & make his call at a more reasonable hour.

With Alex & T-Bird still sleeping he made the call to mbd & asked for Autumn Addison, after a few minutes a sweet voiced Ms Addison came on the line & thanked Vrasten for getting in touch, she reiterated the contents of the letter she'd sent care off the Forlorn Hope & added that they'd whilst Vrasten had been named by Frank Uzzitt as a joint beneficiary it was only when his personnel papers were cataloged that they'd found a note with a possible contact address, the Hope, that they'd tracked Vrasten down, Ms Addison also went on to add that there were a number of other potential beneficiaries who she hoped were known to Vrasten, these being Alex Price, Mariusz Boronski & somebody simply referred to as Helen.

After confirming that he did indeed know the whereabouts of the other named persons Ms Addison asked would it be possible for Vrasten & any of the others who were free to attend mba's offices the following day around 2.00pm or some time to be arranged post the Christmas holiday, agreeing that he & probably Ms Price could come over tomorrow Ms Addison again offered her condolences over the death of Frank Uzzitt & hung up.

With T-Bird making pancakes Vrasten took Alex a cup of tea & the good news.

The Apartment, West Beach, Night City 10.14am - 23/12/2016

Fully, if not unexpectedly awake earlier than intended, Alex finished her tea & then called the number that had been left on Vrasten's answer phone whilst he was talking to Autumn Addison,

"Hello, Eric Holder, attorney at law, how can I help you ?"

Over the next twenty minutes or so Alex explained, some what going around the block, her predicament & her sudden desire to promote a good cause by means of a charitable organisation, seeing where the conversation, & the money, was heading Holder suggested he meet with Alex & her associates later in the day to move matters forward, he hastily added that he thought it best if they didn't meet at his office to avoid possible complications & that he'd be happy to make a home visit, to that end he agreed to come by the apartment around six.

The Apartment, West Beach, Night City 5.57pm - 23/12/2016

True to his word Eric holder called Alex just before six to say he was parked outside the apartment block & would she mind coming down as he didn't now the neighbourhood or where to find her apartment. Glancing out of the window she could see a smartly dressed slightly built suit pacing nervously along side a shiny saloon, smiling she said she'd be down in a moment.

Visibly relieved when she appeared & introduced herself Eric Holder asked Alex if his car would be safe where it was, jokingly Alex suggested how many charges he'd placed around it, visibly jumping at this Alex reached into her purse & withdrew her lipstick, Candy Apple Red, & scrawled in the corner of the front windshield that if anybody messed with this car they'd have her to deal with.

Smiling, Alex lead Eric Holder upstairs.

The Apartment, West Beach, Night City 7.41pm - 23/12/2016

Several hours later Eric Holder closed his briefcase having put the bundle of forms, documents & affidavits signed by Alex & Vrasten & witnessed by T-Bird in it first,

"Now Ms Price please ensure you contact Mr Deutsch tomorrow, I'll discuss the matter with him in the morning & he will as agreed take on the roll of the "Wild Geese Sanctuary" accountant & arrange all the necessary auditory requirements as & when required. I myself will complete the necessary registration documents & commence the legal process once I receive confirmation of the address to which the charity is to be registered at."

"I appreciate you feel my fee's are expensive however I would suggest it is a small price to pay for what you are asking & to ensure all the charities activities are seen to be above board & legally acceptable to both the charities commissioning board as well as myself"

"Finally I'd appreciate I'd appreciate it you would walk me down to my car as I'm a little concerned that not all of your neighbours are so charitable as you are.

The Apartment, West Beach, Night City 7.59pm - 23/12/2016

With Holder out of the way & Vrasten's suggestion of flying down to Mariposa spurned Alex, Vrasten & T-Bird locked up the apartment & headed out of the city in Alex's RV, conspicuous it may have been but compared to Vrasten's current runabout, the lurid lowrider they'd "acquired" back in July when they'd become embroiled in a shoot out between two rival gangs.

Highway 880, Fremont 8.47pm - 23/12/2016

Clear of Night city central Alex pulled the RV on the hard shoulder &, with hardly a shudder, passed Vrasten the keys,

"I'm gonna go solo for a few hours yeah, just let me unhitch the S-MAX & I'll see you somewhere down the road, just promise me you won't crash the RV OK"

Muttering to himself Vrasten watched Alex's throw her leg over the muscle bikes saddle & take off in a cloud of dust, several hundred yards down the road Vrasten was glad he'd kept his mouth shut as he struggled with RV's pissy power steering & stick shift, in the back T-Bird, ever so slightly green, decided to buckle up just in case.

Mariposa 1.27am - 24/12/2016

An hour or so after Alex had parked up on the outskirts of Mariposa Vrasten pulled the RV into the Indian Flat RV trailer park & called Alex to see where she was, ten minutes later she hit the kill switch & used the hydraulic lift to hoist the S-MAX back onto its perch on the rear of the RV,

"Any problems ?" asked Alex

"No, absolutely bloody fine" responded Vrasten before T-Bird could say a word.

Mariposa 11.28am - 24/12/2016

The following day Alex drove the RV into town, parking up they went in search of food before heading to the offices of mba, T-Bird however announced that as he wasn't actually needed he was going to wander about for a couple of hours as there were a few things he was after.

Maxwell, Bialik & Duda, Bullion Street, Mariposa 1.59pm - 24/12/2016

Armed with coffee Vrasten & Alex were eventually shown through to a pleasantly decorated & private room where they were joined by mba's Autumn Addison, principle executor for the estate of the late Francis Uzzitt.

Pleasantries completed Ms Addison ran through the required identity verification process required under Californian state law before taking copies of both their identity cards & driving licenses as well assigning pre-prepared affidavits confirming who they were. With this completed & with the assurance that they would contact Mariusz & Helen to arrange for them to attend a solicitor convenient to them to provide similar verification Autumn Addison informed them brief details of their inheritance,

"So Ms Price, Mr Nordskov, in a nut shell there's a some 450 acres of mixed use pasture & arable land along with the main house & outbuildings along with agricultural machinery & limited livestock, horses in the main I believe, & its own water source. We've discussed values & it would seem that the land base value is around $2750 an acre. On the negative side Mr Uzzitt has debts in total to the bank of around $175K which will be payable in full once the property is signed over to the beneficiaries. There's also the small issue of Mr Uzzitt's foreman, Heraclio José Luis Ortega, & his family, Mr Uzzitt made provision in his will that Mr Ortega can remain on the farm so long as he wishes & has rights of occupancy on a small property on the farm. At the moment Mr Uzzitt's bank are making small monthly payments to cover maintenance work carried out on the farm by Mr Ortega. I've looked into the matter & if you so wished we could ultimately remove Mr Ortega for a modest sum if so desired."

Mariposa 3.06pm - 24/12/2016

Back in the RV Vrasten gave T-Bird a call to let him know they were done. Whilst they waited for him to return they discussed what was to be done, as far as they could see the farm was just about bang on for the purpose of a charitable organisation, as the farm was only an hour or so out of Mariposa central they decided to head over that way before driving back to night city, before they could speak further T-Bird lurched into view, or at least they thought it was T-Bird, it was hard to tell under the armful of bags, the tinsel & the flashing Santa hat.

"I got presents" bellowed T-Bird, "What, what, it's Christmas fucking Eve, you gotta have presents"

Uzzitt Farm, Mariposa 4.13pm - 24/12/2016

Alex swung the RV around to face back the way they'd come & killed the engine, as the three of them walked towards the main house Heraclio appeared from one of the barns, it was obvious he recognised Alex & Vrasten from the last visit to the farm but couldn't remember their names.

As Alex explained the situation to Heraclio, the foreman's wife appeared along with the couples two girls, Heraclio had just about finished bringing Alex & Vrasten up to date on the farms situation & what he was doing to make ends meet, whilst the three of them spoke T-Bird teased the girls about Santa's impending visit.

With the discussion between her husband & Alex concluded Heraclio's wife, Elodia, asked what their immediate plans for the night were suggesting that as it was getting on maybe they should stay over, all they'd need to do was make a dash back to town to pick up a few extra bits, before Alex or Vrasten could even think of objecting T-Bird had bundled Elodia & the girls towards the farms pick up.

Uzzitt Farm, Mariposa 4.23pm - 24/12/2016

Despite it being Christmas Eve Eric Holder was still working & took Alex's call. Alex confirmed the address for the Wild Goose Sanctuary as Uzzitt Farm, Holder made a note of this adding that that the ownership of the farm was irrelevant as long as written confirmation from the owner confirmed its use for Charities Register & as this was soon to be Alex & Vrasten there wasn't really an issue, promising to be in contact soon Holder wished them a good Christmas

Whilst Alex was on the phone to Holder Vrasten put a call in to Moosejaw to see how Mariusz was doing & to discuss Uzzitt Farm, the phone was answered by Kissy.

When Alex came off the phone Vrasten gave her an update of Mariuz's condition, physically he was still in pretty bad shape, mentally not much better, Skinpin's arrival had helped but it was gong to be a long road. Vrasten added that it sounded like Kissy was OK for funds at the moment as Mariusz wasn't exactly skint when he went North but then long term medical support doesn't come cheap.

Uzzitt Farm, Mariposa 6.49pm - 24/12/2016

T-Bird pulled up next to the RV, the truck loaded down with giggling girls, food & more presents, beaming he clambered out of the cab taking delight in the happiness of the two girls & their mother,

"What can I say Alex, it's Christmas Eve.

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