Last time on MQ-
>You’re still Lawrence
> After some gentle coaxing, you manage to get Alex talking about Bowers
> Bowers has a hideout in the middle of nowhere, lacking even a road leading up to it
> Alex reveals that there’s a man with an electronics shop that knows where it is
> You have decided to take Camilla with to deal with him

You are going to have to nab this guy by tonight. If leaving right this instant was feasible you would have already. But while you need to act quick, you also need to be smart about it. The only reason you were able to barge in and raise hell before was thanks to careful planning.

This is spur of the moment, and one you could very easily lose.

“Find him...where?”

“He uh, his sh-shop is uh…” Alex scrunches up his bent up, bloodied nose as he thinks.

You take hold of his shoulder firmly and repeat the question.

“G-give me a second to think man! My h-head’s all fucking, it’s all cloudy c-cause of you…”

You end pacing the floor to keep from acting out on any impatient urges. And if you were to try and scare it out, he might only give you a fake address.

“Will get...you out,” you eventually choke out as you grow more restless, “Won’t… sleep here. Somewhere… better. But need… address.”

“I- yeah, yeah I know it! I d-do, just lemme think! It’s on uh, oh f-fuck what’s the street…” His chest begins to heave and pull against the restraints. The fear of not having an answer must make him think he’ll be killed on the spot, which might not be a bad thing to let him think.

“I didn’t memorize the a-address alright? But! I know the shit around it, they got a lot of that sleazy shit around. Shit like those ‘gentlemen’s clubs’ around that area. Shit like Jaguars and Queen Bees and the Beaver Lodge. He rents out e-equipment to them and gets paid to set up security equipment for all the places around there! The name of his place is Easy Source Electronics or s-something like that! You can’t miss it!”

It’s not the straightforward answer that you wanted, but it was better than nothing.

…

You walked into the compound a few minutes later. Fresh, clean clothes hid any of the marks or stains left on your skin.

Delilah’s voice lets you know she is in the kitchen, Crockett’s voice coming right behind hers. Nothing to concern yourself with right now. She’s being kept busy and you can go on to find Camilla.

And somehow, the nurse managed to calm down enough to fall asleep. You find her stretched out on the examination table in Rizzo’s office, fully dressed with even her boots still on. The glint of tools on the table next to her is enough to tell you that she might have been making her own plans. Alex should consider himself lucky. You wouldn’t have used the scalpels or forceps or whatever drugs she considered bringing out, but you doubt she’d have the same reservations.

As you pick up one of the knives there’s a quick rush of motion from her previously sleeping body. Camilla is already sitting upright and, now, placing her gun back into place as you set the scalpel back down.

“Dio mio...” she mutters, “You really do need a bell. I never thought someone as big as you could move around so quiet.”

Her senses quickly come to full alert and she’s already standing as she asks, “Is that man awake now? Do you need help with him?”

You motion for her to sit back down and hand her the note you wrote before coming in. Reading through the note makes you as antsy as you felt writing it earlier. In it you explain what Alex had told you and the shitty coordinates he gave in order to find the guy.

Camilla’s face scrunches up more and more in disgust as she continues to read. No doubt she would be okay with going with you on this impromptu mission.


Along with relaying the information Alex told you about this guy, you let Camilla know that she should come with you on this. And while the plan will probably need to change once you guys get there, you should focus on-

> Not wasting any time. If you can lure him away from his shop before closing, there’s no chance for him to run away first

> You two should wait until he’s alone and ready to lock up, then force your way into the shop to question him

>Camp outside the store and wait until he’s walking away. You two can follow him from there and decide the best course of action from there

>...

>>4129527
> Not wasting any time. If you can lure him away from his shop before closing, there’s no chance for him to run away first

>>4129527
>Camp outside the store and wait until he’s walking away. You two can follow him from there and decide the best course of action from there.
Don't want to do it before closing time lest some concerned patron notice his absence. Don't want to do it in the store, lest some hidden security trigger or cameras catch us.

>>4129527
>>Camp outside the store and wait until he’s walking away. You two can follow him from there and decide the best course of action from there

Plus that way Camilla can get some sleep in the car

>>4129527
>Camp outside the store and wait until he’s walking away. You two can follow him from there and decide the best course of action from there.
Considering his line of trade, it'd be weird if he didn't have his own place monitored.

“If that man turns out to be lying and is wasting our time with this…” Camilla continues to mutter threats under her breath as takes a moment to process all the new information. “I can’t make any promises for how this will go, but I agree. If there is some place he can hide, we need to find it. Who knows what other filthy secrets he has there…”

Looking down at herself, she picks uncomfortably at the clothes worn since the night in the shed. “I only need some time to prepare. At least to be presentable, in case we need to talk our way out of something. When I am ready I will come find you.”

You leave Camilla alone, carrying back the note you gave her. Now you have to let Crockett know of this new plan, and you’re sure he will find a thousand and more problems with it.

Not that it really is much of a plan. All you know for sure is that you and Camilla have to find this place and stake it out for a few hours. No idea about what you should do if the guy isn’t there or if you never have the opportunity to go after him. There isn’t much of a choice though.

You come to the kitchen, peeking through the doorway.

Delilah is kneeling atop one of the counters, bags and boxes of food stacked next to her. As she rummages through the space Crockett stands at the sink, sleeves rolled up as he washes dishes.

“--she’s one of the only people I have ever seen actually finish an order of tartare and ask for more.”

“What’s that again?” Delilah asks, digging deeper into the cabinet.

“It’s steak they grind up and serve raw. They also cracked a raw egg over it--” Crockett glances back at the door, catching sight of you right away. You motion for him to keep quiet and come over to talk with you.

Delilah answers, “That sounds awful.”

“Ahah well, Julia seemed to really like it.” He steps back from the sink, shaking his hands dry. “You keep looking for that bag of chocolate, okay? I need to go check on Cammy, alright?”

“Just don’t fight again!”

“No no, I just want to make sure she’s getting the rest she needs.”

Crockett manages to slink away and through the door. And like flipping a switch, his warm demeanor turns cold.

He whispers, “Is he awake?”

You hand over the same note Camilla read. He quickly goes through it and from the changes on his face, he seems to understand.

“So you and Cammy are going?” he asks, eyes flickering back to the kitchen door to make sure there’s no eavesdropping, “It’s probably for the best. We don’t know shit about this guy and she’ll be a decent backup. But what are you going to do with him? You aren’t just going to bring him back here, are you? We still have that one jackass in the back! All alone now, mind you…”

“You’re really on a roll with this, aren’t you?”

A grimace comes across Crockett’s face as he looks past your shoulder. As you turn back you see Brandi limping up from the hallway. You don’t know much about the woman, other than her father was connected to Delilah’s grandfather. Brought here before as a hostage for a situation that went wrong, she now gets to move freely around the house. Though from what you can tell she prefers to stay in one room, which might be for the better.

“Who are you guys trying to pick up now?” she asks with a grin.

“Keep your voice down,” Crockett hushes her, “She’s in the kitchen right now and I don’t want her to hear this. There’s a man that Law and Cammy need to get some important information from. But I don’t know if we should be bringing another one here.”

“This is about that freak that’s been following her, right?” Brandi looks towards the kitchen, “I don’t know what you guys are getting into, but it better work. But if you’re uh, needing to get some info outta a guy…”


She hides her grin behind painted nails and whispers, “Mariano still has a place or two for that kinda thing. If it’s to help his dear friend’s granddaughter, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind ya using the place for a bit.”

Crockett asks, “No one’s going to see them walk in and shoot, are they?”

“Hm? Oh, probably not. I can see about giving Mariano a heads up if you want to let me use the phone,” she says while thinking over it, “Though, if he doesn’t answer then you can let whoever know that I gave you permission.” With a snicker she adds, “Or you could let me come with for the car ride. It’s not like I haven’t gone on an ‘errand’ like this before.”


Even if things end up changing, coming up with some kind of plan now starts to reassure you…

> Bring the man back here
> Take him to one of Mariano’s locations
>> Take Brandi with so there’s no problems?

> You can keep all the interrogation in the car and ditch the whole thing if needed
> ….

>>4131267
>Take him to one of Mariano’s locations
Brandi can give them a heads up, don't want the lady there for the rest of the operation.

>>4131267
> Take him to one of Mariano’s locations
Let Brandi call ahead. If she feels Grant might be a concern that can't be alleviated over the phone, it may be better to bring her to put his mind at ease.
As clever and duplicitous as she can probably be, she seems to have taken a shine to Del.

You point and nod at Brandi. She quickly becomes gleeful, clapping her hands together excitedly at the thought of a car ride.

“You’re just calling ahead for them,” Crockett is quick to correct her, “Your foot is still healing and they have to tail a guy.”

She gives a dramatic sigh, “Well it was worth a try. You get me a phone and we’ll work on getting ya two cleared to borrow the place. Got a pen? I’ll write down the address for you too…”

…
..


You’ve been waiting in the car for a few minutes by the time Camilla joins you in the garage. She takes to the passenger seat, bundled up and face mostly obscured by a scarf. A large, black bag rests in her lap.

“It is my magic happy bag,” she says when you get caught staring. “I brought along only what we would need to take care of him.”

You hand her over the note with the location and a quick explanation of what it is.

“And Mariano is okay with this?” she asks.

“Working… on it.” When you left for the garage, Brandi was being taken away to the phone. She has plenty of time to get everything lined up for you.

“Fine,” she nods, “I still do not like this. It scares me. If we had another option… but I also know this man might go hiding if he catches wind of what we are trying to do. Just prepare to change plans in an instant, understand?”

Of course you do. Who knows if this sick son a bitch will even be there? Use your brains and hope you get lucky.

…
..
.

Finding the store wasn’t difficult. Once you drove past the large, gaudy billboard pointing out that the joint ‘Jaguars’ was in a few more blocks, you were in the right neighborhood.

The actual store, “Easy Source Electronics’, stood out among the sleaze. Despite the heavily barred windows and tacky posters advertising ‘cold hard cash for trade ins’, the place could almost look respectable.

At least, if you didn’t see a pair of twitching junkies walk in with stereos that certainly weren’t theirs. The couple walked out only minutes later, lauding over the crumbled bills given in return.

You were fortunate enough to find an empty parking meter to sit at. About half a block away from the store, the distance was just close enough to let you keep an eye on anyone coming in or out.

For a few hours you kept watch. Camilla promised to only need a little bit of time to rest her eyes, and she tilted her seat all the back to rest. Not too much activity happens as she sleeps. People come in and out of the liquor store across the street constantly. The electronics place only sees a handful of people stagger in, all seemingly using the place as a sort of pawn shop.

You become increasingly antsy as time passes. Being stuck in a car is bad enough, but parked in a neighborhood like this? The tint of the windows helps everything but your nerves. Being able to see the faces of people who pass by makes your skin crawl. Like they would know you were up to something. Like they could see you inside the car. That any of them could know too much—

“Stop stop, I’m awake now.”

Camilla yawns and leans the chair upright. You realize now that you had just been tapping your foot frantically against the floorboard, no doubt causing a racket loud enough to wake her.

“Is something happening?” she asks, fixing the wayward hair back into a bun. You shake your head and explain the few people you’ve seen going in and out of the place.

“Has he-, what is his name? Has Wyatt come out yet?”

You were given a description of the store owner before leaving. All you’ve seen leave the store were people far too thin and frail to be him. You tell her no and that it’s been about thirty minutes since the last customers came through.


“How are we going to do this,” she murmurs while looking back at the store, “What if he doesn’t leave when it’s time to close the store? I am scared to know what sort of setup he has going on...”

> Camilla should try to lure him out and away from the store when it’s closing time

> He probably has to walk out at some point, it’s better to wait for that. Even if it means waiting in the car for hours.

> If he doesn’t walk out on his own, you two can fake an emergency to get him out.

>...

>>4136291
>He probably has to walk out at some point, it’s better to wait for that. Even if it means waiting in the car for hours.

>>4136291
>> He probably has to walk out at some point, it’s better to wait for that. Even if it means waiting in the car for hours.

He does need to lock and shutter the store when it's closing time, it can't be open 24/7. Maybe he lives in the store?

Boy, how long have you been running this quest?

>>4137416
Four years

>>4136291
> He probably has to walk out at some point, it’s better to wait for that. Even if it means waiting in the car for hours.

You tap against the dashboard to let her know you want to stay. Camilla sighs.

“We are going to have to move the car at some point,” she explains, “Sitting in one spot all day is going to get some attention.”

Camilla isn’t happy with the plan. Her antsy fiddling of her bag clasp shows how much sitting here is bothering her. Not that she’s the only one. Sitting in the car for so long makes your skin crawl. Pinpricks going down your scalp and neck. You’d love nothing more than to storm into the store and get your answers and go.

As you check the time on the dashboard, you start to feel guilty about not letting Delilah know you would be gone today. You felt confident enough about getting this done quickly and being able to return in time for dinner. Hopefully, she’s not too hurt about you coming back late. It’s for her own good, but you can’t help but feel disappointed in yourself anyways.

…
..

You hate it. You absolutely can not stand the fact that this fucker is wasting your time.

At Camilla’s suggestion, you moved from the parking meter and instead have been waiting in the parking lot of a liquor store a little ways down. Harder to see who is coming in and out clearly, but luckily the number of his customers have been dwindling. Each time someone walks in, you’re able to recount for them as they come out minutes later.

Between you and Camilla taking turns to keep watch, it’s mind numbingly boring. You two take turns, allowing the other one to either get out to stretch their legs or to nap in the seat. The quiet wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t going on for hours and hours with no end in sight.

The sun has already set as the time inches closer and closer to six. If his store hours are to be believed, it should be closing time. You nudge Camilla awake in her seat, letting her wake up and try to stretch in the cramped space.


“Still nothing?” she mumbles, stretching her arms out and cracking her knuckles in the process. You shake your head, putting a cigarette between your lips and fishing for a lighter. Upon catching sight of it she sneers, already covering her nose despite the fact you haven’t lit it yet.

“Are you really?” she asks, “We went all day without it!”

“That’s...why.” You answer with a nod and finally pull out a lighter. If you’re going to have to stay here for who knows how much longer, you need something to get you through. The notebook in your lap and angry, stiff scribbles you’ve put down on the pages help some. But your shoulder has already begun to hurt from how long you’ve been going at it, and you need to keep your eyes forward.

Camilla fumes about your decision silently and looks back at the store.

“Do these sort of places have doors leading out to the alley?” she asks and you nod, “Then maybe one of us needs to go keep an eye back there. No need to stand right by his door. Just close enough in case he tries to sneak away.”

You pause what you’re doing, “Then what?”

“Well, we both have guns. If he does choose to leave through the alley then we should be able to ‘encourage’ him back to the car,” she explains, “But that means one of us needs to go out there and one of us stays in the car. Who goes and who stays does not matter to me.”

> You’re bigger and intimidating. Less people might try to bother you if you’re standing out in the alley for a while

> Camilla would be able to talk herself out of a situation easier. If she’s keeping watch in the alley then she might keep anything from escalating

>...


Sorry about the wait, everyone panicking over the corona has had me in a bit of a panic, stay safe anons

>>4141904
> Camilla would be able to talk herself out of a situation easier. If she’s keeping watch in the alley then she might keep anything from escalating
No problem Sue, you stay safe too.

>>4141904
> Camilla would be able to talk herself out of a situation easier. If she’s keeping watch in the alley then she might keep anything from escalating

>>4141904
>> Camilla would be able to talk herself out of a situation easier. If she’s keeping watch in the alley then she might keep anything from escalating

Law can't speak and someone would called the cops on him

You point at her and she sighs.

“Okay,” she nods and buttons up her coat, “Please do keep an eye out for me. I will keep an eye out for the car in case you get him first.”

Camilla finishes her coffee that’s long since turned cold and opens the door. “If he has any of those security cameras, CCTV whatever, I will do my best to avoid them. At least, I will keep my head down and face covered as much as possible.”

She walks down the street, crossing over to casually make her way to the alley. Once she’s there you decide to move the car closer, parking the car by the liquor store once again. Camilla has to walk past the dwindling number of pedestrians, but as far as you can see she makes it behind the buildings.

The street lights finally flicker on and your eyes don’t leave the front door. The smoke from your cigarette hangs inside the car before it slowly drifts out the cracked open window.

You start to become more and more nervous for Camilla as the minutes tick by. The neon sign of the store next to you bathes the car in it’s purple and yellow glow, but the electronics store’s windows dimmed at closing.

And finally, as you leave another spent butt into the empty coffee cup, you see a set of figures emerge from around the street corner. With some squinting you can recognize the coat Camilla wore out today.

She looks to be walking with not one, but three men. One looks to have his arm around her shoulder, leaning heavily onto her as he stumbles along.

As you try to figure out how to proceed, Camilla does another unexpected thing. Rather than walk towards the car, she and the men start walking the opposite way instead.

From your best guess and the description given to you, the man holding onto Camilla seems to be the one you’re looking for. The other two though, you have no clue who they are.

The group looks to be taking their time, mostly thanks to Camilla’s insistence to stop every couple of feet. While she doesn’t appear quite in distress, you’ve got a bad feeling about this. And as for why they’re walking down towards one of the gentlemen’s clubs instead of the car…

> Stay in the car and tail behind them, wait to see if Camilla has a plan

> Approach the group aggressively in the car. Use the gun to get Camilla and the target in the car if necessary

> Follow behind on foot and try to catch Camilla’s attention. You want to make sure she’s not in trouble before you do anything drastic

>...

>>4142760
Walk past them and make eye contact with her, see if she gives a signal. Maybe he can go in and hang around if they enter a club and then give Camilla the keys so that she can invite the guy for a romp in the back seat? Law can then stay near the car and be ready to pounce once the guy is in the trap

>>4142760
>Stay in the car and tail behind them, wait to see if Camilla has a plan

>>4142760
> Stay in the car and tail behind them, wait to see if Camilla has a plan
Can always fake engine trouble while driving past, causing enough of a distraction for Camilla to give a signal.

Trying not to act too hastily, get the car back onto the street and following Camilla.

You’re unable to stay slow enough to keep behind them while being inconspicuous. As you start to close the gap between the group and the car, your eyes remain focused on Camilla.

At one point she looks back, probably taking notice of the headlights from the car, and she gives a quick wave. Camilla keeps her arm around the target and starts to slow her pace. The other two men easily walk her and Wyatt, though one stops to look back and speak with her.

You drive past as she answers back, unable to hear the answer she gives. She motions for the men to keep going forward as the parking lot for the gentlemen’s club starts coming closer.


While that place has more than enough spots for you to park, you take a spot halfway down the block. You can’t be sure of where there might be any cameras but trying to pull this off right in front of the club sounds like a bad idea.

You leave the car running and unlocked. The seat belt remains off and the gun in hand as you wait for the group to catch up.

The two men pass first as they keep a few feet ahead of Camilla. From what you can hear through the cracked window, they are definitely inebriated as they talk of prior club visits.

They’re not as fucked up as Wyatt seems to be however. The man is practically dragged by Camilla as she has to hold up and guide him through. She keeps him talking as she starts to slow their pace even further. By the time she meets up with the car, the other two men are several feet ahead and ready to cross the street.

The moment she pauses on the sidewalk, you reach across and throw the backseat door open.

“Who d’hell is this g—“ Wyatt starts to slur before Camilla shoves him into the back. And while his body does fall, the man manages to grab hold of the car frame and kicks his legs out.

“The fuck is this?!” he yells out, “You crazy fucking broad!”

The two men that walked ahead now hear their friend calling out and turn back. As they see Camilla trying to stuff him into an unknown car, they begin sprinting back.

“Just get inside!” she threatens through clenched teeth, braving her foot against his chest to shove him in. “Otherwise it’s going to hurt!”

“I’m not gonna go anywhere with you freaks!”

By now you’ve halfway crawled towards the back and start pulling him in by his collar. He chokes on his words as yours and Camilla’s efforts finally get him inside and the door shut.

His buddies manage to catch up by the time Camilla tries to get into the front seat. One of the men grabs her by the wrist, pulling her back demanding to know what the hell she’s doing. Even using her non-dominant hand, she’s quick to the draw and has her gun against the man’s chest.

“Oh shit man, back down!” he calls out, letting her go. His friend takes the warning upon seeing the weapon and backs away from the now locked backseat.

Camilla keeps her gun pointed at the pair, backing herself up to the car while keeping her sights glued on them. The gun doesn’t lower until she’s inside, and even then it doesn’t get put away until you speed off.

“The hell you think you’re doing?!”

Wyatt tries to orient himself in the backseat. He continues to slip and fall in a disoriented fashion, getting his bearings only bit by bit.

“Don’t say another word,” Camilla spits at him as she turns back with the gun at hand, “You are going to sit in the back and keep quiet, so you understand?”

Wyatt looks down the barrel and back at her. You can see her finger is just itching to go to the trigger but she manages to restrain herself.

“That’s not how you were actin’ earlier,” he answers with a smirk, “least most whores are courteous enough to let you fuck ‘em before they rob ya.”

Her hand clenches tight and under her breath you hear her whisper, “You’re going to wish this a robbery…”

The men behind try to catch up with the car but you can fortunately drive faster than they can run. It helps that you drive like a bit of a jackass to put as much distance between you and them. But after some screeching brakes and angry honking from running a stop sign and cutting it too close with a yellow light, the men are out of sight.

“How far are we from the place?” Camilla asks, still facing the backseat with her gun out.

You put out your best guess, “Twenty… minutes?”

“That long…” she frowns, “We need to change the plates first, just in case. Those men walked out with him, they are friends of his.”

In his stupor Wyatt adds, “Very good friends.”

“I told you to stop talking.”

“Sure princess,” he chuckles, “If you were here to smoke me you’d already done it. You’re a fuckin’, crafty sneaky bitch, you know that? I know there’s somthin’ you want from me. Means I’m better off alive.”

Camilla’s body seizes up as she stops from jumping to the back. “Or we could go after someone else!” she bluffs with teeth grinding together.

“I’m sure you could,” he answers calmly. Smugly. You don’t even need to look back at the shit eating grin on his face, his tone is enough to make you see red.

As you search for a spot to pull over and take care of the car plates you start to consider the path ahead. The location Brandi gave you shouldn’t be too far off, a building located by the shipping yards and warehouses. But you still have to drive through town to get there. The tinted windows help but you know they aren’t perfect, stay too close to anyone observant and they might be able to notice Camilla holding out her gun.


While you are stopped to change the plates, you should-

> Restrain and gag Wyatt so Camilla can put her gun away
> Leave him as is and have Camilla keep her gun pointed at him
> Let Camilla drive and you can sit in the backseat to make sure he stays on his best behavior
> ….

>>4145880
> Let Camilla drive and you can sit in the backseat to make sure he stays on his best behavior
I'd gag him, but he seems like the type of cocky bitch that would let some things slip if left on his own.

>>4145880
>> Let Camilla drive and you can sit in the backseat to make sure he stays on his best behavior

We should consider using a tape to record the process. It won't be nice but recorded confessions help

You find a wide enough alley to pull in, the tall brick walls keeping the car hidden from the street. Camilla keeps her eyes and gun on him as you get out and switch the car’s plates in the dark. With that out of the way you lean in through the driver’s door, motioning for her to take the wheel.

“Are you sure you are fine back there?” Camilla asks as you get into the backseat. With your legs cramped into an even smaller space and having to share a seat with the inebriated piece of shit, you give her the thumbs up to go.

“Didn’t think you’d be cuddlin’ up with me,” Wyatt grins as you force him to sit up, “—easy there. Better start treating me like a king. It’s the polite thing to do.”

Camilla glares through the rear view mirror. “I don’t know why you would think we would ever do that.”

“Cause apparently I got tape of one of you fuckin’ someone you shouldn’t have been,” his response snaps back, “or maybe it’s just you snortin’ down a couple lines of snow. Doesn't matter what the dirt is. Gone through this sorta shit enough times now to know how it goes.”

He still manages to sit here so calmly. The words run together some but he doesn’t sound afraid in the slightest. And as he speaks, you catch the glimmer of not one but three golden teeth scattered across his jaw. The scar leading from one such tooth and across his lip tells you that they didn’t fall out naturally.

“Course I can’t just hand over any video to someone waving a gun in my face. It’s bad business practice for me.”

As Camilla makes a turn a little quicker than she should Wyatt is left trying to hold on for support. It doesn’t stop him from laughing.

“Usually the gun comes out at the store. Maybe you thought you were being smart to avoid doing it on my cameras there,” he smirks, “but you were there inside long enough. My buddies’ll be able to look back to when you were trying to fuggin’ get me shitfaced and figure out what we’ve got on ya. Anything happens to me and they’ll make sure your dirty laundry gets aired out for the world to see.”

You can’t help the grin that cracks across your face. Maybe he usually does have the upper hand. Tonight though, he’s going to answer everything you ask. He’s going to pay for making you wait so long. You’re going to be one big step closer to ending this.

“I see,” Camilla answers, “good thing that is not our problem today.”

He looks up intrigued. “Eh? That so? What is this then, a ransom attempt? Why not drive me back and I can write a check to make you fuck off.”

“That is not what we are after either.”

“Then what is this?” he looks between you and her, “this how you two get some sick kicks off? Surely you coulda picked somebody else for this shit. Hell, I could make a call to hook you up with someone actually expendable—“

The cold glare you give makes him shut up about that quickly. He only looks more confused, though he tries to hide it.

“Well, you’re not cops. Otherwise you’d be in my face and bragging about bringing me in under whatever charges.” Wyatt holds his head, looking sick from the car ride.

“You’re going to tell us about one of the people you work with.”

“Oh, am I?” he asks mockingly, “and who am I supposed to narc on?”

Camilla hesitates for a moment. Up ahead, you can see the sign for a printing warehouse coming up. The words and paint are all faded off and many of its windows boarded up. While the place might not be soundproof, the only place closest to it is a construction company already closed for the night.

“We know you have been running around with him,” she sneers at the mention, “that Dr. Bowers and you have spent time together.”

First Wyatt looks shocked. And then a grin creeps up and laughter soon follows.

“You’re doing this for that fucking nut job?” he asks between deep breaths, “Must’ve really done something to piss you off. What’s wrong, gave one of ya a botched surgery? Left the scalpel in there?”

Camilla keeps her silence as she pulls up to the gate. As she enters a code into the keypad and makes the fence open, she spits back an answer.

“He has some kind of base out in the countryside,” she says, “and you are going to tell us how to find it.”

Hearing about it makes him freeze in place. But that same, stupid fucking smirk remains.

“Oh Jesus, you really are in some deep shit.”

“I’m not about to be the one who is about to get interrogated.”

“Well I could save us all some trouble in that case,” he leans back together comfortable in the seat, looking between you and her. “I don’t got a map of the place or nothing. Always hopped up on some crazy shit when I’ve been around the guy, kinda like I am now—“

Your fists clench right, “Get...to it.”

“Far as I can tell, we’re on my time,” he tells you, “but you guys are lucky that I’m pretty charitable. That freak likes to party, but he scares the shit outta me too. Always figured I’d keep some form of insurance on me if I was gonna hang around him. That asshole doesn’t know it, but I’ve got a tape of one of my drives that way. Made it in case he ever got too demanding. Or if my buddies ever needed to know where to look for my body.”

“He buries people out there?”

“Burying them would be the kind thing…” he gives a dark chuckle, “Telling ya, the guy is fucking wild. Really dig that but sometimes he gets really into how weird shit…”

As Wyatt eyes the building he is about to get dragged into he continues. “But I got the closest thing you could have to a map of the place. Weird place, no fucking road or signs or nothing. We could just end this here and I can just give ya the damn tape…”

“But you are not going to just hand it over,” Camilla sighs.

“My services aren’t cheap, sweet cheeks. Besides, I can’t risk ya turning the guy in and just getting me in trouble too. They find that fucking, death love shack of his and they’ll find my equipment in there. And those pigs are always looking for a reason to raid my place.”

Camilla looks at his suspiciously in the rear view mirror, “What are you asking in return?”

“I give ya the tape showing you how to get there,” he says, “and you let me go home. Easy as that. And if you don’t want me to give the guy a warning, I’d suggest you give me a few days to move my stash.”

“Excuse me?” she turns to look back at him. From his choice of words, you already fear how he might elaborate on it. After all, you know what some of the tapes Alex was being made to copy. Crockett told you about the ones they had uncovered too. The car feels even smaller than usual. Your stomach turns at the thought.

“I ain’t going to prison. Fuck that. I’d let ya kill me before that happens,” he smiles, “but if you kill me, there goes your map. All you gotta do is give me a few days to move my ah, more incriminating stuff.”

“How would we know you would even keep your promise?” Camilla demands, “You could give us our tape and still go running your mouth!”

“Between you ‘n me, that doc has gone completely off the deep end. Didn’t really have much problem with it before, but lately…” the smile drops from his face for only a moment. You can tell this guy is into sick shit, but even he looks off put by his ‘friend’.

“Easy choice though, huh?” The smirk picks up again, “I give ya what you want, you give me the time I need, and maybe that guy will finally stop bugging me to upgrade the system he’s got.”

You look towards Camilla in the front seat. If you don’t get out of this backseat soon, you might end up really damaging this man. He wants to offer up an easy solution in exchange for getting away from this. The thought makes you sick.

> Take him up on the offer. It’s a sacrifice to make to make sure you will be able to find Bower’s hideout for sure

> You aren’t going to let him get rid of more evidence. The night is still young, you can still get the location out of him

> ...

>>4152858
> You aren’t going to let him get rid of more evidence. The night is still young, you can still get the location out of him
That compromise would be for his net benefit, letting him go right back to business.
Maybe Camilla knows someone more suited for this though, this is way out of our purview and we got lucky with Alex.

>>4152858
> You aren’t going to let him get rid of more evidence. The night is still young, you can still get the location out of him

>>4152858
>> You aren’t going to let him get rid of more evidence. The night is still young, you can still get the location out of him

What we need is insurance of our own. Can we make a call to Palmer to raid the place and steal some of the incriminating shit, take pictures and the usual? She should go with trustworthy or expendable peeps and disguise so that bower can't get a bead on her. We'll keep it for insurance and "promise" to return or burn it all when bower goes to trial.

He won't believe it but that doesn't matter, all he needs to know is that his only chance of not dying or not going to prison is doing what we want.

“No,” you answer flatly, “No way… in hell.”

He laughs, pity in his voice. “Guess you guys wanna spend all night together.”

“Remember,” Camilla says as she parks the car right by the plywood door, “whatever happens in there is your fault.”

“All you had to do was let me clean up my place,” he answers, “How about you follow your promise from earlier huh?”

As he speaks you can already see Camilla’s shaking hand reach for her gun.

“Suck my cock like you promised and I’ll give ya the first number of the combination. Gonna have to earn the rest of those numbers though—“

Your hand races up to lift him out of the seat by his throat as she struggles to keep her own weapon down. As Wyatt turns red he looks at you without a shred of fear on his slowly choking face.

“Careful buddy—“ he wheezes, “I was gonna be nice— and let you watch—“

You drag Wyatt into the building as Camilla takes the time to calm down in the car.

The building smells wet and moldy. The ceiling high and room length printing machine gathers dust from where it’s pushed to the side. Stacks of paper and other supplies sit in front of it, none of it looking like anyone has touched them in years.

However in the middle of the place you spot a couch and a few chairs pushed around a table littered with empty beer cans and cigarette butts. As you march Wyatt forward a loud crunch follows under your step as you accidentally crush a discarded needle. Perhaps it’s a miracle you two came on a night this place was empty. You can’t help but feel that this is where the luck will end tonight.

Camilla stomps through the door shortly after. She carries the black bag in one hand and fixes her hair out of the way with the other. Her eyes are red and swollen, something she tries to hide by keeping her head down.

“Has he said anything useful?” she asks, placing the bag on the scuffed up coffee table. You tied Wyatt to one of the chairs already but since then he’s remained quiet.

Quiet, aside from the stupid fucking humming noise he keeps making. He knows what is about to happen to him yet acts like he’s merely bored waiting.

“Nothing,” you answer, “Not a...word.”

“Let’s see how long he can keep up the act.” A pair of pliers comes out of the bag and she starts to approach the man.

“Yeah, you keep walking closer bitch,” he chuckles, “Get closer so I can spit on ya.”

She stops midstep, face turning green then red with disgust. In her frustration she starts muttering in Italian, words you can’t understand yet carry a deep poison in them.

“...can’t kill him yet,” she says with a frustrated sigh that scrunches up her face.

Meanwhile the longer this guy talks, the louder the static in your head becomes. Somehow you’ve kept your calm. Maybe your body is finally that exhausted.

But as this man becomes mean, you will have to do the same. And you can do that. You have to do that. You want nothing more than to leave this place. For hours you waited in a cramp vehicle and now this asshole thinks he’s going to keep wasting your time?

You snatch the pliers from Camilla’s hand as she tries to ready herself for the task. Before he can get another nasty word out, you step forward and make him pay for what he’s said already.

…
..
.

You and Camilla stand out in the cold, taking in the fresher air. Behind, past the open door, sits the mess you made. Thanks to Wyatt running his mouth off earlier, you know that there’s a safe with a combination. And from what you can tell, he lives in the upper half of the store.

Neither of you have said anything since stepping out. After the hour or two or however long you’ve been going at it, you were forced to give the man time to recover.

Both solid gold and yellowed teeth lay fallen on the floor behind. You don’t remember where you tossed the pliers but you can look for that later.

“Why does he have to be so stubborn…” Camilla asks with a far off, blank look in her eyes, “He just wants to be difficult, doesn’t he?”

You stare at the cracked pavement, trying to wipe your hands clean on your jeans. When you check them again you think about how, just over a month ago, the sight of so much blood would make you sick. It was one thing to see a broken nose in a fight. But to see it pouring out of the freshly made gap in a man’s mouth…

The whole process was like being in auto mode. You didn’t flinch once during the process. And while the man didn’t talk, he did scream. The static in your head made it easy to ignore. Made it easy to go back for another tooth when he wouldn’t answer Camilla’s questions.

At one point he told you that it was time, that he was finally ready to give up the combination number. All you had to do was lean in to listen.

The bastard spit blood in your face and you smashed his nose in response.

It wasn’t even something you thought about. You just did it, and a few minutes later you were out here with Camilla to get some fresh air.

“Can you… call help?” you ask, “Make him… crack. Into… the store. Anything. Get this… over with.”

With a slow and deep breath she answers, “Palmer might be able to help us get into the store at least. She would need to force her way in however. If the wrong person found out she was trying to get a search warrant for the place…”

“It would end up in flames,” she finished with a snap of her fingers, “even if Bower didn’t have his filthy hands involved, I doubt he’s the only one with dirty secrets kept there.”

You nod in agreement. “Could get… photos. Grab proof. Blackmail… him back.”

“Might be worth the shot,” says Camilla, “and I would give anything to see this bastard rot in prison too.”

She glares back through the doorway, making sure the bruised up captive is indeed still there.

“Though getting our hands on that tape is still important too. If we went through all this just for him to hide away in that vacation home…”

Camilla begins to pace, a troubled look on her face. “I can see who is willing to do me a favor though. I do not believe that he’s so tough that he would never crack.”

“Palmer… tonight?”

“Hopefully. Would be for the best. We do have a little bit of luck on our side though.”

You nod. Wyatt had no idea who you guys were. And from how easily he’s been taking it, you’re not dealing with just some random punk. As far as his friends are concerned, any number of people could have nabbed him for any number of reasons.

When you look back over at Camilla, her head hangs heavy in her hands.

“I hate this,” she mutters to herself, “This kind of work… I never wanted to come back to it.”

Her guard falls further as she sinks to the ground, crouched and huddled over. Her whispers are lost to the night air as, with an unsettling feeling, you realize that Camilla is having a bit of a breakdown.

> Give Camilla her space, you’re not in the best headspace to help her

> You really need her help for this. Try to help her work through this so you two can get back to work

> Tell her to go back to the compound to recuperate. She can call for help and send them over here while you wait

>....

>>4159416
> Tell her to go back to the compound to recuperate. She can call for help and send them over here while you wait
If this is the kind of thing we have to do, we need to learn to switch gears. We can't sequester ourselves from Delilah, or people in general, every time and take forever to calm back down.
Finding the... right headspace to help Cammy cope is a good first step, at least enough that she can get back safely.

>>4159416
>> Tell her to go back to the compound to recuperate. She can call for help and send them over here while you wait

Law hates it too. The real problem that makes this so awful for her and everyone is that you can't trust the people who supposed to make sure this shit never happens. Forget the criminals, we have two corrupt cops on our side, plus that addict Palmer blackmailed that one time and Crockett's PI friend who died. And they're the only ones daring to do what's right, in the wrong way with the wrong methods cause nothing else works.

Fuck this creep though. Pain won't work on him, he's a psycho. He cares about winning and getting his way and as long as he's alive and not speaking he is winning. If he dies he still wins because we didn't get what we wanted. He's only shown to be worried about the consequences if he gets caught... What can bower do to this guy that he is afraid of that is worse than torture? Both people who know about his secret murder box are afraid of what he can/will do to them. Is it just the fact that they know he's capable of killing? Does this guy think we won't do more than hurt him? Maybe if we grab one of his friends and execute them to show him we're in business?

Feels like we're supposed to solve a mystery more than getting a man to talk

>>4159416
> You really need her help for this. Try to help her work through this so you two can get back to work
Like the guys above, Law hates this, but he needs to grab this shitbull by the horns. Every time he's been out, he gets irritable and hides so he doesn't lash out, but hiding still hurts Del and sows distrust because no one knows where they've got him, and it has to end.
Worst-case, Cammy calms down and can drive back to the compound. She shouldn't be forced into this, and Law's probably going to feel awful for making her tag along.