The blonde tried to take her by surprise, but it seemed she assumed their target was too clean cut to know how to throw down right back with street punks or if they know who she was, they probably mistook her for a desk jockey. They thought wrong. Naturally, she took the time to strip them of their guns, id them, then she knew she had to call this in, but at least her video monitoring eyes meant she didn't need to waste time with a report for clearly self defense. But they were connected to the girl and she was confident that she'd find some trace to the bigger player by figuring out what gang they were running with. She'd let the department sort out the details on the surviving one. She didn't really have the time to conduct a formal interview. Just scan her for identification, verify her identity and then hand her off to the officers for processing.
Jack gives a yawn, guessing that most cops in this city, even young ones, wouldn't care much about the sight of a body. He takes a snapshot of the tattoo, in case it's some sort of insignia, and examines the cellphone and wallet. Shrugging, he pockets the knife. Maybe it'll come in handy, next time there's a seven foot bruiser throwing me through a wall. "Hey," he asks the medical examiner, "were there any other stiffs killed with this one? A friend, or maybe the person who offed her?"
It took about ten minutes for a patrol to arrive. After seeing the video, the police officers didn't even bother with longer interrogation, after seeing the video. They arrested the woman and waited for the ambulance to arrive for the body. Taylor was left to her own devices.
She began to sort through the id’s she had gotten. Likely connected to the same group as her contact, so it was a lead anyway.
The man shrugged. "There were three more bodies that arrived with it, no wounded. Two are charted beyond recognition - some kind of car crash. The third was a motorcycle rider." The man opens one of the storages. Jack recognized the man as one of the attackers, body covered in bruises, neck twisted. He too had a bull tattoo on his chest.
"I see. You know what this symbol is? Some sort of gang tattoo? I only just moved here. Haven't gotten to know the local scum yet."
Unfortunately, Taylor didn't found anything interesting about the duo. They were dropouts, didn't pay taxes, and had numerous smaller crimes on their record. There were literally thousands of people like them.
"Fair enough. Thanks for your help." He pulls out a datapad, pretending to jot down a report, before nodding. "I'll let you get back to what you were doing." Jack leaves. After getting a small distance away from the hospital, he messages several people he knows, all involved in the criminal underworld. "Hey, any idea who this symbol belongs to?" He attaches the image of the tattoo.
As Jack left, he immediately got a notification that Aria broke through his programming and started scanning for him over the hospital. But he was already gone. When he was in the clear, Jack send a few of his friends a picture of the blue-haired punk's chest. Soon, he got a response. Nice pair of tits you got there yourself bro. She's hot? That tattoo is a sign of Red-bulls. A small gang from the harbour area. My advice? Do her and forget about her. Small fries from gangs are troubles.
Is she hot? Not anymore she ain't. Thanks for the scoop. Jack chuckles at Aria's attempt, before messaging his mother. @Auraicide Mom, the girl was part of a gang called the Red-Bulls, from the harbour. Be safe, love you. With time to kill, he decides to look into the politician's wife, looking her up on the net, seeing if there's any chatter about her in underground networks, and going somewhere he can observe her home from.
As Jack sought the net, he found that Sophia Rose was a typical housewife. There was not really much about her on the net. She worked as an architect in a building company, but the company itself was pretty straight. It barely made enough to stay afloat. There were some small cases of bribery, but not enough to be really counted as something serious. Sophia usually stayed late in her office, or in the building site, working. The only other interesting thing about her was that she liked to read romance novels - about older women and younger men. Except for that, there was little else of notice about her.
Not having any closer leads, she got a message from Jack, now grateful for the assistance despite the risk he was taking. Her reply was a quick “Proud of you.” Before heading to her car to check this place out.
Hmmm, architect in a failing company, fantasizes about younger men... Looking at the news for leads, Jack quickly formulates a plan. Forging a fake identity as a scout for a major corporation, he contacts Sophia through an email account that to anyone but an alert net security expert would look like a company email, but in reality isn't tied to the corp at all. Mrs Rose, I'm a representative for Exocorp. As I'm sure someone in your position would be aware, our company has recently procured a piece of land downtown, with the intention of building a new corporate office. In my role as a scout and conveyancer, I've been tasked with finding an architecture/construction firm to work with. In normal cases, we would go with one of the established international firms, but as part of our recent 'local flavour' public relations project, we're looking for a smaller, more local firm. If possible, I'd like to meet with you, and discuss a possible partnership between Exocorp and your firm, preferably quite soon, as there are many possible candidates for me to interview. Sincerely, Jack Gintano, Chief Conveyancing Officer, Exocorp Incorporated. Satisfied, he sends the email. Such a deal, if it were real, would bring in millions of credits to her firm, and raise her prestige considerably. An offer she can't refuse. The beauty of the plan is that much of what he wrote was true. Exocorp, a massive international security organisation, is legitimately looking to build an office building downtown, and is also desperate to raise their local public image, after their agents destroyed a city block not too long ago. Jack goes home to get an expensive suit he received for a mission a few months back, and waits for Sophia to respond.
It took Taylor a couple of minutes, to arrive at the general area. After a few minutes of travelling around the neighbourhood, she finally found the drawing of the bull in luminescent paint on one of the walls. It seemed that she finally found the gang's turf... which was that far from the place the actor's body was found.
Considering the company's situation, it was a little surprise, how fast Jack received an answer, despite the late hour. Mr Ginato, thank you for your message. It would be a pleasure to set a meeting with you, in three days in my company's HQ. Of course, if you are pressed with time, we can meet today in a less comfortable setting, at one of building sites, in an hour. With respects, Sophia Rose RotaHome company.
Jack chuckles, taking about 10 to 20 minutes to respond. I'm afraid that my schedule is already fully booked for that day, with interviews for other firms, so I'll be forced to impose on you, and meet in the less confortable setting. Send me the address, and I'll see you soon. He signs off the email and sends it, before heading to the building site the moment she sends the address. He intends to arrive late, but wants to scout the site out, and make some preparations in advance.
It was sketchy. Perhaps it was from already working non stop and now being on a serious time crunch, but her brain just couldn’t determine how it fits together. The stress was getting to her. Especially as she grasped the facts. She was one of the only ones at her job that wasn’t stupid or corrupt and they wanted her dead because of it. Going into gang territory by herself would be a risk. Especially if she was looking like a cop. She at least had an advantage. One of her CI’s might have something here than her just barging in blindly, so she called them up and began to arrange a meeting in the parking lot back behind a store. Knowing the neighbourhood, she figured if anyone caught two people gathered in a parking lot, it was probably for drugs. Dressing up to stick out less, she retired her typical suit for a plain tanktop and jeans. The classical casual look, but Taylor discovered quickly how tightly jeans fit against her body. When did her ass get so fat? She needed to up her time at the gym. For now, she leaned against the back wall of the store, taking the time to strike up a badly needed smoke while waiting for her informant.
Jack arrived at the building site, a new block in the middle of the city. It was supposed to be 10 floors high building. The main structure was already in place as well the windows, but the insides were still in the making - the inner walls, the electrics - even the elevators were not working. The workers were slowly living the site, but Jack had an hour, before the meeting.
As she stood under the wall, a young hooded male leaned against the wall next to Taylor. "You are standing out, chica. Too old. Too little tattoos." The man said. Taylor quickly identified him as her informer. "In those clothes, with titties on display, some might interpret it as an invitation."
