Guns for Hire - Script Forty Eight

La Luna Inn, 599 Lombard St, San Francisco 9.23am 08/03/17

Sat in the RV they briefly watched the apartment for any sign of activity or pursuit, when nothing happened Alex turned the key & manoeuvred the RV out of the motels parking lot & headed back towards the freeway & Night City.

Highway 101, Bernal Heights 9.47am 08/03/17

On route back to Night City Vrasten ran searches on the names provided by the Bag Lady; Jared Lee Loughner & Zsofika Cardiss, the results were disappointing, on Jared there were occasional inane posts on a number of social network sites, of Miss Cardiss there was a positive absence of presence, from behind the wheel Alex piped up that it maybe worth a call to Uriel to see if he could get Vrasten access to the NCPD - MilKor database, Vrasten smiled,

"Already on it"

At first Uriel was just a touch nervous at Vrasten's request however he could see the sense of it & promised to see what he could do.

Forlorn Hope, Night City 10.48am 08/03/17

Back in the Hope T-Bird sought out Alyona Mihailov, the Hope's newest, & by far cutest, weapons technician, as he tried to explain his requirement to acquire a replacement smart linked LzS pistol having mislaid his own there was a snigger from behind as Alex commented on its "loss" Alyona grinned, clearly having heard of T-Bird's recent embarrassment, T-Bird, looking sheepish, confessed to having been rolled over before asking Alyona if by any chance she'd seen the scammer around the Hope previously. Alyona seemed to think she was an infrequent visitor but would keep an eye out for her. Regarding the laser pistol she promised to have a replacement available in a couple of days, payment in advance of course.

Forlorn Hope, Night City 11.41am 08/03/17

Frustrated with the inactivity & still decrying the contract they'd become embroiled within Alex made her excuses & decided to go for a run, if nothing else it would do her good, they'd been far to many comments lately concerning her waist line.

Forlorn Hope, Night City 12.09am 08/03/17

Passing the time of day with a couple of the regulars Vrasten's phone rang, making his excuses he stepped away & took the call,

"Vrasten, yeah, it's Uriel, got a pen, OK, this is a external access code that will get you through the NCPD portal, it's only temporary though, you know how it works I guess, you worked there long enough, it's visiting officer access, good for an hour or so, don't abuse it please."

Vrasten keyed in the temporary code, the system had been significantly upgraded by MilKor since he departed the NCPD, something that the previous administration had refused to spend necessary funds on, but the process was familiar enough that he could navigate the system without to much trouble. As well as the two names provided by the Bag Lady Vrasten tried the name of Patricia Roseboro, the name that he'd picked up the previous day when running a search on the Lucifer quote.

First off he delved into the record system for Loughner, officially there wasn't a great deal to say, a few traffic violations & the like however there were various unofficial comments concerning suspicions raised regarding his nocturnal habits & the disappearance of various persons in Night City as well as along the west coast as a whole, he was marked as a man to be watched but which at the moment no firm evidence existed.

No NCPD-MilKor records existed for Zsofika Cardiss.

The name of Patricia Roseboro however was at the very least interesting, although there was no record of Roseboro ever having committed, or for that matter visited, Night City, her name was flagged as notification being required to be given to the NCIC, the National Crime Information Centre, if the Night City PD had any dealings with her. There were various articles reproduced showing her historic political activities as well as her ties with the AAAL, indeed the report suggested that she had been fundamental in its emergence in the 1990's.

There were a litany of details of prosecutions & indictment against her pre 2000 but since then the only the occasional infraction although her status was still firmly shown as an active inciter of civil disobedience, finally the file confirmed her as remaining active within the AAAL, officially unemployed but of independent wealth & operating from Springfield, Virginia, the address being the same as that shown for the AAAL centre of operations.

Unfortunately the limited visitor access did not permit Vrasten to print or download the information viewed. As Vrasten mulled over the contents he belatedly recalled Alex's comment over looking up there own official records, before he could however the temporary access code expired.

Charter Hill, Night City 12.18am 08/03/17

Alex checked her pedometer; she was around maybe a half mile from the Hope & had covered just under eight miles at a steady pace & was feeling pretty good. Nearing the streets that surrounded the Hope, & leaving the glitzy refurbished zones behind, she jogged around the corner of yet another semi derelict warehouse her honed combat senses kicked in & alerted her to the two figures deliberately stepping into her path preventing her from running into their welcoming arms, looking into their eyes it was obvious they were on another planet & weren't looking for directions.

Coming to a halt but keeping on her toes Alex picked up the presence of somebody stepping out of the doorway behind her, glancing over her shoulder there were two, no three, similarly attired & eager attention seekers.

Intending to block her path one of the potential antagonists to her front grunted & suggested she might like to accompany them for some fun, to emphasise his insistence he idly tapped the aluminium baseball bat in his left hand against his leg, realising this wasn't going to be pretty Alex slowly let the long triangular blades slide out of their sheath above the knuckles of both hands & suggested the nice gentlemen might want to step aside.

Ready to defend her self Alex was confident she could handle herself sufficiently to make her escape, glancing towards the street however she spotted at least two more street punks watching from various points across & around the junction, realising that this wasn't maybe so good & reckoning she was near enough to the Hope to be within the range of mastoid comm's unit she tongued the embedded broadcast selector making sure she made it clear to Vrasten & T-Bird where she was & what was going down.

After that she put her training to good use & ran like fuck.

Caught out by Alex's sudden flight the hoods reacted belatedly, only the spokesman, high as he was, managed to make a move, as Alex fled past him he wildly swung the baseball bat managing only to clip her right elbow, Alex's Skinweave however was more than adequate to absorb the damage.

Forlorn Hope, Night City 12.19am 08/03/17

Both Vrasten & T-Bird picked up Alex's broadcast & reacted immediately heading for the RV, Alex urged T-Bird to sling the belt fed SF1200 onto the purpose built mounting on the RV's roof to intimidate her pursuers, whilst T-Bird struggled to comply Vrasten searched valiantly for the RV's key.

Forlorn Hope, Night City 12.22am 08/03/17

Running easily ahead of the chase Alex glanced over her shoulder, in total there were eight pursuers, all dressed similarly in the fashion of the British skinhead movement of the 1970's, the closest was maybe 50 yards back, the others strung out behind.

"Fucking fashion victims" murmured Alex.

Ahead she could see T-Bird's head through the roof hatch of the RV as he slid the heavy machine gun along the mounts runners, through the front windshield she could see Vrasten drop behind the wheel.

As she reached the RV she called for Vrasten to throw her the Militech Viper that was normally nestled under her seat, breathing easily she reached the RV as Vrasten emerged clutching the Viper in one hand whilst slipping his monokatana from its sheath with the other, turning to face her pursuers she could see they had come to a halt & were gazing up to where T-Bird was poking through topside, realising that something wasn't quite right Vrasten & Alex watched as her erstwhile pursuers turned to flee, before they'd gone scant yards there was a thunder of heavy gunfire from above.

Forlorn Hope, Night City 12.23am 08/03/17

Grinning, T-Bird swung the SF1200 around to bear down on the punks chasing his Alex,

"Fucking shitheads" shouted T-Bird.

Then he pulled the pulled the trigger.

He hadn't specifically used the SF1200 before but he trained on similar & new what it could do at close range, raking the barrel across from left to right T-Bird strafed the street outside of the Forlorn Hope, as the deafening roar echoed between the buildings he could see seven of the eight runners sprawled in a mass of missing limbs, blood & guts on the cracked blacktop, remarkably one of the punks seemed unharmed although he was spattered with body fluids from the seven crumpled & dying gang members on the road around him, shocked by the bloodshed & speed with which it had happened the machete slipped from the fingers of his right hand, slowly he folded into a foetal position on the sticky road rocking himself back & forth waiting to die.

T-Bird looked at the belt fed shells,

"Shit"

On the case were the words High Explosive

Forlorn Hope, Night City 12.24am 08/03/17

In the silence that followed Alex, appalled, stared for a second at the carnage before her, immediately figures began to appear from the Hope's main door as well as at several windows & doors on the long disused & converted warehousing & offices around the Forlorn Hope.

Pushing past the open mouthed Vrasten, Alex near threw T-Bird of the RV, as she gunned the RV into life Vrasten just had time to grab the apartment keys from his pocket & hurl them in the general direction of T-Bird before Alex screamed at him to get the fucking gun off the roof.

Forlorn Hope, Night City 12.25am 08/03/17

T-Bird watched as the RV disappeared around the corner, fortunate for him, the gathering stream of people were watching the fleeing RV & the corpses littering the street, in the distance he could hear the growing crescendo of approaching sirens, like most of the accumulating crowd the sirens triggered a need to be elsewhere, T-Bird took to his heels & headed for the apartment.

Highway 49 2.14pm 08/03/17

In near silence Alex drove the RV towards Mariposa, at that moment in time she would have happily slit T-Bird's throat herself, & as for that twat in the back . . . . .

Vrasten, sat in the back of the RV, watched Alex & wondered how the fuck he could get T-Bird off the hook for this one.

Uzzit Farm (aka Wildgoose Sanctuary) Mariposa 4.09pm 08/03/17

On arrival at the farm Alex made no mention of T-Bird to Vrasten or Hercaclio & his family despite the girls demands to know when he was coming, instead she, & Vrasten set to at re-spraying the RV & removing the sliding gun mount from the roof, Vrasten, with a bit of ingenuity converted the frame to a mount for a series of search lights figuring they couldn't hide the frame but they could alter it.

The SF1200 itself was surreptitiously hived away into the underground hurricane shelter hidden away in the copse at the back of the main barn, on their last protracted stay over at the farm earlier in the year Vrasten had spent some considerable time upgrading & improving the bunkers facilities as well as rigging up a modest armoury & firearms workshop.

Uzzit Farm (AKA Wildgoose Sanctuary) Mariposa 10.22am 15/03/17

Over the week Alex threw herself into working on the farm, giving a helping hand to Hercaclio where it was needed & running through the paperwork where Hercaclio wasn't sure what was to be done. Vrasten to had helped where he could but had kept a close eye on the news reports coming out of Night City.

Immediately following the massacre the news channels had run it as headline breaking news however with no apparent eye witness reports & apparently no CCTV it quickly dropped down the priority listing as just another gang fight, albeit a tad more bloody than the norm until it barely managed a single line by the third day following.

The day after they'd arrived at the farm Alex had had a call from John Freeman, from what Vrasten had heard he wasn't, understandably, impressed by what had been perpetrated on the doorstep of the Forlorn Hope, it attracted unwanted attention. Freeman had thankfully ensured that the Hope's external CCTV had regrettably recorded over before the NCPD had come a calling & that anybody who was anybody in the Hope had seen nothing, whilst this wouldn't gain complete anonymity for T-Bird it should ensure some degree of comfort. Finally Freeman had pointed out that whilst he expected no medal for this assistance he would no doubt at some future time expect a favour in return.

Uzzit Farm (AKA Wildgoose Sanctuary) Mariposa 1.18pm 15/03/17

Alex's phone rang whilst she & Vrasten were trying not to eat a third helping of Elodia's homemade enchilada's when her phone rang, answering the call he mouth to Vrasten, "Bag Lady" For several minutes they spoke before Alex rang off, "She's been unable to get hold of Loughner but she's still looking, she has however spoken to Miss Cardiss, AKA Patricia Roseboro, it would appear that Miss Roseboro is unequivocal in her thoughts regarding our suggestion that the contract be terminated, in fact I'd say she may well have upset the Bag Lady more than a clients indignation would be deemed acceptable."

Uzzit Farm (AKA Wildgoose Sanctuary) Mariposa 8.22pm 16/03/17

As Alex said goodnight to the girls Vrasten got a text from T-Bird, Vrasten suggested he stay put & give Alex a bit more space.

Uzzit Farm (AKA Wildgoose Sanctuary) Mariposa 3.29pm 17/03/17

Mid way through the afternoon the Bag Lady made contact again, she was happy to say that she'd, at some considerable effort, made contact with Jarred Loughner, She said that initially Jarred had been reluctant to even discuss terminating his contract, he was happy with the fee & having completed the first three phases had been paid in anticipation of the remaining two targets. Eventually however, under pressure from the Bag Lady, Loughner had agreed that he would abstain from completion of the contract & without question return the balance of payment for the uncompleted hits providing somebody else paid him not to.

For a while Alex & the Bag Lady discussed the pro's & con's of the situation from which Alex agreed to contact his client to see what could be done, the Bag Lady did however make clear her uneasiness with Alex passing the identity of the client to anyone in civil authority in the event that Miss Roseboro was arrested & subsequently implicated the Bag Lady despite Miss Roseboro have no idea who or where the Bag Lady could be found.

Alex promised to let the Bag Lady what they intended to do hopefully before they did it.

The bag Lady rang off but not before ensuring that Alex new whilst she required no payment for services rendered she would of course be sure to call upon Alex & her friends at some time in the future if she felt they could assist her.

Alex & Vrasten considered the ever growing list of people who now considered them in their debt for a favour.

Uzzit Farm (AKA Wildgoose Sanctuary) Mariposa 10.14am 18/03/17

Vrasten, Hercaclio & Alex were running through the figures as Hercaclio had confirmed that the charity's accountant, Albert Deutsch, would be paying a visit the week following to make sure all was in order before the first biannual audit, they were interrupted by the sound of a van pulling up outside closely followed by a knock on the door, opening the door Alex was confronted by a large expensive bunch of flowers,

"Er, Miss Price, you are Miss Price"

Taken aback Alex confirmed that yes, the last time she'd looked she was indeed Miss Price, pleased with the answer the girl proffered the flowers & asked Alex to sign for their receipt.

Glancing at the accompanying card its message simply read; 'To Alex, very sorry, T-Bird' Trying not to smile Alex signed for their receipt but asked the girl to take them away with, confused she did.

Uzzit Farm (AKA Wildgoose Sanctuary) Mariposa 4.49pm 18/03/17

Vrasten & Alex were discussing just what the hell they should do, Alex was pretty keen to wash her hands of the whole affair & simply pass the information they had to Uriel, claim the promised finders' fee & expenses & get a real job in another country, Vrasten on the other hand was wary of upsetting the Bag Lady, again however their conversation was interrupted by a knock at the door, almost expecting more flowers Alex flung the door open,

"Miss Price I presume ?"

On the verandah stood a tall slim olive skinned Adonis sporting the latest in formal attire, in his lapel was a red carnation, he carried a silver ice bucket in which a bottle of vintage 2004 Oudinot champagne was chilling, the gentleman suggested he was here for her entertainment & pleasure. Shaking her head she asked for his card, he proffered a gold edged business card confirming him as a escort & Romeo-gram. Alex joined him on the verandah &, if she was honest enjoyed his company for an hour as well as the champagne, when the bottle was empty however she thanked him for his time but pointed him back towards his chauffeur driven limo.

Back inside the house Vrasten tried not to grin.

Alex, muttering, agreed to go along with Vrasten's proposal to go see just who Patricia Roseboro was but added,

"Why don't you phone fuckwit & tell him we're leaving here in three hours, if he wants to come along he better get his arse here pretty fucking quick."

The Apartment, West Beach, Night City 6.02pm 18/03/17

T-Bird took the call from Vrasten, listened, grinned & then grabbed his kit & the keys to the pimpmobile, three fucking hours, she'd be fucking lucky, still, get in there, he was as good as back in her pants.

Uzzit Farm (AKA Wildgoose Sanctuary) Mariposa 10.27pm 18/03/17

It was a little under four & a half hours before T-Bird got to the farm, the girls having been told that Uncle Graham was coming had refused to go to bed & when he arrived were all over him, this at least, thought T-Bird, stopped Alex from killing him.

It was a difficult start to the trip as Alex pointedly refused to speak to T-Bird & he avoided evening looking at her in case she blew up again. Vrasten had agreed that if they split the driving three ways they could cover the 3000 or so miles to Springfield in four to five days, Alex took the first shift & headed east.

Highway 64, Lexington, Kentucky 11.46am 22/03/17

Vrasten was just drifting off having driven for the last five hours whilst the others slept, T-Bird was at the wheel & T-Bird was putting some food together as the RV trundled along when a nervous Uriel called desperate to know if they'd got anything for him.

Vrasten did his best to soothe Uriel's mind &, without actually giving any details, advised Uriel that they, as he was speaking, were on route to confirm matters & that they should be able to tell all within the next four of five days, certainly before the assumed date of the next hit.

Vrasten did add however that just in case the lead didn't pan out it might be handy to get together $250K to buy of the hit.

Still sounding somewhat unconvinced Uriel hung up only after he'd received thier assurance that they'd phone him as soon as they knew the crack or he'd phone them regarding the pay off.

Route 66, Falls Church, Virginia, 7.52pm 23/03/17

The following evening, some fifteen miles from Springfield, Vrasten pulled the RV off the freeway & rubbed his eyes, they'd agreed to rest up for the night & get a real hot meal; Patricia Roseboro could wait until breakfast.

The following morning they picked up a unobtrusive hire car & headed into Springfield.

American African Alliance for Life, Cimarron St, Springfield, Virginia, 8.34am 24/03/17

With the hire car tucked away under Interstate 95 Alex, T-Bird & Vrasten started to familiarise themselves with the area & the building that was listed as belonging to Miss Roseboro & occupied by the AAAL.

They agreed to see how things go over the next couple of days before deciding upon any rash action, Alex had gone out of her way to emphasise this to the sheepish T-Bird, the last thing they needed was another incident.

American African Alliance for Life, Cimarron St, Springfield, Virginia, 7.46pm 26/03/17

For three days they'd staked out Miss Roseboro's hidey-hole, it was a detached four storey timber faced building dating back to the late 1800's, the front street had iron railings & to the sides & rear was a high timber fence, there was a single vehicle gateway to the front with parking enclosed parking to the front & right elevation, fixed CCTV cameras could be seen on the corners of the building.

It would seem Miss Roseboro, although frequently out & about, never left the building alone, she was always accompanied by one, some times two, younger black Americans who were clearly more than just bag carriers, Alex was positive they were carrying shoulder holstered pistols under their jackets.

Over such a short period it had been impossible to establish if there was any sort of fixed routine other than she seemed to run errands/shop during the morning, work at home in the afternoon & dine out of an evening.

With the deadline approaching they agreed, somewhat reluctantly, to stage a snatch.

American African Alliance for Life, Cimarron St, Springfield, Virginia, 2.43pm 27/03/17

All morning they'd followed Roseboro, she'd been accompanied by two goons over the morning & made some half a dozen stops, each time one of the goons remaining in the car.

T-Bird had made a couple of passes of the parked car but the gorilla in the driving seat was definitely alert & he'd abort his intentions. The previous evening Alex had jury rigged a simply mechanism using a remote demolition timer & a sleep grenade, T-Bird had hoped to slip it under the hood or even in the vehicle itself.

At lunch time they'd thought they could pull it off, both bodyguards had accompanied her into the Hen House restaurant, ten minutes later Vrasten & Alex had taken a table & ordered whilst T-Bird has cased the joint externally. There was a vague plan to maybe try & snatch Roseboro when she went to the powder room, Alex & Vrasten enjoyed lunch but the opportunity to grab Roseboro just didn't arise.

American African Alliance for Life, Cimarron St, Springfield, Virginia, 6.42pm 27/03/17

All three were now getting frustrated & had even discussed, briefly, storming the building, as Alex & Vrasten chow'd out on cold pizza T-Bird jogged back to the runabout, Roseboro & a single goon were on their way out, keeping a good distance & several cars behind Alex followed.

AMC Multiplex Cinema, Springfield, Virginia, 7.13pm 27/03/17

In the cinema & mall parking lot all three watched Roseboro & her guardian for the night leave the car & head into the cinema, exercising old skills all three tailed them into the spacious lobby & watched as she bought two tickets for some French subtitled tosh.

Leaving Alex & Vrasten in the foyer T-Bird purchased a ticket for the same film & slipped into the theatre, as he entered he adjusted his skin tone, the outcome was bizarre to say the least, a glance at his arm suggested without question a person of least mixed African American race, his face profile however was one hundred percent redneck.

Scanning around as if looking for someone, which in fact he was, he located Rosboro & her gorilla about half way up on the left, the theatre was at best only a quarter full so he had no problem taking a seat just behind Roseboro.

Unfortunately this was to close for comfort for the body guard who repeatedly turned his gaze towards T-Bird, in the darkened theatre the mismatch of profile & body colour was less pronounced however T-Bird realised the goon was paying him to much attention & faking an apology for imposing within the couples body space relocated himself to the opposite side of the stairwell, sat alone he allowed his body colour to readjust top normal.

Just behind T-Bird a bored teenager whose date had blown him out rather than blown him off watched T-Bird's black & white minstrel show with interest.

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